Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I TEASE...I TEASE...

ALWAYS AND FORVER...tease...er...take #5 :)  This snip comes on the heels of last week's tease.  Mia has just been diagnosed with cancer, a death sentence, but she doesn't want anyone to know.

Enjoy!!

The door slid open a few inches, and Kal poked his head in. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I breathed, my whole body sagging with relief at seeing him.

He slipped into the room, stopping short when he saw the state of things. “What’s all this?” he asked, his eyes darkening with worry. “Is everything alright?”

“We’re cleaning out Mia’s closets,” Ricki shouted from inside my closet.

Startled, Kal shot a questioning look my way before turning and walking over to where Ricki was robbing me of every last article of clothing I owned. “And, you, being the good friend that you are, decided to do all the heavy lifting?”

She rolled her eyes, snorted. “That about sums it up. What about you, loverboy? Did you miss Mia so much that you had to come right over and see her again before she went to bed? Or were you planning on spending the night?” She giggled knowingly and disappeared back into my closet. Really, it was a miracle I still had clothes left in there for her to pilfer.

Up went one dark brow in question, but before he could open his mouth to speak, I grabbed hold of his arm and yanked him toward the bathroom. “Uh, Ricki? I just need to talk to Kal for a minute. We’ll be right back.” I told her.

The only response I got was a loud grunt and more clothes tumbling out of the closet.

Inside the bathroom, I shut, locked, and then leaned against the door. Kal stared at me for an unending minute and then very quietly said, “Mind telling me what that was all about?”

“You don’t even want to know,” I groaned. When he still said nothing, I relented. “Ricki has it in her mind that you and I didn’t go to visit your grandmother today…that we were out…together.”

He choked, crimson splashing across his cheeks. “Uh…” he cleared his throat loudly. “Is there a reason why she’s suddenly so obsessed with our sex life?”

My insides went all hot and tingly at his words, my heart pounding against my ribcage with the heaviest sledgehammer at the way our sex life rolled off his tongue as if he expected us to eventually have one. As if we’d be together always and forever. Not just friends but lovers, too.

As if I had that kind of time.

“Well, I’m not quite sure, but—“ I started to explain about her and Adam but stopped short. Ricki definitely wouldn’t want Kal to know the dirty details about her relationship problems.

He waved off my words. “Never mind about that. What about you?” His eyes burned so hot that for a minute there, all I could do was just stare, I was so lost in his gaze. “Mia?” He prodded. “What did the doctors say?”

“What?” I shook my head, forcing my thoughts back on Kal’s words and not the way his coffee-colored locks fell into his eyes or the way his lips moved when he talked, especially as he said my name. “Oh, yeah…that,” I forced a broad grin across my face. “I’m fine.”

“Really? You’re okay?” He rolled the words around on his tongue, testing them, measuring the weight of truth there. Did he see the lie in my eyes? Hear the dishonesty in my voice? “You’re not dying?”

I swallowed, pushing the smile out even wider as I assured him, “Not of cancer.”

His answering grin was quick and bright, blindingly so. He let out a whoop and caught me up in his arms, crushing me to him. “Oh, Mia,” he breathed against my ear, squeezing tighter. “That is so…” He pulled back, kissed me—a very brief, chaste peck on the lips that shot straight through me like a bolt of lightning—and then yanked me back in so he could bury his face in my hair, his hot breath fanning across the back of my neck and shoulders. “It’s so wonderful. I can’t…I can’t even find the words. That’s how great this is.”

“I know,” I whispered, cringing inside. What did I just do?

He leaned back again and rested his forehead against mine, our noses rubbing together. His eyes slid closed, his lips still spread in that triumphant grin. “You don’t even know how worried I was, Mia,” he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. “I was so sure we’d have bad news to deal with. I was so afraid you’d tell me you were dying…that I was going to lose you…” he trailed off on a soft sob. Tears were sliding copiously down his face, his eyes still squeezed shut. “It was a terrible feeling, the thought of being without you,” he confessed. “I don’t mind admitting to that now that I know you’re okay.”

