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He caught her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “He’s definitely predictable.”
She reveled in the feel of his breath against her skin. Every time he touched her, his gentleness took her by surprise.
“Will you tell me what really happened last week?” she asked. “With Tyler?”
Michael looked back out at the water. “It’s not important.”
“It is to me.”
He sighed. “The twins were cutting through the woods to walk home. Tyler and Seth roughed them up.”
She frowned. “So you went after Tyler to get back at him?”
“I never went after Tyler.” His sudden fury was palpable. “Believe me, I’d leave you all alone if—” He stopped short. “Forget it.”
“Tell me.”
“In the woods, Nick got away. He ran all the way home and got me. By the time we made it back to them, they’d ganged up on Gabriel. Tyler and Seth ran when I got there.”
Emily frowned. “But Tyler had a black eye—”
“Yeah. You know who gave it to him? Gabriel.” He shook his head. “Of course he’d say it was me. Can’t be running around telling people he got decked by a twelve-year-old.”
She wasn’t surprised to hear her brother was a liar and a bully. “I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t start this fight, Emily.” He looked down at their joined hands. “Even this ... it won’t work.”
But he didn’t let go.
“We could try,” she whispered.
He stared back at her. “Emily ...”
“We could stand up to them. I could tell the others about you, that you’re not—”
“Wait. Shhh.” He put a hand to her lips, his attention focused up the hill.
She whispered around his hand. “What?”
His eyes snapped back to hers. “They did follow us. They must have had another car. Is there a different way back up the hill?”
Then she heard branches breaking, boys calling to each other in the darkness. Fear punched her in the stomach, hard.
Michael squeezed her hand. “Come on. Is there another way?”
She shook her head quickly. “No—we beat down this path last summer.”
“We know you’re down there!” Tyler’s voice. “We saw the truck.”
She could almost feel his presence through the air—he was close.
“Through the water,” said Michael. “We can swim across the quarry.”
“You go,” she said. “I’ll stall them—”
He swore. “You are out of your mind. I’m not leaving you to face them.” Then, before she could answer, he was dragging her down the hill, to the edge of the rocks, until the water was glittering below them.
“So we run?” she said.
