The icy hot sensation snapped me back to reality before I heard his chiding voice. “Ivy! What the hell are you doing! Look at me.” He pulled me away from skater boy. Collin's blue eyes came into focus, as my buzz faded, leaving nothing but my drowning fear.
“Hey dude,” brown-haired boy said, “back off. She's mine.” The guy tried to get Collin to let go of me, but he wouldn't.
Too dazed to realize what was happening, I felt Collin in my mind. By the time he saw how screwed up I was, it was too late. I couldn’t hide my sinful intentions. His grip didn't loosen. Instead, he shoved back my make-out buddy. “Fuck off. She's mine.” I tried to twist my wrist out of Collin's grip, but stuff got weird fast. His sadness and concern started to leak into my emotions and swirled together. But instead of mixing, they were remaining separate like swirled ice cream.
Heart racing, I tried to pull away from Collin. “Leave me alone, Collin. You don't know...”
His grip tightened, as he stood between us. His face lowered and came down into mine, our noses almost touching. “I'm not leaving you to ruin your life. You said you were done with this shit, Ivy. What are you doing?”
“Hey man. She said back off. Back off.” Skater dude tried to be valiant, but failed.
Collin turned slowly, with rage in his eyes. He looked slightly insane. “If you want her, you're gonna have to take her from me.” Collin yanked my other arm before I knew what happened. Moving quickly, he slung me over his shoulder, and ran.
“LET ME GO!” I screamed. I shrilled a terrified yell, as he bounded down the steps, and out the front door. My body bounced like a rag doll, and I half hung on for my life. Collin ran through the house, and burst through the front doors. He slowed in front of the illuminated fountain. I screeched, “Noooo!” before he dropped me, but I was already airborne. My body twisted, as I tried to stop myself from hitting the waist-deep water. The cold liquid sucked me under, crushing the breath out of my chest. My butt bumped into the cement bottom, and I staggered to my knees. The wind sent a chill through me, and my body shook as I glared at Collin. Water drained from the hair that was plastered to my face. Apryl's comb was barely hanging on. Water filled my boots, and lots of other places that cold water shouldn't go.
Anger flowed through me, white hot. At first, I just breathed, watching him. A crowd followed to see what would happen. Some kids said something about not wanting to be on the receiving end of that. Eventually, I threw my leg over the side of the fountain, and ran at him. My body slammed into his. My fists smacked into his chest, as I yelled up into his face. “You had no right! Who the hell do you think you are?”
Collin didn't move. He let me vent, watching me with irritating calmness. His eyes had turned back to their normal hue, and not the impossibly deep blue that looked insane a few moments ago. Now I looked insane. The crowd was laughing. Some shouted stuff at us, but I was too pissed off to understand. I ignored all of them, except Collin. “How could you! What makes you think you could do this to me!” The shrill in my voice was dying, as the coldness seeped in. My anger was burning out, and the cold was taking over. My black chiffon outfit clung to my body; making me feel colder than I thought was possible. I stepped away from Collin, tears streaming down my face. Between sobs I said, “You should have left me alone.”
“I can't leave you alone,” he stood, arms distance from me, looking hopelessly lost. “Nicole baited you. You didn’t really want to be with that guy.”
“Nicole did not bait me. I came here looking for him.” I couldn't look at Collin. He didn't understand. And I couldn't tell him. His hands reached for me without hesitation, and he firmly gripped my upper arms. There were no icy hot tingles, just a blast of remorse that flooded through the bond.
“Ivy,” he breathed. “Just tell me. What's got you so scared that you'd do this?” His voice was softer, “You used to tell me anything. And everything. We had no secrets. Just tell me.” His breath washed over my skin, startlingly warm.
Twisting my shoulders, I cleared my mind as I broke contact with him. “Things changed. It's not like that anymore. I'm not the same girl anymore. If you don't like it—too bad.” I folded my arms tightly, trying not to shiver. He straightened, looking as if I’d kicked him in the stomach. He took a step toward me. His eyes were trying to lock with mine. Determination was exuding from him.
“I know something happened to you—and it has you scared to death. The fear is rolling off of you, thick and heavy. It's drowning you. You're reaching out for random guys, so you can feel something besides the horrifying terror that's consuming you.” I kept my face downturned, toward the ground, saying nothing. My entire body was numb. I couldn't tell him he was right. He already knew it, anyway. His warm hand touched my face. He pulled it up to look him in the eye. “You're still the same girl, whether you see it or not.”
Swallowing hard, I shook my face out of his grip. I answered, “You've never been so wrong.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Shannon emerged from the crowd with a surprised look on her face. She inserted herself between Collin and I, and then pulled me away from the staring eyes of the crowd we'd attracted. Nothing was said. Nothing had to be. I could see the look on her face, and I saw the thanks she nodded at Collin before she drove me home.
Soaked to the bone, I sat in her car, and blasted the heater in my face. Every attempt was made not to take out my anger on Shannon. I did something incredibly stupid, and got caught.
After a long silence she said, “Dumping you in cold water was the best thing he coulda did for you.” Turning my wet head, I stared at her. My eyebrow shot up, as my mouth fell open. She was siding with him? “No,” she said. “I'm serious. For Martis, cold water is like a reset button. It has the same shocking effect that cold water has on humans, but without any of the risk of hypothermia. The cold is supposed to purge ailments from immortals. Did it help?”