I have to look away from the phone. A single tear pools in the corner of my eye. Luca knows me all too well, and hiding the truth from him is too hard. I should have known this would happen.
His voice drops to almost a whisper. “Kins, listen, nothing will bring him back, no matter what you do.”
He’s right. Deep down, I know that. But I have to make it right—find a way I can live with his death, as selfish as that may be. But for that to happen, someone has to pay.
The rest of our call isn’t our usual fun banter and teasing. I give him an undetailed version of my hellish day and training at the dojo. He admits school was boring without me. I miss how things used to be, when everything was so much easier, normal. He would have picked me up this morning for school, had a couple of classes together, ate lunch together, snapped a pic of some passersby, added some bunny ears and fangs, and we’d laugh. There would have been so much laughing. Today, without him, it was the complete opposite.
“Your hair doesn’t look terrible. Even though it washes out your tan, it makes your blue eyes pop.”
“Thanks.” Warmth spreads through my chest. Leave it to Luca to make me feel a little better.
“And for anyone who doesn’t know you’re a true blonde, keep your panties on.”
“Luca!” I pick up my pillow and hit the phone.
His naughty comment breaks the glacier-size ice between us. He laughs without malice. “You know you’ve got to if you want to keep up your secret agent identity. Plus, that color gives you bad girl vibes.” He claws at the screen and growls a purr.
I cringe. “Please, don’t do that ever again.” Then I shake my head. “I have no plans for getting that close to anyone.”
“Better tell me if you do.” He fluffs his pillow. “I’m tired. I’ll call you tomorrow. Maybe then you’ll be ready to let me in on your little mission.”
My mission is anything but little. But he doesn’t need to know that, not this soon into it, anyway. “Good night. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
The screen goes as black as the damp locks falling around my shoulders. As I switch off the light and crawl into bed, my head spins with thoughts of one person. Edge. It’s like I’m on one of those whirling rides, and each time I come around, there’s his beautiful, haunting face. It’s dizzying.
He’s proving to be more than just some rich guy who wants to fuck off. He’s challenging and curious, which equals dangerous. It also doesn’t help that he’s hot as fuck. It’s distracting. He’s distracting. And I can’t afford any distractions. He makes me feel vulnerable in a way that makes me question if I can trust myself with him. Even if I can’t accept this truth, I know it’s there. I can’t let him catch on to it.
If he does, he’ll bury me alive.
9
KINSLEY
Daytwo of the shit show at Monarch.
I debate on whether to be an intentional bitch and take Edge’s parking spot again, but I decide not to ask for trouble and find a spot far away from the one Edge has claimed.
“Going to give us another striptease this afternoon?” some random guy asks as he walks by me.
Is that douche talking about me shredding our dreadful uniform yesterday after school? Ignoring him, I continue onward toward my first class. Just inside the main building stand a few guys and a couple of girls I may or may not recognize. This early in the game, everyone looks the same, with only a few who stand out. I won’t mention names.
“Maybe today you can take it all off,” one guy says. The rest of his friends laugh and agree with crude gestures.
I flash them the finger along with a bored expression as I pass their little group. Fuck them. Maybe I will.
Not a minute passes before I’m confronted again.
“Good morning, sunshine.” Bryce’s arm wraps around my shoulder.
I let out a small chuckle. “Are you always this happy first thing in the morning? I need to know before I get in too deep.”
He looks up to the ceiling as if contemplating an answer as he guides us effortlessly through the crowded hall. “Yeah, you could say that. I’m just naturally an uppity kind of guy.”
“Uppity? Is that like your grandma’s pet name for you?”
He stops mid-step and turns me with his hands on my shoulders so I’m looking directly at him. “That’s not funny. She’s dead.”
