The truck engine rattled, and he made a U-turn back onto the road heading toward town, passing Gaetz Court once more. The rain now all cried out, had pulled back its intense downpour and was now coming down as a misty drizzle. I watched out the window in silence as the wiper blades moved slowly across the windshield back and forth. I was trying to piece together some plausible explanation for everything.

Kellan leaned back against the bench and draped his arm over my shoulder. He hugged me in hopes that I'd scoot over closer to him on the bench. To my disappointment, he had tossed on his damp shirt before we pulled back out onto the road. There were wet spots dotting his shirt, from him wiping the foggy window. They made the shirt stick to him where the wetness touched with his skin.

"The answer is yes," he said breaking the silence as we passed the town welcome sign.

"Yes? To what?" I didn't know what on earth he was referring to.

He signaled and turned the truck into the Stompin' Grounds Café, an old log cabin that had been converted into a coffee shop located across from the Motel. "You know, the question you asked me this morning."

Racking my brain, I tried to recall what the heck I might have asked him. "Okay, I give up, what did I ask?"

He parked the truck in a stall facing the coffee shop, then opened the door and jumped out landing on the rain-softened ground. He helped me out of the driver's side of the cab.

When I took his hand and stepped out onto the running board, he looked at me and said, "You know, the question about if we have met before," he paused like he wasn't sure what to say, "We've met."

Like a statue, I was frozen, not moving, but just standing there on the running board staring at him. He lowered my hand, then lifted me off the truck and deposited me on the ground as if I weighed nothing. Intertwining his fingers with mine, he gave a reassuring squeeze and led me toward the door.

A shiny new red Jeep was parked in front of the café two stalls down. Its tail lights were on and looked like it was just about to back out. Two girls were talking in the front seat, and the passenger was turned, so she wasn't facing me. For some reason, as Kellan led us up the front steps, I looked back at the Jeep one more time and could see her big loopy brown curls and perfect complexion.

Oh, crap. I wanted to duck and hide from her glare. Jessica was sitting in the passenger seat looking like she wanted to rip me in two. Her sidekick Lizzy sat next to her with her mouth gaping open.

Jessica's eyes darted to my arm, then narrowed when she looked up to my face. The weight of Kellan's jacket hung over my shoulders with his name blazing across the sleeve in gold thread. Lizzy nudged her and pointed to Kellan holding my hand. Even though a damp drizzle was still falling, the temperature outside skyrocketed and made the air feel parched like it was scorching the distance between us and the car.

The door creaked open, and we left the outside behind us. When we stepped across the threshold, the smell of freshly roasted coffee and baked cookies greeted me. The café's log style interior was warmed by the glow of crackling wood in a large stone fireplace on the far side of the room. There was an array of wooden chairs, tables, and couches that filled the space. None of the furniture matched but somehow did at the same time. I felt like I was in a ski lodge somewhere deep in the mountains.

In front of the fireplace, two ladies were sitting together in an oversized love seat while their friend sat in a chair across from them. The women were chatting and holding books with matching blue covers and large white writing. A third book tittered on the edge of the coffee table next to a cup of coffee and looked like it might fall off at any moment. A book club? I thought. They were passionately debating something and hadn't even noticed us come in.

On the left side of the room, a group of Swallow Falls' students sat at two tables they had pushed together to accommodate their size.

Kellan waved at the group. "Hi guys, how long have you been here?" he asked.

The dark haired guy in the football jacket looked up, "Hey, it's my ma—" he said, then stopped short when he saw me. "Wow, you two look like you got caught out in that downpour. We managed to duck in here before the worst of it came down. You want to join?" he asked, grabbing a chair.

"Thanks, Daryl, maybe next time? I think Wren wants to warm up by the fire. She's soaked through."

"Yeah, no problem we'll catch up later." He tucked the chair back under the table. "Wren you'll want to see your man throw the ball at tomorrow's game. He's our secret weapon when it comes to scoring, the best quarterback in the division."

"Impressive," I said as I ran my hand down the front of his shirt. "You mean the football jacket isn't just for show or to keep damsels in distress dry?"

"Hardly," Daryl said interrupting. "He's the reason we won last year's championship."

"Well, with that kind of credit to your name, maybe I will have to see you in action." I smiled and rubbed my arms trying to take the chill off me.

"Okay, you two, knock it off." He looked uncomfortable with all our attention. "Wren, how about that table?" he said, pointing to a one on the other side of the room.

"Sure, works for me. Nice to meet you, Daryl." I waved goodbye, and we headed toward the table with him leading the way. Kellan pulled out the chair for me to sit before I'd even reached it.

"I'll be right back, with something to eat. How about you try and warm up, your hands are like ice," he said, rubbing my fingers before letting them go.

