“No, we moved...” He paused as if unsure of how to continue. “We were moving south, with no clear cut destination. Liamʼs Jeep broke down on the side of the Interstate. While we were waiting for it to be fixed we decided this was as good of a place as any to stay. National forests offer an ideal place for Shifters to run and hunt.

“I have no idea how I managed to not see you come into Beckʼs class. I wasnʼt paying attention to anything going on in that room until I heard your voice putting that bastard in his place.” Obviously, he remembered my exchange with our Calculus teacher a bit differently than I did. “I turned around and there you were. I thought I had found you so many times before, but this time there was no doubt. I had literally found the girl of my dreams.” I replayed the first day of school in my head, trying to see it from his point of view. “And she was rude and her brother picked a fight with you.”

“Well, it didnʼt exactly go how I had planned it. I acted like such a moron, just standing there, staring at you as if you were suddenly going to leap into my arms and kiss me. It never even occurred to me that to you I was a complete stranger

“Then, when I saw you with another Shifter in the cafeteria, I realized things were going to be a bit more complicated than I had anticipated. And, of course, your attitude towards me in the beginning was a bit disheartening.” He said it with a smile, as if it were no big deal, but I felt bad all the same.

“I guess I was bit of a disappointment, huh?”

“The situation was disappointing. It still is.” He pushed my hair behind my ear, and I leaned into his hand. “But youʼre not a disappointment. Youʼre even more amazing than I thought you would be.” His lips met mine once again. It felt as if a soft warm light spread from my mouth to the top of my head, tips of my fingers, and all the way down to my toes. When his tongue reached out to taste my lower lip, the light turned into a searing heat, melting all the bones from my body.

He pulled away from me slowly and I let my eyes drink in his flushed cheeks, swollen lips, and fiery gaze. “I love you,” he said again, causing my heart to swell to the point of bursting.

I was going to say it back. I should have, but as I opened my mouth, I caught sight of Charlieʼs face staring back at me from a picture frame sitting on my bedside table and the words got stuck in my throat.

Chapter 13

That night I found Angel reclining in her bed against a mountain of frilly pink pillows. Elf rested on her lap until I came through the door. The sight of me sent him scurrying underneath a dresser at the far end of the room where he proceeded to hiss out a stream of vulgarities.

“Did Alex go home?”

“Yep. He told me to tell you goodnight. Again.” The two of them had shared a ridiculously long exchange of “goodnights” in fake British accents before I made Angel go to bed.

I went over and sat on the edge of her bed, praying I wouldnʼt break it. Everything in Angelʼs room is tiny, pink, and orderly. “You had fun today, didnʼt you?” She nodded her head, blond curls bouncing every which way. “Those brownies were so good. I think it was the candy bar that really did it. Next time Iʼm going to use a Snickers to see what that tastes like.”

I was living with a three foot tall Martha Stewart.

“And you like Alex, right?”

“Alex is my friend. Heʼs nice.”

I took a deep breath and lowered myself so that we were eye level. I had to make sure she understood. “If you want to be a good friend to Alex, youʼre going to have to promise to never, ever, ever tell anyone that he was here today.”

“Scout, I can keep a secret.”

“But this is a big secret. An important one.” One that probably shouldnʼt have been entrusted to a first grader, but it was a little late for that.

“Iʼve kept big, important secrets before.”

“Like what?” Knowing her it would be that her best friend, Kinsey Jessup, still watched Dora the Explorer.

Angel gave a dramatic sigh and eye roll that she had to have picked up from Jase. “If I told you, they wouldnʼt be secrets anymore.”

How could I have gotten into a situation where so much depended upon my little sisterʼs ability to keep her mouth shut? I should have sent Alex home the moment I found him on my front porch.

“Angel listen...” I closed my eyes and ran through the color spectrum in my head, a trick I picked up during Talleyʼs New Age phase. “Alex means a lot to me,” I finally said. “If anyone found out that he was here or that...you know...”

“You kiss him?”

“Yeah, that. If anyone found out about that I might...we might...never get to see him again.

He would have to move really far away.” Or worse.

She stretched out her arm and locked her little finger around mine to signify the most solemn vow a six year old could make. “I wonʼt tell anyone. Pinky-promise.” I didnʼt doubt her sincerity, but I did doubt her ability to follow through. Every time she opened her mouth during those next few days I kept expecting the truth to come tumbling out, but it never did. It was as if she had forgotten it had ever happened. Eventually I started to believe that she had.

Turns out, though, that my sister is just really good at keeping secrets. So good, in fact, that I had no idea what she was up to when she asked me to take her to Landing Park the following Thursday.

Lake County has more parks than people. You canʼt drive five miles down any given road without seeing one of those ugly brown Corps of Engineering signs proclaiming some random field a recreation area. Most of the spots had picnic tables housed in shiny pavilions, state-of-the-art playground equipment, and other sparkly things to attract all the summer tourists.

Landing Park was not one of those recreation areas. It boasted two swings, one of which had been broken since I was a kid, a rusted slide, and a wooden picnic table missing two planks.

No one, with the exception of drug dealers, ever went there.

“This place is a dump,” I told my sister as we walked up the gravel path. I had my hand on her shoulder, steering her along so that she didnʼt step on any jagged beer bottle shards interlaced with the rocks. “There is only one swing, and a slide that Iʼm not letting you get on without a tetanus shot.”

Ignoring me, as per usual, Angel skipped over to the lone swing and hopped on. I set up station at the crumbled picnic table, where I attempted to keep frostbite from forming on my fingers. Five minutes later, just as I was ready to declare Crappy Park Fun Day over, a car came winding down the drive.