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“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.”
