Valentine's Day Sucks

I pulled away from Matt, struggling to focus on the room around me. “Ashley?” I turned toward her. “What’s up?”

“You missed the whole movie,” she pouted, arms crossed.

“I did?” I checked the clock next to the mantel. I really did.

“Don’t try to make her feel bad, Ash. It was my fault,” Matt said.

“I know!” She hopped up and got another DVD.

Matt groaned and pulled out a ten dollar bill.

“No,” she said. “This time you watch it or I’ll tell Mom you guys were kissing.”

Matt sighed and tucked the bill back in his pocket. “Fine, but you go to bed in thirty minutes.”

“Deal,” she said. Then she motioned for us to move apart.

With a groan, Matt complied.

I smiled at the antics. In my house, one of my brothers would just start beating on the other.

Ashley started the DVD, and I started counting down the thirty minutes.

True to her word, Ashley hugged me goodnight, scowled at her brother, and ran up the stairs half an hour later.

“Is she really going to bed or will she spy on us?”

Matt put his arm around me. “I can’t guarantee that she won’t upload footage of us kissing to YouTube first thing tomorrow. Personally, I’m okay with that.”

For about half a second, I considered the situation. “I’m fine with it, too.”

He looked more like a wolf on the hunt than a vampire in his living room as he leaned in to kiss me.

Matt’s tongue stroked mine, and I realized I was hopelessly in love.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered.

“It’s the dress,” I said.

“It’s not the dress,” he said, and he kissed my neck. “The dress is amazing, but it isn’t the dress.”

I nibbled on his neck with little kisses, and he groaned.

“Stay here forever,” he said. “We’ll drop out of school and spend all of our time kissing.”

I laughed as he took my mouth with his again.

Then the purr of a car engine pulling into the driveway spurred Matt to action.

He jumped up. “Go sit at the table. I’ll grab some snacks.”

When his parents came in, we were sitting at the table, sipping on some bottles of synthetic. Matt was a hundred miles away across the table.

“Thank you, Natalie. Thank you, Matt,” his mother said. “We had a wonderful time.”

Mr. Johnson helped her out of her coat and then hung both coats in the closet. “What have you guys been up to?”

I wasn’t sure I could speak. I hadn’t pulled my mind or body out of the blissful state Matt had put me in with those kisses.

“We’ve been watching movies with Ashley,” Matt told them.

“Oh dear,” his mother said. “We were hoping you had some time for teenage things.”

I tried not to laugh as Matt glanced my way.

“We’ll go to a movie we like some other night,” he said.

His father frowned.

“Let’s go check on our daughter,” his mother said.

We watched as they went up the stairs.

I had drained my bottle, and so had Matt. “I’ll throw these away,” I said, taking his. I headed into the kitchen.

Matt followed.

I opened the recycle bin and disposed of the plastic.

When I turned, Matt was right next to me. He tugged me toward him.

“What are you doing?” I whispered. “Your parents will be back any minute.”

“And I’ll be kissing you,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.

“They’ll see us!”

“It’s okay. It’s Valentine’s.”

“I’m not sure that excuse will work for them.”

He lowered his mouth to my ear. “Kiss me, Natalie.”

I couldn’t argue with him anymore because his lips were on mine, and I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him back.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard footsteps enter the room and then retreat. Then more footsteps.

“Oh! Thank goodness,” his mother said.

No longer able to ignore them, Matt pulled away.

I turned to look at his parents. They were beaming at us. Shouldn’t they be shocked, or irritated, or at least teasing us about the kissing?

“Uh, Mom. Did you just say ‘Thank goodness’?” Matt asked.

“We were so worried,” his father answered.

I shook my head. Worried? “You were worried because we were kissing or because we weren’t?”

“Because you weren’t. Because you said you were just friends,” his mother said.

“You nurtured her through her transition, Matt. We didn’t tell you the whole truth. You and Natalie are mated.”

Mated?

“If you hadn’t been attracted to each other, it would have meant misery for both of you. You don’t get a second chance.”

I was only fifteen, but I loved him. Joy swept through me. But Matt. What would he think?

I turned to him, my stomach churning, to see if he shared my feelings.

“Matt?” I said.

He didn’t answer. He just pulled me close again and kissed me senseless.

Maybe Valentine’s Day doesn’t suck after all.

Author’s Note: Thank you for downloading this short novella. As noted in the retail description, this novella is approximately 62 pages long or 16,000 words. Keep reading for a sample of Stirring Up Trouble, a novel currently available at all major retailers.

Stirring Up Trouble Excerpt

Chapter One

“Mom! What did you do?” I screeched, my eyes immediately drawn to the giant wart she’d sprouted from her chin. I flung my overloaded backpack at the kitchen table, but it missed and hit the slate floor with a thud.

“Hi, Zoe,” Mom said. From her perch on a stool at the kitchen island, she continued to search through one of our massive dusty potion books. Each time she turned a page, a small mushroom-shaped cloud of dust rose toward the copper pots hanging on their rack above the island. Finally she paused, looked at me, and sighed. “I had a little trouble today while you were at school.”

“Obviously.” I retrieved my bag from the floor, set it on a stool and moved in for a closer look. So much for predictable. “That’s super nasty.” My mom was pretty, usually. Normally, I felt lucky to take after her instead of Dad.