A Life Unexpected: Holly Nather Book One (Holly Nather Series) (37 page)

Cohen says, “Tib shouldn’t you do less talking and some
actual
training?” Cohen’s eyes are pleading with Tib to say yes.
What the hell is that all about?
I give Cohen an evil glare

Tib looks confused. “I guess we should.” Tib stands up and holds his hand out to help me stand to my feet.

Harim is walking over to me with a silver ring in his hand. He places it in the palm of my hand and when he does I immediately make a fist around it to shield the bright light that illuminated from it. I slowly open my fist to reveal the blinding light, but it is gone.

“What the
hell
was that?” I ask while looking at Harim for an answer.

Harim laughs and smiles. “It must be happy to be with its owner.”

“Why are you talking about it like it is alive and some sort of pet?”

“Because it is
alive
with magic, and it belongs to you.” Harim states matter-of-factly.

“Which finger am I supposed to put it on?”

“Your left ring finger.” I hesitate when Cohen says that. I look down at Tib, Cohen, and Harim’s left ring fingers and notice they are wearing silver bands also. Theirs are a bit thicker and not as dainty as mine. I wonder why I haven’t noticed them wearing them before now.

I examine the silver band in my hand and read the inscription inside.
Tuff.
I look at the three guys standing by me and ask with raised eyebrows, “Tuff?”

Cohen smiles and says, “I had it engraved when you were in a coma.” I smile at him and then look at it again.

It doesn’t seem like anything special. It is a silver band with my nickname engraved on the inside of it. I twirl it in my fingers and wonder how it holds magic. I go to place it on my left ring finger but stop before I slide it all the way down.
Luke’s
name knocks the breath out of me.
His
ring was there once. No,
no
it wasn’t.
Damn it, Holly; that was only a dream.
I quickly slide the silver band on my finger, and it starts glowing orange. I quickly look to the guys for an answer and notice Cohen is gone.

“Where did Cohen go? And why is it glowing orange?” Okay—I am
definitely
not going to get any answers from the two that have their mouths closed tight.

Tib finally removes himself from his stupor and says, “Maybe we should train tomorrow. I think you should go find Cohen.”

“Why do I need to find Cohen? Is something wrong? Is my ring not supposed to glow orange?” I ask breathlessly. They are making me nervous acting all cryptic.

Harim points to my ring that is no longer glowing. I look at him confused, and he says, “Go find Cohen.”

I don’t hesitate. I start running down the trail and hope I find him at paradise. I start running faster at the thought of something being wrong. When I make it to the tall grass, I pull it back and see Cohen pacing up and down the beach. When I walk all the way through to the sand I stop. Cohen stops pacing when he sees me and then turns around to look out towards the waves crashing against the rocks. I slowly walk to him and when I reach him I stand beside him in silence. What am I supposed to say? I don’t know what could possibly be wrong.

Cohen turns to me and points to my left wrist. I look at him like he is crazy so he flips my wrist over so the palm of my hand is facing up. I gasp when I see some black squiggly lines on my wrist. It is hard to explain, but it looks like a heart half drawn with a curvy line to the right of it and a tiny diamond shape above the curvy line. I look at him, and he is holding out his left wrist with the exact same mark. The only difference is the squiggly line and diamond is on the other side of his half drawn heart. When he puts his wrist next to mine, the heart is whole.

Cohen softly asks, “Holly, do you know what this means?” I shake my head no. He grabs my hand and leads me to a shady part of the beach. We sit down, but he doesn’t let go of my hand.

“Cohen, what is going on?”

“Holly, I am in love with you.” I pull my hand quickly from his. I feel tears burning my eyes and feel dizzy. He grabs my hand again and firmly grips it so I can’t let go. “I wanted to tell you but then you got hurt and—”

Interrupting him I say, “Cohen, stop.” The tears have successfully escaped from my eyes.

Gripping my hand a little tighter, he yells, “NO! You have to hear this! I don’t give a damn if you don’t feel the same, but you deserve to know how I feel!”

“STOP!” I yell.

Ignoring my request, he continues. He moves my face with his free hand so my eyes are forced to look into his. “Holly, I adore you. I always have. I just never knew how to tell you. I was going to tell you the day we met up with the Versipellis. That mark,” He says while turning my wrist up to reveal it. “Would not be there if you didn’t feel the same.”

I snatch my wrist and hand from his and quickly stand to my feet. I turn the opposite direction from him and run my fingers through my hair and scream. “LUKE! DAMN IT, LUKE! THAT IS WHO I AM SUPPOSED TO BE WITH!
NOT
YOU!” I start running towards my house, my vision blurred from the massive amount of hot tears pouring from them.

When I get to my house I storm in the door running past my mother, Helen, and Stella who are looking at me like I’ve lost my mind.
Maybe I have.
When I get to my room I slam the door and fall face first on my bed. I turn over and look at the mark on my wrist. I go to the bathroom and run it under scalding hot water trying desperately to wash it off. “GET OFF ME!” I scream as loud as my voice will allow. I jump when I hear the bathroom door open.

“Calm down.” I hear Harim say.

“Go. Away.” I say through a clenched jaw, trying to remain calm.

“I am not going away. You need someone to talk to.”

“No. I. Don’t.” I turn so he can see the anger brewing in my eyes. Harim walks past me to turn the running water off and then walks out of the bathroom and sits on my bed.

