Read The Den for Free Online

Skyla didn’t have much to give her, though.  She realized she really hadn’t gotten any information on him. 
    “He is really sweet.  I feel so comfortable talking to him.  It’s weird, but I feel like I’ve known him forever.  He is really friendly and charming.  He walked up to see if I were OK, because I looked worried about something.” Skyla stopped short.  She didn’t think it was necessary to tell Brooke what that something—or someone—was. 
    Skyla had seen a spine-chilling type of man right before she’d met Alex.  It wasn’t necessary to scare Brooke when Skyla was not even sure she hadn’t imagined it.  She would revisit the café and see if she spotted the black-haired man again. 
    Brooke noticed that Skyla had turned pensive. “What’s the matter?  Did something happen?  Sky, what is it?” 
    Skyla ignored Brooke’s questions and went on to explain that Alex was ridiculously gorgeous.  He was tall and had broad shoulders.  He smelled great, but she was not going to get romantically involved. 
    Brooke just laughed at Skyla.  Brooke certainly had heard it before.  Skyla had a history of falling in love.  She either had no interest in someone or she just simply and completely had to have him.  It was a curse, for sure.  One of the lessons Skyla would definitely have to learn in this lifetime was moderation.  It was on the list of goals that Brooke and Skyla had written years earlier when they were going through a transcendental faze.
    The next few days blew by so quickly.  Skyla felt as if she were inside one of those books where, when you flip the pages quickly, the cartoon characters become animated.  Brooke met Alex and instantly liked him, maybe too much.  She even introduced herself as Brooke, not Brooke Leigh.  She had taken to using “Brooke Leigh” as a matter of principle when she turned 16.   “One never knows who is connected with the fashion world,” she’d said.  “ ‘Brooke Leigh’ is, after all, more professional-sounding than just plain old ‘Brooke.’ ” 
    Alex was quite taken with Brooke.  That was not a first.  Guys had a difficult time resisting Brooke’s charms.  It would be a prerequisite for Alex to get along with Brooke if he were going to be a friend of Skyla’s, but still it touched a nerve that they got along so well.  Not that it should, since Skyla had no intention of becoming romantically involved with a sappy Southerner who didn’t even know where he was from really. 

-Six-
    Predictable
     
     
    Skyla and Alex made the necessary arrangements.  It was happening too easily.  Skyla went over the previous night’s resolutions with Brooke.  Alex had reserved the rental car that they would drive down to New Orleans and leave there.  They would decide later if they would drive, take the train, or fly back.  Alex’s boss, Joe, had given him as much time off as he needed.  Joe would keep a job for Alex.  Skyla was starting to figure out that most people would do just about anything this guy Alex asked them to do.  Brooke agreed that that seemed to be the case.
    Hopefully, he won’t ask me to do anything like hold his hand or kiss him or run my fingers through his hair.  Or maybe he wouldn’t ask.  Maybe he would just simply walk up to me, stare into my eyes, and kiss me on the lips.  Then when I didn’t argue or push away (surely I wouldn’t be able to do such a thing), he would lean in and gently touch his lips to mine again, pressing his strong body into me.  Stop! She shook the images out of her head. 
    In truth, it had not taken Skyla long to notice Alex’s toned arms or the six-pack that he had casually patted after they finished off a pizza with Brooke.  Good thing Brooke had taken to making Skyla work out with her in the mornings before work.  Skyla’s scrawny body was starting to turn just slightly shapelier.  During times of stress, Skyla would often tend to forget about mealtimes.  Since the