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CHAPTER27
For the firsttime since being at Credence High, things felt settled. Maybe settled wasn’t the right word; maybe it was the calm before the storm, but after that night at the diner, something changed. Maybe it wasn’t so much a thing as it was me. That night, I made a choice. I chose to ignore all the warning signs, the doubt, and to live for the now.
Evan wanted me… and I wanted him any way I could get him. But I wasn’t the only one who changed—he did too. We still kept ourselves off the public radar, but we took more risks, sneaking into the janitor’s closet or behind the abandoned stacks in the library whenever we could.
“Shh, someone’s coming,” I whispered, pressing a finger to his mouth. Evan’s teeth grazed my skin, setting me alight as I nestled into him while we waited for the unwelcome intruder to pass. “We can’t keep doing this. This is the third time this week we’ve almost been caught.”
“You love it.” He smirked cockily.
He was right, I did. But we were treading a thin line. At first, I’d resented that Evan wanted to keep us a secret, but now, I couldn’t get enough. I was completely and utterly under his spell.
“Who are you and what have you done with the Evan Porter I met back in that first week of school?”
Evan leaned in close, brushing his nose along my jaw. “I have a reputation to uphold.”
I pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw, thinking about his words. Something still didn’t quite add up about him, the way he stayed on the periphery. But if I’d learned one thing since arriving at Credence, it was that most questions came with answers better left unsaid. And I wasn’t brave enough to ask yet.Not if it risked what we had.
“I should go. The guys will be wondering where I am.” I started to untangle myself from Evan’s grip. “Will I see you this weekend?”
“I’m not sure yet. Mom has some shifts at the store, so I’m on Eli duty, and we have this family thing.”
“Okay,” I replied, internally cringing at how disappointed I sounded. It was only one weekend.
Evan dropped a kiss on my head. “Maybe I could come by your house if I get time?”
My eyes widened. “That’s probably not a good idea. My mom and dad…”
“Don’t know you’re seeing someone?”
“No.”
He ducked his face level with mine. “So I’m your dirty little secret?”
His words rang loud in my head, and I stuttered, “No, no, it’s just… Well, they’re…”
Evan’s lips curved in a grin. “I’m only messing with you, Becca. I like that this thing is just between us for now, and I’m not sure meeting the parents is something I’m ready for.”
Little did he know that wasn’t the real reason for my impending meltdown.
Dirty little secret… I’d had one of those before, and it had ended badly.
Very,verybadly.
* * *
“Sugar,get on in here. Rusty’s driving me up the wall.”
“I heard that,” he called from the back.
“No Mitch again?”
She shook her head and smiled. “While the boss is away, the staff will play.” Cindy regarded me for a second. Her smile slipped and was replaced with a deep frown. “Uh-oh, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m fine.”
“Fine is just another way of saying everything’s gone to shit.”
I waved her off as I went to Mitch’s office to lock up my bag and jacket.