“I am not leaving this room until we talk.” He says while crossing his arms over his chest. I roll my eyes and grab the hand towel to dry my arm off.

HOLLY

I SIT DOWN
on the bed next to Harim but don’t look at him. My voice full of annoyance, I say, “What.”

“Holly, he
really
does love you. I know it doesn’t make sense, because you don’t remember the history you two have together. You were falling in love with him too. That mark on your wrist, the ring glowing orange, and what you felt the day you woke up when Cohen touched your arm, is confirmation you two are in love.”

“Then why don’t I feel like I’m in love with him? I haven’t known him long enough to be in love!” I didn’t know Luke long enough in my dream either, but that didn’t stop me from falling in love with him. But
that
was a dream…

“You have known Cohen for a very long time. You just don’t remember. I think you are in denial.”

“I love Luke. This mark, the ring glowing, and being electrocuted by Cohen is a mistake!” I throw myself back on the bed and sigh.

Harim speaks gently. “Luke is not real. Cohen is. You do not have to choose Cohen, but it seems your heart already has.”

“Get out.” I say through a clenched jaw.

“Fine, but you are not being fair to Cohen.”

“GET OUT!” I yell, and Harim quickly leaves the room.

Maybe I’m not being fair, but has anyone thought about how this is making me feel? How is this fair to me? I don’t remember anything! How am I supposed to make sense of all this? A mark, a ring that glowed, and the feeling when Cohen touched me that day? UGH! I throw a pillow off my bed, and it knocks over the lamp on my nightstand, shattering it to pieces.

I hear a light tap at the door. “I SAID GO AWAY!” I yell.

“It’s mom.” I hear mom’s gentle voice say. I get up and let her in. I go and sit down on a rocking chair in the corner of my room with my feet pulled to my chest. Mom sits on the bed and smiles.

In a gentle tone she says, “Cohen is a fine young man. You are one lucky girl to have stolen his heart.”

“But what if I don’t want to be the girl that did?”

“You do.
Trust
me. You don’t remember this, but you told me you were in love with him. You were so confused that day. You didn’t know how to start the conversation with me. It was actually very humorous. You asked me what it felt like to be in love. I told you that you would know if you were, because there would be no words to describe what you felt inside. A huge smile appeared on your face, and you told me you had fallen for Cohen. We were all hoping you would have remembered.” My mom gets up to leave, but before she does, she says, “Go talk to him. He needs
you
just as much as you need
him
right now.”

“Why now? Why did I just get this mark on my wrist?”

“Because even though you may not think you do, you love him. That mark is a sign that your heart and Cohen’s heart agreed.”

“But Luke—”

“Holly, go talk to Cohen.” My mother says and closes the door softly. I go to the bathroom and brush the tangles out of my long hair. I splash cold water on my face trying to make my eyes less puffy from crying. I look in the mirror at myself. I look like hell.

I walk downstairs and see Cohen sitting alone in the living room. When he sees me he stands up and walks to the door without saying a word. I look at his emotionless face as he opens the door waiting for me to walk out. Once we are both on my front steps he shuts the door quietly behind him and then turns to look at me. I gasp when he forcefully pulls my body into his and then picks my chin up. Putting his lips to mine, he kisses me gently. Not realizing what I’m doing, I lean in for more. He looks into my eyes and then places his hand on the back of my head, knotting his fingers in my hair and pulls me to him, kissing me more forcefully than before. I kiss him back with equal hunger and passion. When the kiss ends, he laces his fingers with mine and places his forehead against mine, breathing heavily.

“I’m so sorry.” He says breathlessly.

Backing up a little, I smile and ask, “Why are you apologizing?” My heart is beating so fast I may fall down dead from a heart attack. The way Cohen makes me feel… Well, I just can’t describe it. Maybe I have been in denial.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you like that. It’s just that… I have waited so long to kiss you… I lost self-control.” He looks at me, waiting eagerly for me to say something.

In a whisper, I say, “Don’t be sorry.” Time to be completely honest with myself and Cohen. “I should be the one apologizing. I guess I’ve been trying to push any feelings I’ve had for you aside. Cohen, obviously my heart believes we are in love; it just may take my mind a little longer to catch up. I—”

He cuts me off. “You have nothing to explain. I will give you all the time you need.”

“Cohen?”

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.” I don’t have to tell him twice. Cohen quickly backs me against the front door and knots his fingers in my hair pulling my face closer to his. When our lips meet I feel like I’m in heaven. My whole body is tingling from my head all the way down to my toes. What I felt that day he touched my arm is nothing compared to the feeling that is coursing through every part of my body at this very moment.

He stops kissing me. “Holly, I love you so damn much.” After he says that he starts kissing me again. I am eager for more, but he stops. He smiles and kisses me on my forehead.

“What now?” I ask.

Smiling he says, “
Now
, I can kiss you and tell you I love you anytime I want.”

“But what if I don’t say it back?”

“It will hurt like hell, but I won’t force you to say something you are not ready to say.”

Smiling, I say, “Thank you.” I lay my head on his chest, wrapped tightly in his arms. A tear slides down my cheek, knowing that I have to let Luke from my dreams go.
Cohen
is what is real. Any wall I have put up just got smashed. I am open to whatever is going to happen between me and him.