I was waiting outside at my dad’s truck after practice when a couple girls I vaguely recognized drifted by. It had been the longest day in history, and I just wanted to go home, but seeing as I carpooled with my dad, I had to wait until practice ended.
I’d gotten no work done at the rink. The temptation to watch Cayden train had been too overwhelming. I might not be a huge hockey fan, but even I could tell how talented he was. He moved with unnatural grace on the ice and held his stick like it was an extension of him. After only a few minutes, I could see why my dad was so excited about him. He was a star in the making, and Coach Williams was the one in the position to discover him.
I’d watched him and enjoyed every second, a guilty little secret I hid inside myself. What wasn’t to enjoy? He was beautiful, and strong, and fast as hell on the ice, and all that power and violence that seemed to emanate from him in normal life suddenly fit perfectly. He was born to play, and sitting there tonight, it felt like I was born to watch him.
How pathetic was that?
“Lillian?”
The voice jerked me from my thoughts. The girls who’d been passing by were now stopped. I struggled to remember their names…Sara and Ellen, that was it.
I smiled quickly at them. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good. We were at glee club, and it ran late. You?”
“Just waiting for my dad to finish up inside.” I rolled my eyes. “You know how it is with hockey season.”
“Your dad and Cayden West, right? I mean, he’s living with you?” Ellen asked.
I fought a groan. Another round of girls trying to get information about the new hot hockey player? Today was never-ending.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ellen frowned, biting her lip. She didn’t seem nearly as excited as the other girls who’d tried to grill me about Cayden. Instead, she was nervous. She stepped closer to me.
“Listen, I don’t know you well at all, so just tell me to get lost if you want…but you should be careful around Cade. He’s not who everyone thinks he is. Don’t let your guard down.” Her words were like a bucket of ice water over my head.
“What do you mean?”
“I used to live in Midnight Falls. I went to high school with him for a few years. He has a reputation in town.” Ellen looked skittish like she might run off at any second. She took a step away.
I reached out and grabbed her arm. “Wait! What kind of reputation?”
She stopped, her hands fidgeting with her bag strap. “It’s not my place to say, I just – I just wanted to say be careful. Your family is so kind, and your dad is such a nice guy…I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen, not when I could have warned you about him—”
“What about him exactly?” I urged her.
A prickling sensation ran across my skin, like a cold, threatening touch. Just like that, we were no longer alone. Sara, Ellen’s friend, gasped and spun away, power walking in the opposite direction.
“Yes, what about him exactly?” Cayden’s deep voice spoke from my right.
I risked a glance that way. He leaned against the back of the truck nonchalantly, his eyes glittering in the darkness.
Ellen ripped her arm from my touch, her face paling, even in the dim light of the parking lot. She squeaked when I took a step toward her and then rushed away after her friend.
I gave Cayden a glare. “So now you’re just going around threatening any poor student who crosses you?”
Cayden shrugged. “I didn’t threaten her. I just asked a question.”
He straightened up, his heavy hockey bag swinging on his shoulder as he sauntered toward me.
“What kind of reputation do you have in Midnight Falls?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest, trying to put some kind of barrier between us. The memory of our kiss earlier crowded my head for a moment before I forced it out.
“What do you think?” Cayden asked lazily.
His tone was light, well, as light as he ever sounded, but it was thin. A veil stretched over his anger. I could feel it throbbing beneath the surface. I’d never met someone before who was always just a touch away from violence. It was unsettling as hell.
“I don’t know – local psychopath?”
“Hmm, more like star player and a guy who always gets what he wants.” He stopped beside me and leaned against the truck, his arm brushing mine.
He smelled like the showers, and I wondered if he’d showered alone again. What the hell was the word on his skin that he didn’t want me to see? The image of his bare back floated through my head. It hadn’t been a tattoo I saw; of that, I was sure. It had been letters, though, carved deeply into the skin, and often enough to scar.
“Did you enjoy watching training?”
“I wasn’t watching. I was studying.”
He chuckled quietly. “Sure you were.”
“Where’s my dad, anyway?” I asked, twisting around to look in the direction of the gym.
“Why? Don’t you like being alone with me, Freckles?”
“Don’t call me Freckles.”
“What else should I call you? Ladybug?”
I snorted. “If you think that’s meaner than just Bug, you should know it’s not. It’s cute.”
I jerked, my words dying on my lips as Cayden’s hand reached out and brushed my arm, circling over a patch of freckles.
“Red with spots…elegant, but cute…so fragile and easy to crush. It suits you.”