Guilt speared through me as his last words sunk in. Now that I know you’re okay. “You’d be okay,” I told him. “If I was sick, you’d be alright. Just like the last time. You handled it all just fine.” Was I trying to reassure him or me?

He laughed softly, shook his head. “I wasn’t okay, then, Mia. Pretty fucking far from it, actually. And, this is nowhere near the same as back then. This would’ve been so much worse.” He opened his eyes and leaned in to brush his lips gently against mine. “It would’ve killed me,” he murmured into my mouth. “Life without you.”

“Kal,” I sighed. I couldn’t lie to him. I had to tell him. Everything. “Kal, I—“

“What are you two doing in there?” Ricki demanded, pounding on the door. “I don’t hear any sex sounds, and I can’t believe that Mia would be all that quiet…well, unless you’re doing something wrong, Kal.”

We both groaned in response. “Just give us one more minute, Ricki,” Kal returned. He turned his attention back to me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Knowing her, she’ll be inspecting you for hickeys when we come out.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his disgruntled tone. Ricki banged on the door again, and groaning inwardly, I stepped away from Kal. “Alright. Alright,” I grumbled. “We’re coming out.”

As I reached out for the knob, Kal caught my hand and squeezed. I lifted my gaze to meet his and found sheer joy there. I couldn’t tell him the truth now. It would shatter him. I just couldn’t destroy him like that.

I was already sinking. I wouldn’t drag him down with me.

11 comments:

  1. Oh, no! I'm beginning to fear this won't end well... :(

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  2. GAWD! Why did she DO this????

    More. More. More. (Patty pounds on desk) More. More. More.

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  3. Mia is, well there are no words for how I currently feel about her. Why, why would she do that? I don't think I like her.

    But I will continue to read only because I am supportive of my friends that way. Did you hear that Mia.

    Even though said friends suck us in and then leave us hanging, but I am not going to talk about the Austin/Dallas story that I have been BEGGING for.

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  4. Oh man.. This is my favorite book out of all the teases I read each week. You're killing me here. I love, love love it. Such a great concept.

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  5. Actually, I get why she wouldn't want to tell everyone, but she's made it much harder by not telling Kal. Harder for when she eventually will tell him, or harder if she chickens out and lets him find out at the funeral.

    The big hitch in your story is that she has a finite time to live, and I think in that case I would want my remaining days as rich and normal as possible.

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  6. OMG I loved this. I feel for your Mia... and Kal. My eyes welled up when I read, What did I do? XD Amazing. I'm going to have to check any previous teasers on this and get myself up to date.

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  7. You know that every tease I read from this is breaking my heart a little bit? Poor Mia :(

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  8. Linda: Yeah, I'm all about tragedy and not necessarily that whole "and they lived happily ever after" thing. *shrugs*

    Patty: You'll be happy to know that I'm more than half done with this and will (hopefully) be looking for betas in the very near future (hint, hint)

    Kelly: I'm sorry you feel that way...but really, not so much. For this whole premise to work, Mia is going to have to say and do some things that aren't necessarily likeable before she finally comes to terms with what is happening to her. Sadly, she'll hurt a few people along her path to self-discovery.

    Cheyanne: Oh, jeeze...comments like that make me do a happy dance...and trust me when i say that you don't want to witness that!

    Angelica: Exactly! Mia's got some issues to deal with though :)

    Marilyn: Aw, thanks! I like that line best in this snip, too.

    Marieke: I really, really hope so...or else I'm doing something wrong here! ;)

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  9. Oh, this is getting painful in that good, really really really want to keep turning pages but kind of don't because you don't want to see the hurt you know is coming kind of way. Clearly this is going to be a five-hanky experience. WELL DONE!!
    Dana

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  10. I LOVED THIS! MORE PLEASE!! You certainly have knack for tragedy, and I'm definitely a fan!!!

    I'm a new follower! Hi! *waves* it's nice to meet you :)

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  11. WOW! This was SO SO SO AMAZING! I just love your writing and this novel. LOVE LOVE LOVE! :D

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