He walked toward the counter and ducked behind it to where only the staff was permitted. After washing his hands, he grabbed a couple of things out of the display and put them on plates. I leaned my head in my hands as I watched him pour the milk into a metal jug and start the cappuccino machine to foam the milk.

He returned to the table and slid a plate with a giant oatmeal cookie in front of me and set down a mug piled high with chocolate whipped cream and dark chocolate sprinkles.

"Yum, this looks good." I swiped a finger through the whipped cream and licked it off, and let the chocolate sprinkles melt against my tongue. The I broke off a piece of cookie and plopped it in my mouth. "Mmm, I love..."

"Oatmeal?"

I nodded as I chewed.

"It's always been your favorite. I thought I'd chance that it still was." He took a sip from his mug. "Though, I wasn't sure about the drink. I figured you'd probably want something hot with the rainy weather." He smiled and slipped his hand underneath mine.

"You work here then?"

"Not really, I just help out from time to time. The family I board with owns the cafe and sometimes needs some extra help. I only step in when they are short-handed." He rubbed his thumb in small circles on the top of my hand. "I don't get paid or anything. I pretty much eat for free as long as I make whatever I'm looking to have. I figure that's more than fair. Especially after a game when I'm starving." His eyes sparkled as he laughed. "Come to think of it, I probably am getting the better end of the deal." He took a bite out of the chocolate chip cookie he was holding. "These cookies are amazing, especially when they're fresh out of the oven."

"Well, this one smells delicious." I broke the oatmeal cookie in half and took a bite from one of the pieces. "Oh my God. This might be the best oatmeal cookie I've ever had." I paused as I swallowed its crumbly goodness, tasting the hint of cinnamon and sugary sweetness that was left behind to linger on my tongue. "That's saying something too, as I'm pretty much addicted to oatmeal cookies. By the way, don't think you've distracted from my questions by bribing me with my favorite treat," I said shaking the cookie at him. "So start talking. How do we know each other?"

"Distract you?" He smirked and leaned back in his chair. "I'll answer whatever questions you like," he said, paused taking a sip from his mug, "but rules first."

"Rules? You're just making this up as you go, aren't you."

"You bet. Rule one, you can ask whatever questions you like, and I must answer them as truthfully as I can."

"As you can? Really?"

"Hey, I don't know what you're going to ask, and I can only answer based on what I know is the truth. Okay, what if you asked me what color cherries were and I was color blind? I might say green but to you they're red. I wouldn't be lying, but I wouldn't be right either." He looked at me and saw me raise an eyebrow as if to say, you've got to be kidding me, then added, "Okay, I know, bad example. And I happen not to be color blind, but you get what I'm saying, right?"

I laughed and finished the last bite of my cookie. "Fine, as you can, then. Let's hear your next made up rule."

"Rule two, for every question you ask, I get to ask you one in return."

This rule surprised me a bit. I didn't really have any secrets that anyone would want to know and with me only remembering the last three years there was even less for me to hide. "Fair by me. Anything else?"

"Not done yet, rule three," he continued. "You can only ask a question when we are alone or in a place that no one else can hear the question or the answer."

This one I totally got why he would want as a rule. It wasn't like I would want the world to know about my daydreams and what happened in them. "That one I have no problem with. Next."

"Rule four, you may ask one question per day and only when we are on a date together."

"What kind of a rule is that? You could just ask me out and see what I'll say." My heart raced at the possibility of seeing him more regularly outside of school.

He wrapped his hands around the hot chocolate in front of him, took a long drink then leaned back in his chair lifting the front feet off the floor. His t-shirt was almost dry and laid against his skin showing off his muscular chest. He looked like he was posing for a poster. I just sat there and stared at him.

"My game. You don't have to play."

"Fine, but we're not exclusive."

"All right, I won't call you my girlfriend yet. I'll let you beg me to call you that after our official first date." The confidence rolled off of him.

"Not exclusive."

"Don't tell me you're going to go out with Jaxon," he said as he leaned forward placing the front two feet of his chair back on the ground. He ran his hand through his hair and made it stick up all over the place.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, Sage and I are going out with Robin and Jaxon tomorrow night. The date is part of a bet we lost in gym class. Besides, if you want to see me exclusively, you'll just have to use one of your questions to ask for that privilege and see what I'll say." I picked up my mug trying to mask my inner emotions from betraying me.

He was not happy. I think the mention of me being in the vicinity of Jaxon would've had him seeing red, forget actually being on a date with him. Kellan was absorbing this information and then pulled himself together like the calm before the storm. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

"Fine agreed," he said finally. "Last rule and quite honestly the best one, I think. After both of our questions have been answered, I get to kiss those beautiful lips of yours."

"W-w-what? You're kidding." I stammered at the boldness of his request.

"Well, if you don't want the answers, then you don't have to play." He crossed his arms and leaned in on the table. The problem was I did want the answers and kissing Kellan was more of a bonus than a drawback.