I watched in fascination as he touched me for a heart pounding moment. His fingers were so thick and long. His whole damn hand was huge. Huge and capable. A shiver went down my spine. How was he able to make such awful threats one minute, then turn around and be gentle the next? I couldn’t get my head around him.
“Sorry to keep you guys waiting!” my dad called across the parking lot. He appeared out of the darkness just as Cayden dropped his hand.
“Lily, what did you think of Cayden?” my dad asked as we got into the truck. “This is your first time seeing him on the ice.”
I sat in the back and grabbed my phone out of my bag, intending to stare at it and avoid conversation all the way home.
“Hmmm, fine, I guess.”
“Fine? He was great.” My dad turned to Cayden. “You, Beckett, Marcus, and Asher are going to dominate the league, I can feel it. Make sure to get your head straight. Nothing matters but this.”
I zoned out of the sound of the upcoming inspirational speech. I stared unseeingly at my phone before popping my headphones on and staring out the window at the dark street rushing by. Ellen’s words played in my head. Be careful around Cade. What was she talking about, and why had she been so scared? She’d been worried for my family. It didn’t make any sense, but it was terrifying at the same time. Cayden wanted me to stay out of his business and not tell anyone what I’d seen. That only made sense if he wasn’t really a serial killer or someone who’d pose a danger to my family. My secret dirty fantasies or a dream school in California were nothing compared to the thought of my parents being in danger. I grabbed my phone and shot off a message to Eve.
Hey. Want to go for a trip after school tomorrow?
Sure, I’m always down for a trip. Where to?
Midnight Falls.
Ew. Why?
I’ll tell you on the way.
Shoot, I actually can’t tomorrow. I’ve got to help my mom. Then I have a group project. What about Tuesday?
Tuesday? I’d wanted to go as quickly as possible, but I didn’t want to go on my own. I supposed busting Cayden West’s secrets could wait till after the weekend.
Okay, let’s go on Tuesday. Let’s leave right after last period.
We got home just after seven, and I itched to go for a run. My anxiety and tension frothed in my veins like pop. I’d never be able to sleep while I was so jumpy. The thought of the downstairs gym, with its stuffy air and proximity to Cayden, was too much to handle.
I changed in my room into leggings and a sweatshirt, thick socks, and my running sneakers. Cayden and my dad were still in the kitchen talking tactics before the game. I paused at the entrance.
“Dad, I’m going for a jog.”
“In the gym?”
“No, outside. It’s not that late, and I’m a big girl. It’s not even that dark yet,” I rambled. Crap. I was going to college next year, and yet I still had to beg for permission to go for a run alone after dark. How exactly my parents didn’t see how controlling and overprotective they were, I had no idea.
“Lil, that’s why we have a gym.”
“Dad—”
“I can go with her, Coach. It’s no trouble. I’ll make sure she’s safe. I was going to go for a run, anyway.” Cayden’s voice was well-meaning and earnest.
I blinked at him. He even looked genuine. And the psycho actor award goes to…
“Are you telling me that training didn’t kill you? I’ll have to step it up next time. I told you just to call me Eric at home.” My dad slapped Cayden’s shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.
My mom’s voice called through the house, and my dad sighed.
“Okay, kids, I’ve got to go and see the lady of the house. Take care of my girl for me, Cade. See you later.”
And just like that, he disappeared.
I turned on my heel and left the room, hustling for the door. Maybe if I moved quickly, Cayden would be too tired to bother me. Ha, that was wishful thinking.
He was right there beside me as I strode up the driveway.
“So, where are we going?”
“I am going on a jog; you can go run off the edge of the cliff at the end of the road.” I started to jog, slow and steady. I hadn’t run outside in a while, and my muscles immediately protested at the incline on the street.
Cayden fell into an easy jog beside me, having no such problems, despite having just finished a two-hour training session.
“Well, that doesn’t sound fun at all. I’ll pass.” He jogged beside me for a few more seconds before veering into me and herding me off the street and down a small alley that ran between two houses. Night was gradually falling.
“What the hell?!” I protested, pushing against him, my feet nearly stumbling over each other.
No streetlights reached the alley, and I wanted to get back on the road again as soon as possible. I didn’t trust this guy in the shadows.
“Jogging is boring. Let’s make it a little more interesting.” Cayden stood close, his chest pressing against mine.
This guy had no concept of personal space. The kiss in the woods popped unbidden into my mind, robbing me of breath. Damn my hormones. My skin was already flushing with the memory of his touch.
“I think watching you run over the edge of a cliff sounds plenty interesting.”
