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PROLOGUE
PIPER
7 Years Old
We’d only been herefor a day, and Marcus had already made a friend. He and Jax, our new neighbor down the road, were out playing road hockey while I was stuck in the house. I liked sports—soccer was my favorite, but I didn’t like hockey. Like at all.
I walked in circles through the house, around the island, and into the living room, where my mom sat on the floor unpacking boxes, and back again. Everyone said I looked like her, blonde hair, with blue eyes, but now that we’d had to cut most of my hair, I thought I looked more like my brother.
On my fifth round trip, my mom huffed and looked at me. “Why don’t you go see Dad in the garage? I bet he’s got your bike out already.”
“Really?” I couldn’t hide my excitement. My mom hadn’t let me out of her sight since the fire, but apparently, all it took was circling her a million times for her to want me out of her hair.
My dad was in the garage opening boxes and smiled at me when I walked in. “Hey, sweetheart. What are you up to?”
“Mom said I could ride my bike.”
His bushy, dark eyebrows rose and creased his forehead as he stood from his crouched position. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get your brother?”
The thought of my dad making Marcus come home just to hang out with me turned my stomach. “I’m sure.”
“Okay.” He helped me clip on my helmet and held my bike steady while I got on. Even though I’d learned to ride a few years ago, I was still a little unsteady. My dad patted my helmet. “Just around the block, okay?”
“Okay, Dad.” I gave him a wide smile and stepped on my right pedal, driving the bike forward. The bike wobbled, and my grip tightened on the handlebars but smoothed out once I started pedaling.
I followed the sidewalk down our block and around the corner. Every house had a bright green lawn and flowers planted out front in all my favorite colors. A bush that had to be the same height as me started to wiggle, and leaves fell from its branches. My stomach hitched as I biked closer.
A boy my age, with a wide smile fell out of the leaves. His dark hair was faded up the sides, and even from this distance I could see his warm brown skin was peppered with freckles. I’d never thought a boy was pretty before, but I couldn’t think of a better way to describe him.
Distracted, I didn’t see the dip in the sidewalk. I screamed when my bike stopped suddenly, and my body flew over the handlebars. I tried to put my hands in front of me, but it was too fast. My face burned where it skidded across the pavement, and tears flooded my cheeks as heaving sobs racked my body.
“Are you okay?” Small hands landed on my shoulder and picked me up until I sat against a warm body. The boy from earlier cupped my cheek, careful of the scrape, and his eyes were wide on mine as he told me I was okay. I hiccupped, and he laughed, eyes not leaving mine. “You’re okay, you’re safe.”
I couldn’t look away from his light brown eyes rimmed with gold. “It hurt.”
“I bet it did. Hey, I didn’t know there was a daredevil in the neighborhood. You should’ve seen the air you caught before you dropped. It was killer.” He gave me a silly smile, and I slowly caught my breath.
“I’m Lucas. Are you from around here?”
“I just moved.” I turned my head and pointed at the house behind me. “There.”
He laughed. “That’s my house.”
My cheeks heated, and I looked away. “No, I mean the one on the other side.”
He looked at his house and back to me with a giant smile. “Want to be friends, Killer?”
“Yes—”
“Pipsqueak, what happened to you?” Marcus dropped his bike and ran up to us, his friend Jax right behind him. “You okay?”
I nodded and pushed off the ground to stand, ignoring the sting from the scratches on my knees and arms. “Yeah, I fell, but I’m alright.”
“Mom’s been looking for you. She wants you to come home.” Marcus tilted his head as he looked me over. “You better hurry. She’s going to freak out.”
Lucas held the bike steady for me. It felt like butterflies danced in my stomach as I took it from him. I’d made a new friend. “Want to come over?”
“Mom’s going to want you to stay inside, Pipsqueak. He’s not going to want to do that.”
