Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 103104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103104 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
I swallow down the past. “I was blackmailed by my mom.”
“Dude. You have some weird shit going on.”
“Oh, Wyatt. You have no idea.”
He cocks his head and mulls something over. “Did you know you were mumbling the whole way back from the stadium?”
“What was I saying?”
We approach the doors.
“‘I’m too young. He’s too young.’ I think you meant you and Knox, of course.” He rolls his eyes. “But I want you to know—that look on your face when your mom left… You aren’t young, Ava. You’re ancient. And Knox? He’s there too.”
I don’t know what to say about that.
He tosses an arm around me as we walk back into the lobby. “So, it’s Friday night and it’s just you and me. What do you want to do?”
I shake my head. “I’m just…lost.”
He exhales, holding me tighter. “Let’s get in my car and just drive. How does that sound? We’ll roll the windows down, let the night air in, and blare some rap music. You can tell me what a hot dude I am and that Jagger is going to fall in love with me.”
I can’t help the grin on my face, and I reach up and kiss his cheek. “I love you. Marry me?”
“Same. I insist we register at Pottery Barn. Sheets and towels and candles. Would you mind if Jagger marries me too? Three-way?”
I laugh. “No, you’d never pay any attention to me. Come on, let’s go for that drive.”
22
I wake up with a scream, my body shaking as I wrestle myself out of a nightmare about ghostly trees and coyotes circling me as I lie in the woods. Gulping in air, I try to orient myself in the darkened room and control my rapid breathing. The attack from last week sneaks in.
That’s where you belong, bitch, at my feet—and don’t you forget it.
I close my eyes, my hands clenching the quilt.
Something so familiar about… But it’s gone.
Forget the dream. Get some sleep.
With a glance at my phone, I see it’s seven in the morning, way too soon to get up considering Wyatt and I didn’t get home until midnight. I toss over and beat at my pillow, trying to get comfortable, but an hour later, it’s pointless, my head is still replaying last night.
Why is Knox pushing me away little by little?
Why did his dad offer to send me to New York and take care of Tyler? He’s never even met me before, yet he’d be willing to fork over thousands of dollars just to get me out of Camden? It doesn’t make sense. Obviously, he wants Knox to focus on football and his brother and not me, but—
I pause.
Why does Dane dislike being around me? I can accept that part of it is because of what happened to his mom, but something doesn’t feel right, and a sense of foreboding creeps over me, heavy and thick, crawling down my spine.
I get out of bed, take a quick shower, and throw on some shorts and a Cranberries shirt. After making my bed and going over some homework, I’m still antsy and frustrated. At ten, I call Wyatt, and we make a plan to meet at a coffee shop in town.
We’ve just settled in at a table next to the window when a black Mercedes SUV drives past the shop and parks across the street. Taking a sip of my coffee, I watch as Knox, Dane, and his dad exit the vehicle and walk toward the police station.
“What are they doing?” Wyatt murmurs, following my gaze. “Trouble with the Graysons on a Saturday?”
“No clue,” I reply, frowning.
The three of them stop at the entrance where three other well-dressed men are waiting. One of them is clearly Chance’s dad, a slick-looking older man with sandy hair and a trim frame. Although I’ve never met him, I used to follow Chance’s social posts when we were together, plus I’ve seen him at school a few times to drop off or pick up his son. He’s a lawyer. A lawyer.
My eyes land on a policeman who’s walking down the sidewalk toward them, and I suck in a breath, recognizing his face as the man who interviewed me last fall.
“What’s going on?” Wyatt calls out as I jump up, almost knocking over my coffee. He takes a napkin and dabs at the small spill that sloshed on the table.
“I don’t know.” I breathe quickly as my heart pounds. “But whatever it is, it’s… Something feels off.” I stop, grabbing my purse and dashing for the door.
By the time I push through the exit, they’ve disappeared into the precinct.
“Ava?” It’s Wyatt and he’s followed me.
What…what the hell is going on?
Why are they meeting with the police, armed with lawyers?
“…do you want to go back inside and wait for Knox?” he’s saying, and I realize he’s been talking to me for a while.