If anything, Darren had said (or rather, sniffed) that according to the rumors, the live camera showed that she’d been bored, on the verge of yawning at his thrusts.

Emery chose a questionable method to show her how he’d felt. A few weeks later, he’d snatched her from a junction where she’d been standing, waiting for the light to turn green, driven her to a deserted alley with his best friends, and marked her forever. Jesse knew the kids at her school would have a fucking field day if the truth came out, so the families struck a deal: the boys were to stay away from Jesse and leave town to attend an out-of-state college, and she was never to speak about The Incident. Ever. The idea that someone on Jesse’s side had agreed to that deal made me want to strangle the life out of both of them.

That was her story. Sex tape. Gang rape. Stupid-ass parents.

Coming face-to-face with Nolan and Henry, knowing I couldn’t smash their faces into a rock until their airways were clogged with blood, killed a piece of me I really cherished. The piece where my morals were safely locked away.

The worst part about our situation was that Jesse might not have wanted people to touch her, but deep inside she was a carnal little pixie. The stunning siren with powder blue eyes I’d seen swimming to shore all those years ago still lived somewhere inside of her. I couldn’t overlook that fact, even with that hoodie and ball cap. She made her way to me, marching like a captured soldier—proud but defeated—her eyes fixed on an invisible spot behind my head. I was perched on a barstool, rolling myself a fat one. She stopped before we could smell each other. Before the ink at the nape of her neck reminded her that I, too, was a sin.

“I don’t like coffee,” she said flatly. No hi. No how are you. Social codes be damned.

“Me neither.”

She fought a timid smirk, shooting her gaze down to her Keds. Seeing her teeth sinking into her lower lip made my dick jam its way against my surf shorts. I didn’t even bother to hate myself for it. There were more chances of my making a move on a dead vampire bat than ever tapping her ass. Nonetheless—damn.

“You’ll get a smoothie if you behave. I have some stuff to do first. Let’s hit the road.” I started making my way outside, tipping my head down as a farewell to Gail and Beck behind the counter.

Snowflake followed. “Where are we going?”

“I have business to transact.”

“Sounds shady.”

Couldn’t argue with that one. “Some of us don’t have rich parents to buy our way through life. C’mon, it’ll be fun.”

Or not. It’s not like she had plenty of social calls to choose from, and I did have a job to do. Jesse matched my steps, light-jogging toward me. I was much taller and much faster, but she had good stamina on her. She didn’t get an ass worthy of a thousand poems and a world war sitting on those fine cheeks all day. I slid a joint between my lips, mainly because I didn’t know what to say to her.

“You smoke an awful lot of pot.” She plucked a piece of her hair and brought it to her mouth, chewing on the tips.

“Legal in California,” I said around my hippy stick, lighting it.

“Not if you do it in public. Are you begging to get arrested?”

“Begging—no. Trying, maybe.” Brian Diaz, the local sheriff, was in my pocket. I fucked his wife every Tuesday as a favor for turning a blind eye to my shenanigans. I could do anything I wanted short of decapitating the mayor in the middle of Liberty Park and get away with it with little to no repercussions. Plus, Grier was kind of hot, so it wasn’t exactly a torture.

We walked along the promenade, two very unlikely allies. I was the guy everyone knew, and she was a ghost desperate to be forgotten. A bunch of girls in bikini tops and Daisy Dukes passed us by, fist-bumping me with seductive grins while checking her out. At first, she didn’t say anything. But then when Samantha the lawyer winked at me and laughed when our shoulders brushed while she hurried in her cream suit to a meeting or whatever, Jesse crumpled her forehead.

“Is there one woman in this town you haven’t slept with?”

“Yeah. You.”

“Is that why I’m here?”

“As I said, my job doesn’t allow for a girlfriend, and you’re not exactly giving me the one-night stand vibes.”

We were passing by a fast food joint, a tattoo parlor, and a Sicilian ice cream place. The sun was dazzling, the sky liquid blue, and the smiles around us big and genuine. Life was a giant, fat sunray, but Jesse was shivering in a dark slice of shadow, refusing to join the fun.