“Very funny. I think you need a better workout than this slow-and-steady shit. Nothing burns calories like running away from something.”
Nerves coated my mouth, and I knew with sudden certainty that I’d made a big mistake letting him bring me out here. My dad thought Cayden would make me safer running outside at night? What a joke.
“And what do you want me to run away from? You?” I squared up to him as well as I could, considering our size difference. “I already told you I wasn’t scared of you.”
“But you’re scared of your filthy little non-con fantasies getting out, aren’t you? Normal girls would be…or are you just giving up on pretending to be a good girl?”
I didn’t have words to answer him. He was right. I should be scared of that. It was the most humiliating thing anyone had ever discovered about me. The dreams that I’d never even confessed to Eve because of how shameful they were. Now Cayden, the very star of those dreams, held them over me like an axe to my neck. I have to get some leverage on him. Yes, I needed something just as shameful to hold over Cayden’s head. Something that would balance the power between us. I would find it in Midnight Falls on Tuesday. I had to. For now, though, I had to play along.
He smiled at my silence. “Good, I’m glad we understand each other. Since I’m feeling merciful, let’s make it a simple setup. Escape me and get home before I catch you, and you win – I’ll leave you alone, for tonight.”
“And if you win?” My heart felt like it was convulsing as I waited for his answer.
His eyes drifted to my lips. Our earlier kiss was seared in my brain, and I couldn’t stop seeing it. His lip was crusted over. My teeth had done that.
“If I win, and catch you before you get home…I get to kiss you.”
A scoff left me before I could help it.
“A kiss? Are you serious? What are we, five?”
“Were you looking for something more?” Cayden baited me.
A furious blush blossomed in my cheeks. “Hilarious. No, I wasn’t looking for anything from you, but even then, for all your posturing and threats, a kiss is really very tame.”
He leaned in then, his mouth brushing my ear. “I didn’t say where I was going to kiss you, though, did I?”
Those words slid through me, sending heat trailing in their wake. God, it couldn’t be normal to be so turned on by someone so terrible. I had a problem. I was sick.
“Now, since I’m feeling kind, I’ll give you a ten-second head start. Ten…”
I pushed away from him, stumbling back a couple of steps.
He watched me with laser-like focus. “Nine… better run, unless you want to get caught.”
I turned on my heel and sprang forward. Racing back to the street, I considered my options. I could immediately turn toward home. I might make it before he finished counting. But then again, he’d probably suspect I’d gone that way. I needed to fool him. I turned right and headed away from home, adrenaline pounding through my veins. I ran up the street and then cut through a well-known shortcut to get to the next street over.
It was silent all around me, save for the pound of my sneakers on the street. Ahead, a porch light came on, and someone pulled into their driveway. It wasn’t late. All the lights on the street blazed in the windows, illuminating people hanging out with friends, watching TV, generally being normal and safe at home. A sanctuary I no longer had. Cayden had taken it away from me.
I ran like my life depended on it, adrenaline lighting up my nerves. Before long, my breath burned in my lungs. I wasn’t steadying myself; I was sprinting, and I couldn’t keep it up for much longer. I crossed the train tracks, my sneakers slipping on the rough gravel. Hade Harbor was a safe town, but if you were looking for trouble, you’d probably find it around the train station near Eve and Asher’s house.
I crossed the street opposite the station and into the neighborhoods that lined the tracks. Trash littered the streets here, and the cars were old and beaten up. The houses looked dilapidated, too, and some were missing windows. I pushed on, not daring to look back and see Cayden bearing down on me. A dog barked madly beside me, chained in a yard, scaring me into twisting and nearly falling.
“Careful there, pretty girl. Don’t be scared of Nails. He’s just excited to see you.”
I collided with a hard chest. I didn’t fall, that was one thing, but I seemed to have found trouble. A group of older guys hung around on the corner, and I’d stumbled right into them.
“He’s not the only one.” Another one of them laughed.
I took a step back, and the man I’d bumped into shadowed the movement.
“Hey, where are you going? You just got here,” he said, flashing me a creepy grin. His hand landed on my arm. “Stay awhile.”
“I have to go, I’m sorry,” I said mindlessly. Why the hell was I apologizing?
“You have nothing to be sorry for, because you’re not going anywhere, isn’t that right?”
The man’s smile had dropped. His friends crowded close to him. My mouth went as dry as a bone. His head was shaved in patches and balding in others. His brown-stained teeth hinted at drug abuse. His grip bit into my arm, pinching into the skin. I was terrified. This was it. Real terror, pure and simple. I vowed to never again roll my eyes at my dad when he cautioned against running alone at night.
