When she decided to move us, she picked the first place her finger landed on the map. Lucky enough, the hospital in Fort Worth was looking for a new RN, and she filled the requirements, working all sorts of crazy hours, so I didn’t see her a lot.
Yet another reason I was grateful for my friendship with Jax. He came from a broken home too. His parents got a divorce when he was younger, and neither one of them was around very much, so we found a family in one another.
Shoving away the thoughts, I chugged more booze while making my way deeper into the woods I wasn’t familiar with. It was almost like I was walking into a different world. Tree after tree filled my surroundings as the woods came alive with the sounds of animals. When the smell of smoke and weed began fading, I realized how deep I truly was in the middle of nowhere.
“Shit,” I whispered to myself, looking around. Hoping I’d find a sense of direction on where I’d come from. I must have gotten lost, ending up by a waterhole.
“Well, look what we have here,” someone whispered from behind me, causing me to stumble back against a tree as he caged me in with his arms around the sides of my head. “I haven’t seen you before. I’d remember such a pretty face and banging body,” he rasped too close to my face, smelling like liquor and weed. “What’s your name?”
I didn’t recognize this guy, and the longer I stood there, the faster my heart began pounding against my chest. “Kinley,” I replied, feeling much more vulnerable than before.
“Such a beautiful name, for such a beautiful girl. What are you doing all by yourself in the woods, babe? Don’t you know you can run into a bear or a wolf?”
“Ummm … right. I need to go back.” I sidestepped him to leave, but he blocked my advance.
“You don’t need to leave. I’m here now.”
My eyes widened. “I want to leave.” I went to move again, but he wouldn’t let me.
“Naw, I’m not done with you yet.”
“Catch a clue—I’m not interested.”
“I bet I can make you interested.”
“If you don’t let me leave, I’m going to scream.”
He smiled. “I’ll make you scream out alright, except it’s going to be my name.”
I turned my face as he leaned in to kiss me while the sound of another voice echoed through the woods, shouting, “Frank! Leave her the fuck alone! You’re scaring her, you prick!”
I’d never been more relieved to hear a stranger’s voice than I was at that moment. I released a deep breath I didn’t realize I was holding when he backed away and spun around.
We both looked in the direction of where the voice had come from. There was a tall, stocky guy with dark hair standing a few feet away from us. I couldn’t make out who he was yet. It was too dark out.
“Mind your own fucking business, Christian. This has nothing to do with you.”
Christian? Was that Christian Troy?
Walking toward us, he grinned, looking in my direction before nodding to Frank. “You want to stay here with him?”
I peered back and forth between them, sputtering, “Umm … no.”
Christian laughed, smirking wide.
It was Christian Troy. He was one of the most popular guys in our school. I couldn’t help but smile back at him, feeling relieved he was there with me now. This was the first time he’d ever said a word to me. I didn’t even think he knew I existed.
The reassuring expression on his face kept luring me in. When he caught me staring at his defined arms and broad chest, I blushed and looked back at Frank.
“Oh, I see,” Frank chimed in. “You want to hang out with him instead? Is that it? Because I’ll tell you right now, he doesn’t do girlfriends.”
Yeah, so I’ve heard.
Christian chuckled.
“I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
He laughed again before nodding to Frank. “You can go now.”
“Fuck you, man.” With that, he spun and left, leaving Christian and me alone.
Now I was nervous for a whole different reason. I knew all I needed to know about him. His reputation preceded him wherever he went. It didn’t matter what county we were in, everyone knew who Christian and his best friend Julian were. It had been that way since I'd moved here in middle school. Guys like them were all the same, every last one of them. Acting like they were hot shit and owned every place they walked into.
The worst part was that girls fed into their bullshit lines, cocky smirks, and zero fucks attitude. Through the years, I’d heard enough to know I needed to steer clear of Christian, and the fact that he was looking at me in the way guys did in romance movies was unsettling. As much as I didn’t want him to have an effect on me, when one of the most popular boys in our school was devouring you with his gaze, you couldn’t help but feel affected.