I hadn’t even been in Elk Springs for twenty-four hours and someone had already caught me talking to myself.
Cade stared at me, his eyes like searchlights, unwilling to let go.
“I—” I began, biting my lip. “I wasn’t talking to anyone,” I managed to spit out. “I don’t know what you think you heard.”
I could feel my face going red, flushing with embarrassment and a hint of irritation.
“Hanging out in dingy alleys?” he continued.
“Yes, you were. I saw you. And I was watching for a few minutes.”
I crossed my arms, feeling the anger bubbling to the surface. “What’s your excuse?”
“Excuse me?” Cade’s preposterous smile flickered.
“What were you doing creeping up on me like that? Spying on me. Are you a stalker or something?”
“Of course not.” He folded his arms, mimicking my stance.
“Well?” I could be difficult too, if that’s how he was going to play it.
“Don’t try to turn this around on me. I don’t have to explain myself.”
“I really think you do,” I replied.
We stared at each other for what felt like minutes, neither of us daring to break eye contact.
Unwilling to surrender.
He dropped his eyes finally, and I was shocked that I had actually won the standoff. That he’d acquiesced.
It was almost like he wasn’t used to being challenged.
Based on his appearance, I suspected that was probably the case.
“It’s a small town. Nothing ever happens here.” His dark eyes glanced up to gauge my reaction.
“Everyone here is”—he paused, searching for the right word—“robotic.”
“And then I saw the new girl looking all paranoid and practically running back here. It wasn’t really subtle.” Cade shrugged his shoulders. “I got curious.”
It was an honest answer. I could sense that.
But still, not enough…
“How’d you know I was new?” I raised my eyebrows.
“I saw the moving trucks. And I don’t recognize you, which means you’re not from around here.”
“Maybe you’ve just never seen me before,” I said quickly.
“Not a chance.”
He nodded. “I like to read people. I’m pretty good at it too.”
My own curiosity got the best of me.
“Okay, read me.”
Cade scoffed in disbelief. “What?”
The corners of his lips curled up in a soft smile— the first genuine one I’d seen from him.
“Fine.”
His probing eyes lingered on mine for a moment, then seemed to trace me— my tank top and shorts, my sneakers, the golden locket hanging from my neck.
Perhaps his gaze should have felt more intrusive— like a magnifying glass searching for my seams.
My imperfections.
But it didn’t.
“You’re what,” he pondered, “sixteen or seventeen?”
“Seventeen.”
“Your family is wealthy,” he said suddenly, his eyes growing distant, as though he was trying to mentally piece together the beveled edges of my life.
“You don’t make friends easily. Perhaps you don’t even try to make them anymore.”
“And—you’re left-handed.” Cade went silent, waiting for me to confirm his assessment.
I was speechless. And a little annoyed. I mean, who gave him permission?
I clapped sarcastically.
Cade smirked, running a gloved hand through his hair again.
“Well, the deduction about making friends was obvious, based on your lack of social skills,” he said matter-of-factly, like it wasn’t completely insulting.
“Those shoes cost, what—a couple hundred bucks? But they’re worn down. Lived-in. You’re not just wearing them as a display of your family’s money. You’re used to living practically.”
“And as far as your parents go,” he continued, “I noticed that you didn’t drive here. But your parents could obviously afford to buy you a car, which means that no one has actually taken the time to teach—”
Cade was cut off by the sudden erratic beeping of an open-back Jeep zooming down the alleyway.
I instinctively jumped out of the way, grabbing hold of Cade’s wrist to pull him to safety.
It all happened in slow motion.
I saw the teenagers in the car, laughing and leering at Cade, the driver swerving out of the way.
I felt his entire body flinch as my pinkie wedged itself between the leather and denim on his wrist, brushing against his bare flesh for the briefest moment.
His eyes squeezed shut as if from the most immense agony.
When they shot open a second later, he looked completely and utterly shocked.
He yanked his arm from my grasp—aggressively.
Cade took a step back, refusing to look at me.
“I’m sorry,” I rushed to say, although I wasn’t quite sure what I was sorry for. “I didn’t mean to—”
As quickly as he had appeared, he was gone—his long legs carrying him swiftly down the alley and back onto the street.
Out of sight.
Running from me.
From my touch.
I hadn’t particularly enjoyed Cade’s company, but I had to admit: it was hard not to take his abrupt exit personally.
I dragged my feet back toward Main Street as I tried to forget the strange encounter and the even stranger boy I’d just met.
The way he’d seen right through me so effortlessly.
Like he was reading a book.
And how he’d practically run for his life.
I didn’t know how long I was standing on the street corner, completely zoned out, trying to process what had just happened.
I must have looked like an idiot.
“Hey,” said a girl’s voice, startling me from my daydream.
I was standing on the edge of the patio outside of the ice-cream parlor when something soft and moist brushed against my palm.
I looked down.
A massive Doberman was sniffing my hand.
“Sorry about Fluffy. She’s not exactly trained yet,” said the girl, her voice soft yet exuberant.
She looked roughly my age, with dark brown hair that hung in a braid on the side of her head— the kind that’s effortlessly messy, yet perfect at the same time.
She was smiling at me, her pale blue eyes squinting against the sunlight.
One of those people who just seemed to radiate warmth, beauty— the whole nine yards.
“You’re Raven, right?” she asked, taking a sip of her milkshake.
I nodded. “Yeah, how’d you—”
“I live next door to you. The pink house with the fence.” She scratched Fluffy fondly behind her ear.
“My name’s Emily,” she continued with a smile. “I was just at your house bringing over some brownies. I met your nanny, Grace. She said you were down here, looking for something to do.”
I tried to stifle my cringe. “Oh, God.” I attempted to laugh, internally mortified. “Sorry… She worries about me.”
Emily grinned. “It was cute. Do you want to sit down? They have the best shakes here. It’s actually becoming a problem for me,” she said, laughing and putting a hand on her flat belly.
Defeated, I plopped down into the chair across from her.
Emily took another large slurp from her milkshake. “So, how do you like Elk Springs so far? I mean, besides this ungodly heat wave.”
“It’s—you know—fine,” I replied, trying my best to sound convincing.
She looked at me expectantly, as if unwilling to accept my terse response.
I supposed that was what small towns were like.
No boundaries. No personal space.
Normally this kind of social interaction was like pulling teeth, but something about Emily made me want to open up to her.
“Honestly, it was going okay until I bumped into this guy,” I said.
“How did you know?”
She scooted her chair in closer, as if we were discussing the juiciest of gossip.
But I didn’t say that.
Emily smiled knowingly. “Sounds like him.”
This time, I scooted closer to her. “What’s his deal, anyway? He’s very…”
“Hot?” she guessed.
“No—I was gonna say intense.”
“What, like he’s famous?”
Emily glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was eavesdropping before responding, lowering her voice. “More like…infamous.”
I thought back to those dark, frightening eyes. The pure hostility that seemed to emanate from his very skin.
It was almost like a strange magnetism.
Not like a physical attraction, but something purely metaphysical.
That rare feeling you get when you first meet someone, and you instantly know they’re going to impact your life.
To change your world.
At the very least, I knew one thing:
Cade Woods was dangerous.
