Page 31 of Quiet
The ride to the bottom floor was excruciating.
Briar had kissed him last night. And Isa’s body was fully aware of it.
Why?
Why would the universe choose to do this to Isa now? He’d gotten used to the idea of being alone. The small crushes he’d had over the years were easily gotten over, and he’d managed to keep most of them to himself.
Never had he ever been pinned down by one and kissed within an inch of his sanity.
Briar was such a mystery. Isa knew next to nothing about him, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t drawn to him. How could he not be? The level of focus and intensity Briar aimed at him was intoxicating.
And it didn't help that he wasn’t hard to look at.
The doors opened to the bottom floor, and Briar used his non-duck-carrying hand to guide Isa out of the elevator, pressing firmly against the small of his back. He knew he should push Briar away, or tell him to stop, but the young man’s touch made Isa’s skin tingle and forced the entire world to take a step back. It was like being in a little bubble made up of only the two of them.
Isa was not going to swoon. He was going to release Mx. Duck back into the wild, and then he was going to very calmly, very maturely run the heck away.
When they reached the pond, Isa located the flock and motioned for Briar to set the cage down.
Isa kneeled down and opened the cage. “This is your stop, duck. I don’t know how you got hurt in the first place, but be more careful next time, okay?”
The duck gave a soft little quack and nudged Isa’s hand before waddling toward the pond. The flock went bananas when they realized their missing member had returned. A dozen or so ducks vacated the pond and flapped their wings excitedly as they welcomed Mx. Duck home.
Isa couldn’t stop himself from clapping his hands together and giving a happy little shimmy. He loved happy endings, even if it meant he was now duckless.
Oh right. His room would be emptier now. He stopped his shimmy and sighed.
“Are you sad?” Briar crouched down by Isa’s side.
Isa tried to ignore the heat rising in his cheeks from Briar’s voice and shook his head. “I learned not to get attached a long time ago. If I hadn’t, I’d have dozens of animals in my room and no ability to help new ones.” Isa shrugged. “It’s better this way.”
Briar nodded thoughtfully. “Not attached isn’t the same as not sad.” He reached out and stroked the space between Isa’s eyebrows, causing a frisson of energy to streak through him. Isa must have been frowning and hadn’t realized.
If Isa had been sad, it was replaced by panic as the energy grew in intensity. He let out a squeak and scrambled backward, landing on his butt. “I’m fine!”
Isa shot to his feet and started to execute Project Run the Heck Away but was pulled to a stop by a tug on the back of his shirt.
“I want to talk to you.” Briar’s voice was right behind Isa’s ear, and heat rushed down the boy’s spine.
“Haaaa . . . I can’t because I am very late for a very important thing, and I can’t be late for this thing!” Isa jerked forward so hard his zipper came undone, and he nearly lost his hoodie in his haste to escape. He ignored his sore, tired muscles and ran as fast as he could.
* * *
Isa stared down at his phone, reading the text he’d been dreading. Bea wanted to reschedule the next sitting for that evening, less than twenty-four hours after Briar had kissed Isa’s socks off.
Well, flip-flops, anyway. He’d lost one when he’d run away that morning, and since he’d still been in a post-kiss haze, it counted. He’d need to get new ones.
Right now, the last thing he wanted was to be anywhere near Briar. In fact, he’d convinced the cast to rehearse outside today, so Briar couldn’t find him at his usual haunt.
He’d had to be sneaky about it too. Since half the cast and crew had seen him sleeping in Briar’s lap last night, every single person he knew was now enthusiastically ’shipping the two of them. Which meant Isa spent half his time fending off requests to fetch something from the Art building.
Surprisingly, Will had become the loudest advocate for Team Briar. He may have talked a lot about giving Isa away, but when it came down to it, he was just as protective as Ryan. Something had happened last night to make Will go from teasing, flirty guard dog to matchmaker.
All Isa had to do was hold out for two more sittings, and he would be free from the whole mess. Two more days and he’d never have to see Briar again.
Ouch.
Isa grabbed his stomach as it tightened painfully. He’d had breakfast, so his stomach shouldn’t be giving him trouble right now. And he refused to think about what other reasons his stomach might be giving him so much grief. His chest decided to get in on the action too, and it was suddenly harder to breathe.
