Heather

"Reading." What was his problem? I lifted my mug and took a sip while he stared.

He gave a desperate laugh and sank into the seat across from me. "I haven’t felt this out of control in years." He leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. "No. I don’t think I was ever this inept."

I should’ve felt bad for him, but I didn’t. It reassured me. If everyone thought Brent was this awesome guy and he’d lost control, then me making an ass out of myself all the time maybe wasn’t such a big deal.

"Glad I’m not the only one feeling crazy." I tugged on my ponytail.

"Why’d you storm in here like that?"

He sat back. "It’s too embarrassing to admit."

"That’s a stupid thing to say. Now you have to tell me."

"I thought..." He scrunched his eyes closed. "I thought you and Presley..."

My mouth dropped open. "He’s like the principal!" A smile spread across my face. The guy was jealous and I loved it.

"Yeah well, he’s Alpha. He could handle you. If anyone here could take you from me..." Brent let out a desperate sounding laugh. "I don’t know what my deal is. I just keep thinking that you’re going to change your mind about me. About us."

"You’re saying that like it makes sense. Have you seen yourself?" I grinned when he started laughing. I picked up my book. "Everything has been out of my control lately. And now I found out I can’t leave campus." I sighed dramatically. "I’m tired of not understanding. Ignorance isn’t bliss. It’s completely frustrating. I’m going to read this thing, and then I won’t feel so freaking lost all the time. So no distracting me."

Before I could read one sentence, Brent yanked the book from my hands. "You don’t need this."

I narrowed my gaze at him. "Just because you’re handsome doesn’t mean you get to boss me around. I’m trying to learn some control. I can’t be stuck at this school forever. I’ll go crazy."

"Don’t be so stubborn. When you feel lost or don’t get something, just come to me. I’ll always be there to help."

That was sweet. "I can’t always lean on you. I have to figure this out for myself."

He nodded slowly. "I admire that, but sometimes it’s smarter to ask for help when you need it." He walked around the nook and pulled me up. "Let’s go for a walk."

My heart sped at the thought of being alone with him. It hadn’t been just us since the party.

I separated our hands to pull off my gloves and tuck them in my pocket. It was Brent, and I never got much of anything from him. And if I got something from him today, I didn’t think I’d mind it.

Extra intel on the boy would be more than welcome. "Okay," I said. "Let’s go."

He held out his hand. As soon as we touched, an electric spark stung my fingertips. I pulled away, shaking my hand. "What was that?"

Brent looked at his hand as if it were a stranger. "I don’t know."

"I’d say static electricity, but that doesn’t quite cover it." I’d felt it in my soul.

"No. That was something else. Something more." He reached out again.

I hesitated this time.

"Let’s just see if it happens again," he said.

I closed my eyes as I put my hand in his. It was different the second time. Something clicked into place and I could almost sense a line of energy connecting us. I gasped as it tightened around my heart.

When I dared to open my eyes, he was staring again at our linked hands. "What was that?" I said.

"I don’t know for sure."

My heart raced. "Guess."

"Your heart’s racing. Let’s drop it for now. It can wait." He finally looked up at me. A slow grin spread across his face. "Trust me. It can wait."

"Okaaaay." Weirdo. But I had enough to worry about without this thing, whatever it was. "Are we still going on the walk?"

"I wouldn’t let you out of my sight if I could manage it."

I tugged on his hand. "Not cool. That’s more than a little stalker-ish, dude."

He laughed. "Okay. So that didn’t come out right." He thought for a second. "How about I’d like to spend as much time with you as you’ll let me."

I nodded. "Better. Just this side of Stalkerville."

He gazed down at me. "I thought girls liked that kind of thing."

"Yeah. It’s kind of nice." I grinned.

We walked in silence. I didn’t know where he was leading me, and I didn’t care. The ground crunched beneath my shoes. The smell of trees, grass, dirt and clean air was intoxicating. It wasn’t the same air as LA.

You had to breathe through the layer of smog there. Some days it was so thick, you couldn’t even see the mountains. Totally gross. But in Texas, the fresh air made me long to spend time outside even in spite of the heat.

We reached a sharp drop. I glimpsed the rocky bed below us. "The creek?"

"Yep. We’ll get heavy rains in the winter and spring and it’ll fill up for a while, but by summer it’s always dry," he said. "Want to go back or climb down?"

Caves pocked the wall on the other side of the creek bed. One of them looked large enough for someone to live in. Shadows filled its depths. But the thing that made me pause was the ladder that hung between it and the cave below.

It was weather-beaten and missing a few rungs, which made it look ancient. "What’s in those caves?"

Brent looked where I pointed. "Some Native American drawings. It was a popular place for spirit quests."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

Cool. I shaded the sun to try to get a better look, but it didn’t do any good. "Can we go look?"

The side of Brent’s mouth lifted. "Sure. There’s a small path down here. Be careful. It’s steep."

I watched Brent take the first couple of steps. His lithe movements mesmerized me. His muscles tensed and released under his tight grey T-shirt, and his jeans made his butt look so cute. I titled my head as I stared.

He chose that moment to look back at me.

"You coming?" A grin spread across his face. "What are you looking at?"

"Just enjoying the view." No guy ever caught my attention the way Brent did. I studied his face, with its strong angles. His eyes seemed to be laughing at me, and his grin sure said I was amusing.

It took some effort to reign in my hormones.

I turned my gaze to the ground and started down the path. He wasn’t kidding. It was steep.

Brent made it look easy as he climbed down, but dirt and rocks skidded out from under my shoes, dropping the forty feet or so to the bottom. I kept one hand against the cliff wall as we walked.

I gasped as I slipped, pebbles scattering.

Brent grabbed my waist. "Careful."

"You didn’t tell me I might die on this trail."

He didn’t laugh like I expected. "I would never let you fall."

I rolled my eyes. "I was kidding."

"But I’m not."

The moment was too intense for words. He kept eye contact a second longer than was comfortable, and then turned back to the trail.

By the time we reached the bottom, I’d worked up a good sweat. I scanned up and down the creek. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"It’s so quiet." With the creek walls and trees cutting off even the normal outdoor noise, it felt like we were the only people for miles.

And I liked that.