Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
I’m laughing so hard, though, and I can barely breathe with her weight on my gut.
“You got a good blush on your cheeks now,” she tells me, leaning in. “Here he comes.”
I pop my eyes open. “Huh?”
In a moment, she’s gone, walking away, and I’m rolling back onto my stomach. Lucas stands at the edge of the track, looking over at me, a lightness in his eyes.
Where did Mace go? Farrow, Dylan, my brothers…everyone is invisible except him.
He strides over, his hands in his pockets.
I try to write the next recipe instruction, but my train of thought is gone.
“It’s good to see you having fun,” I hear him say over me.
I look up, returning his small smile as he takes a seat on the ground next to me. For some reason, everyone has disappeared, Codi and the rest of Dylan’s friends having walked off.
“Dylan and Hunter seem in love,” he says, his arms hung over his bent knees. “They were always a pair, I guess.”
Following his gaze, I see Hunter standing behind Dylan, his arms wrapped around her as she tips her head back and looks at him. Her lips move, the blush on her cheeks meaning she’s saying things only meant for him.
“It used to be Hawke and Kade,” Lucas muses. “Now it’s Hawke and Aro. Who’s Kade with?”
“Everybody.”
He laughs, looking down at me. And his eyes drop to my mouth.
I part my lips as the air leaves my lungs.
One…two…thr—
He clears his throat and glances to the ground beneath me and then back up to my eyes.
I have to turn away a little so he won’t see the corners of my mouth lift in excitement. Okay, Aro. You were right.
“That, um…” he stammers. “That looks like the notebook you left the last time we were here.”
“I dug it out.” I continue drawing my dessert bars. “Wanted to look back on how silly I was.”
The last time I saw him here, I was thirteen. He gave me the hat, and I gave him the compass. I dart my eyes over to it, making sure it still sits on the grass next to me.
I’d left the notebook here that night, and I was heartbroken to find out he’d dropped it off at my house while I’d been asleep. No one woke me up so I could tell him thank you.
I fan the crinkled pages. “I continued making notes over the years. Recipes, lists, questions I wanted answers to.”
This journal kind of grew with me.
He grabs for it. “Can I see?”
I throw my arms over it. “No.”
He grins and déjà vu hits, the teasing feeling like the old us.
The rumble of engines fills the air, horns honk, and the thunder of feet hit the bleachers.
“Everyone’s leaving,” he tells me. “Can I take you home?”
Something swims in my stomach, the idea of being alone with him tonight enticing. We have a pool, couches, showers… So many beds.
And then what? I would fantasize and wait, and as usual, it never happens?
Or worse, it would happen, and he’d just push me away later when whatever he was so scared of grabbed him by the throat again.
I’ve been right where he could find me for years.
“I’m…not going home,” I say quietly.
I can’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. Even if nothing happened, I could have him to myself just this one night, but I’m not taking my shot. Why the fuck now?
But then he surprises me by saying, “I can take you to your new home. In Weston.”
I shoot my head up. How did—
And then I realize. Farrow. He’s the only one who knows so far. Why did he tell him?
“I won’t say anything,” Lucas assures me.
Why? Is he trying to be my friend again?
There was a time when I trusted Lucas wholeheartedly, but since he’s been home, his motives have been hard to gauge.
Finally, I nod. If he tattles, I’ll deal with it. I’ll have no choice. It would be nice to have a few days to get settled before the storm hits, but it’s not like my brothers—or my parents—can stop me.
They will try, though.
Thunder cracks overhead, and we both rise as the traffic picks up. People run to their cars, headlights beaming as the crowd trails out of the stands.
Carrying my notebook, I pick up the compass and slip it into my pocket. When I look up, Lucas is watching me put it away. He slides his hands into his pockets, and for some reason, it feels like I’m taking something that belongs to him. He had it for years, and he didn’t seem to want to give it back. He lied about leaving it in Dubai. Why?
I stare at the balled fist in his pocket. Did he carry it often?
No. It’s possible it never even went to Dubai. Maybe he found it in his bedroom closet before he put the house up for sale.