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“Beckett’s father donates so much money to his alma mater, he can walk onto the team with a broken leg and they’ll all welcome him with huge smiles.”
“Wow, nepotism for the win,” I muttered, and I peered at Cayden in the mirror.
His face was hard to read.
“Well?” Dad asked Cayden. “Aren’t you excited?”
Cade turned his blue gaze to him and slowly nodded. “Can’t you tell?”
His deadpan voice sent my eyes rolling.
My dad just chuckled. “I guess that’s what focus looks like.”
We drove on and soon pulled into the huge gates of HHH. Now that everything was out in the open about California, I felt lighter than I ever had, despite the terrible events in Midnight Falls.
“Thanks for the ride, I’ll see you later,” I said to my dad as he stopped in the staff lot.
I hopped down from the truck.
“Don’t thank me. I’m cherishing every single ride we have like this, now that our days might be numbered,” my dad called to me.
I stilled in the doorway. “Might be numbered?” I repeated.
He grinned. “I’ve not given up hope that you’ll still decide to stay. After all, HHU is a great school…at least as good as your other pick.”
I huffed, suddenly aware that Cayden might be within earshot.
“Dad,” I started.
He chuckled, waving me away. “I know, don’t nag. I’ve got it. But a man can hope, can’t he? See you later, Lilypad.”
I got two steps before a huge hand landed on my shoulder and my backpack was plucked off me.
“Hey!” I whirled around, already swinging for it. My hands hit the wall of Cayden’s chest.
“Calm down, Freckles, I’m just carrying it for you. You’ve got so much in here, you look like you’re about to tip over.”
“I can carry my own bag just fine, and besides, if you care to remember, you have a stab wound in your side.”
“A flesh wound, you said so yourself,” Cayden said and actually grinned at me.
I stopped, my momentum halted by the unusual sight.
He walked backward away from me, still holding my pink bag on his shoulder.
“Cayden, give it back,” I protested.
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think I will. I think if you want your stuff today, you’ll have to come and ask me for it.”
“Are you being serious right now?” Heat filled me, a writhing sort of excitement from interacting with Cayden again. Despite everything we’d been through together, he gave me one cheeky grin, and I was melting. Feminists should use me as a cautionary tale. I needed to donate my brain to science for research on illogical decision-making.
“Seems like it. I guess I’ll be seeing you between each period today.”
“Cayden!” I snapped. “Can you stop?”
Cayden sighed, his shoulders falling. He tipped his head to the side and narrowed those sea-blue eyes at me. “No, I don’t think I can. When it comes to wanting you, I can’t seem to stop.”
He rummaged around in my bag while my heart was lodged too firmly in my mouth to talk. He took out a thick textbook and my favorite notebook and handed them to me.