"All right then. That's it no more rules?"

"That's all of them."

"Okay, if I agree to your rules, I want to ask a question right now then."

"You just want to kiss me again." Kellan smiled making his eyes sparkle and my stomach flutter. "I'm good with that, go ahead and ask away."

"I'm not the one that made up that rule, you did," I stated without hesitation. Now the hard part, I wanted to know about a hundred answers, but which one did I want to know the most. I really wanted to know how we knew each other, but that would have to wait.

"I want to know how your tattoo moved and about the water that was coming from it." I couldn't believe I was asking such a ridiculous sounding question.

"That's two questions. Which is it the water or the tattoo?" He raised an eyebrow and smirked. He was completely in control of his conversation. Ugh.

I thought for a moment. "The water, tell me about the water."

"Let's just say I was born with some unusual skills when it comes to water. Abilities that I usually don't display unless I want to or unless my emotions get the better of me."

"That's pretty non-descriptive. Come on, what do you mean by unusual."

"Wait here." He got up from the table, went behind the counter and grabbed a glass then placed it on the table between us when he returned. He looked around the café scanning the groups in the room. The three book club ladies had left, and the group of students in the far corner was engrossed in conversation. Then he looked at me and grinned.

"Okay, don't freak out and just keep looking at me, so we don't draw any attention over here."

"Got it. Bring it on, magic boy." I joked, still not believing that anything he'd do with the cup could amaze me.

He placed one of his hand on mine and then held his other hand over the cup. Then I felt the water soaking my clothes disappear. My jeans were dry, and then my shirt and even the dampness in my hair was gone. When I reached up to touch my hair, it felt dry. My mouth dropped open when water started pouring from his hand that was hovering over the cup. The water kept coming until it filled the cup to all the way to the top.

"Holy cheese crackers," I looked up from his hand into his aqua eyes. "I'm taking it that's not all you can do."

"Well, there are some other pretty cool party tricks I could show you, but one you've already seen. When I let my emotions get the better of me, things just happen, like the water you felt when you ran your hand across my chest. By the way, you can do that again if you'd like another demo."

"I stir your emotions do I?" I said still not convinced the hottest guy I'd ever met would want anything to do with me.

"Ha, ha you know you do. Now for my question." He thought for a moment. "What happened in gym class today, and I mean all of it," he said in a serious tone.

I think the color drained from my face. Kellan went right to the core of knowing where to ask for information. "Why gym class?" I asked trying to sound casual.

"I know something happened, and I thought I would get the full story from you. I want all of it, the odd and unusual."

"Okay, but you asked to hear it." I took a deep breath and told him about Jessica, the bet, and being clobbered on the head by Lizzy. When I got to the dream part I wanted to leave it out, but something told me not to, that it was important for him to hear. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath and told him about the unconscious vision and how I woke up with Jaxon on top of me kissing me with Sage yelling and hitting him with her racquet.

I half expected him to look angry from even hearing the mention of Jaxon's name, but he didn't look mad. He sat there with a look that could crush me by how deep the hurt showed in his eyes. He took another deep breath in and let it out, then reached over and grabbed my hand.

"Come on, just leave the jacket there. We'll be back in a minute," he said as he got up and led me through the staff area. "Hey Ethan, we'll be right back." Ethan was manning the till. He looked up and nodded like it wasn't a big deal I was heading outback with Kellan.

Still holding my hand, he led me out a side door into the cool night air. No sooner than we were outside, he grabbed my other hand and spun me around so my back was against the wall with him holding my hands high against the logs above my head. He leaned in and crushed our bodies together.

Without wasting a second, he tilted his head down and brushed his lips against my mouth, making me want his kiss even more. As he dragged his hands slowly down my arms, his lips parted meeting mine, and he kissed me with a promise of so much more. My knees weakened as he held me against the wall. Just when I wanted to come up for air, he made me feel like he was all the air I needed.

He lifted his lips from mine and kissed down my neck making me shiver with his touch. When he reached the tiny tear mark on my collarbone, he caressed my skin with such tenderness I melted and wanted to surrender to drowning in his kisses. His eye glowed an aquamarine color, they were breathtaking to look at. He lowered his lips claiming mine once more, and the trail where he'd place his kisses along my collarbone cooled, tingled and seeped into me. I longed for everything he could offer. When he lifted his lips from mine, we were both out of breath.

"Come on we should get back inside," he said as he smoothed out my hair. "Don't want you to catch a cold." He smiled and held the door open for me.

I felt flustered from his passionate demonstration. Walking back inside, I glanced up in the direction of our table and saw it was no longer empty. There sat Jaxon and Jessica waiting for our return.

Yeah, another chapter done! What do you think about Jaxon and Jessica being there? What would you do if this was you?

Comments are appreciated. Votes are adored. BOTH make a tired writer's day. THANKS for ALL your support!