I tugged my arm, but it didn’t budge from the man’s steel grip. He held my arm hard enough to cause bruises.
“Please,” I heard myself say. “I don’t want any trouble.”
The ringleader laughed. “Girlie, didn’t you hear? Sometimes trouble wants you.” He grinned at me, but then his eyes shifted over my shoulder. His grip lessened a touch on my arm, and he seemed to pull back.
“She said she didn’t want any trouble. You guys hard of hearing or what?”
Cayden’s deep voice slid over me, enveloping me in relief. Cayden was here. I wasn’t alone. I didn’t know when exactly the idea of him had become reassuring—especially since I’d just been running away from him, scared of being caught–but my relief was undeniable.
His huge body came to press against my side. The guys in the group eyed him up and down, clearly wondering to themselves how much trouble he would give them.
“We heard. We just don’t care. How about you?” The man holding my arm jerked his head up, an aggressive invitation to Cayden.
Cayden chuckled, a low, dangerous sound. “Me? I love trouble.”
He jerked me out of the ringleader’s hold before punching him square in the face. The fight that broke out was sudden and violent. Cayden was an explosive force of darkness, bending and ducking, delivering punches and kicks like a seasoned street fighter. The guys he fought rallied, taken by surprise but quickly recovering.
Cayden spared me a glance. “Home, now. Run!”
“What about you?” I was panicking. How could he fight off four guys?
“I’ll be right behind you,” he grunted, bringing an elbow down on someone attempting to take him around the waist.
His eyes shot to mine again, and I understood. He couldn’t fight them off for long. He was buying time.
I turned and ran. I made it to the tracks before Cayden caught up with me. I could hear yells and threats from behind us. They were chasing us. My feet slipped on the rubble around the tracks, and only Cayden’s hand clamping around mine kept me from falling. He didn’t let go when we cleared the tracks. He didn’t let go when we reached the quiet streets of my neighborhood.
We kept running, Cayden’s hand was warm around mine, reassuring. He had to be running slower to accommodate my pace, but he gave no sign of annoyance as we sprinted up the street. He kept glancing back.
Are they still following us?
My lungs screamed when my house came into sight. Pain cramped around my chest and I could hardly suck in enough air to continue. I was slicked with sweat, my body flashing hot and cold with fear and exertion.
“Almost there. Don’t even think about stopping,” Cayden grunted, his hand tightening around mine, like he could tell that I was on the verge of collapsing.
“I can’t make it,” I wheezed.
“You can, and you will,” he said in a resolute tone. “You don’t have a choice.”
We crested the hill just before my driveway, and I put my head down, gripping Cayden’s hand like it was a battery pack that could bring me back to life. I screamed as my legs pumped, propelling us the last feet to cross onto the property, through the gate, and behind the fence of home. Slowing, Cayden let go of my hand as I turned back and stared down the street. It was empty. They’d gone.
“Oh my God,” I muttered, my body feeling like a stranger to me. My muscles burned. Everything hurt. I straightened up, and my stomach rebelled. I’d barely turned my head to the front lawn before I started to dry heave. Retching, feeling hopeless and vulnerable as hell, bent over with my hands braced on my knees, I convulsed, struggling to bring something up.
Cayden’s huge hand clamped around my hanging hair and pulled it back sharply.
“You need to work on your fitness. You’re the coach’s daughter, for Christ’s sake,” he muttered. He held my hair in a punishing grip as he took in every second of my anguish.
This was all his fault. I’d never have run into that shitty neighborhood if I hadn’t been running from him and his stupid threats. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stood, yanking my head out of his grip. He was too close, getting his addictive smell all in my face. I pushed at his chest and staggered away. He was barely breathing hard after that ten-minute sprint, while I felt like I was going to die.
A thousand accusations rose to my lips as I finally looked at his face, and then they died right there.
His lip was bleeding again, badly this time, and his eyebrow was cut. His left eye was already blossoming into dark-purple bruises. He was hurt. He was hurt from defending me.
We stared at each other as I caught my breath.
“You’re hurt,” I said flatly to conceal my worry. Damn, I was a pushover.
“I’ve had worse in a friendly practice,” he said and shrugged.
“I don’t feel sorry for you,” I blurted out suddenly, rebelling against the voice in my head that felt bad that he had gotten beat up for defending me.
“I didn’t ask you to.” Cayden’s expression was unreadable. “And for the record, I don’t feel sorry for you either.” He turned and strode toward the house.
I stared after him. What the hell did that mean?
