Welcome to my stop on the YA Scavenger Hunt! I’m so happy to be hosting Tera Lynn Childs, who is an AWESOME author. She’s so awesome that she can make the clock chime 13 ... or so I’ve heard. That might be a rumor.
Anyway, Tera has provided me with some BONUS content, just for you! Below is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of Ten Things Sloan Hates about Tru. Enjoy!
***
Tru practically leaps up from the table. “I’ll do it.”
He sounds as desperate to escape as I feel.
“Me too,” I add, hurrying to grab Mrs. Dorsey’s stack of dishes and add it to mine. “I’ll help.”
“In fact,” Tru says, balancing a stack in each hand. “We’ll even do the dishes.”
I nod in agreement.
Normally chores are among my least favorite things, right after eating grilled steak and starting my senior year in Texas. But I’ll take any lifeline I can get to escape that table for any amount of time.
In the kitchen, I start rinsing off the dishes and stacking them in the sink for him to load into the dishwasher. I’m through half of them before I realize that Tru isn’t helping.
“Hey,” I say, looking over my shoulder at where he’s lounging against the counter, “this was your idea.”
He laughs. “Just wanted to see how long it would take you to notice.”
I look at the small mountain of dishes in the sink. Longer than it should have.
I stick my tongue out at him and go back to rinsing.
We quickly fall into a rhythm. I rinse the dishes and hand them to Tru so he can set them in the dishwasher.
“Sorry about that,” he says quietly.
About what? I almost ask. But when I look at him, he nods his head back toward the dining room. Toward his dad.
“Not a big deal,” I say. “He’s not the first carnivore I’ve had to take on.”
“If anyone can put David Dorsey in his place, it’s you, New York.”
I can’t tell if he’s joking or not, so I ignore it.
As I set a dish in the sink and he reaches for one, the backs of our hands brush. A shiver of tingles races up my arm and down my spine at the insignificant touch.
The next time, it happens again. At first I think it’s an accident, but then it happens every time. With each new touch, a new wave of tingles washes over me, and my heartbeat speeds up. I’m sure if I could see myself in the mirror right now my cheeks would be magenta.
The bad thing is, I think I actually like it. It’s like a game to see how he will make contact this time, how long he will make it last. And even though I know it’s a game, even though I know he’s trying to work his charms on me, I’m not immune.
I dare a quick glance, to see if he’s having the same kind of reactions, but he is studiously focused on his work. If it’s affecting him at all, it doesn’t show.
***
Wasn’t that great! Don’t forget to write down the secret number and add them all up to be in the running for our team prize! I’m giving away a copy of A Curse of Ash and Iron. Leave a comment for me here so I know who dropped by!
And for the next stop, you’ll need to click on the link to go to Amy Christine Parker’s blog! Good luck!
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