The Last Piece of His Heart (Lost Boys 3)

The quad was bustling before first bell. All three Lost Boys were headed to their usual spot along the short wall. My gaze was stuck on Ronan, his long legs striding purposefully, inked arms striated with muscle… He was dangerously beautiful in my eyes, and suddenly I knew Ronan had spray-painted Mikey’s car. I’d have bet my future shop on it.

I reached into my oversized embroidered bag for the necklace in the side pocket that I’d started all those weeks ago. I’d finally finished it and had been carrying it around wherever I went, waiting for…I didn’t know what. Ronan and I agreed that it was best to go our separate ways, but something in me couldn’t let go.

Amber tucked a lock of her long blond hair behind her ear with a sigh, and I realized she was staring at a different Lost Boy.

“How are things with Miller?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Terrible. As usual. Don’t know why I stay. Don’t know why he does.”

Because he’s trying to do the right thing.

I had a hand in that when I told Miller not to treat Amber as if she were disposable, and I stood by it. But I hadn’t expected the dummy to stick with her for months.

Amber led me behind the flagpole in the center of the quad. “Watch this.” She tapped out a text.

Are we hanging out today or not??

Miller slowed his steps, peered at his phone, and visibly sighed. He did not reply.

“See?”

I didn’t know how to comfort her without the truth—and my loyalty to Violet—bursting out. I needed a change of subject. Clusters of kids were huddled together, all of them watching the Lost Boys and whispering.

“God, this place is a gossip mill today,” I said.

Amber made a sour face. “Evelyn Gonzalez put Miller on her vlog and it’s going viral.”

“No shit?”

She nodded. “I keep waiting for him to sing to me, but he never does. He’s a jerk.”

This has gone on long enough. And not just the mess with Miller and Amber.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Ronan and didn’t want to. These last months had been like suffering through a forced diet. I was starving for him. To be touched, kissed, to have those gray eyes darken with want for me. But why? I was strong. I could protect myself. Back in Louisiana, Jalen and I’d had no problems keeping it casual. Why couldn’t Ronan and I do the same?

I caught up to Miller at the start of the lunch hour. He was sitting on a large rock near the lunch tables, giving himself an insulin shot in the upper arm. With his beanie and plaid flannel tied around his waist, he was the perfect image of a rock star in the making.

If Shawn Mendes and Dave Grohl had a love child.

“Hey, Mr. Famous.”

?

??Yeah, right,” he scoffed, but I didn’t miss the glint of hope flashing in his eyes. “What’s up?”

“Ronan mentioned his birthday was this month.”

“It was on the twentieth.”

“Shit.” I’d missed it by a week.

“Why?” Miller put his kit away and reached for a brown paper sack lunch.

“Nothing. I have something for him. It’s no big deal. At all.”

He smiled, a rare sight. “Yeah? I didn’t realize you two even knew each other.”

“Your friend isn’t exactly the super chatty type. We have History together.”