Trick Me Twice

Instead of answering, I started stalking down the garden, Kian moving down the opposite side, ready to block Dylan if he made a run for it. Both of us moved silently, listening out for the telltale sound of Dylan’s breathing.

There.

The panicked sound carried across the night air, and I struck at the dark shadow crouched beside the hedge, grabbing him easily. “You picked the wrong girl for your sick obsession,” I gritted out, as I dragged him back up towards the house, throwing him down on the grass. He collapsed in a heap like the coward he was, whimpering and covering his face.

“Don’t hurt me.” His pathetic, shaky voice grated on me, and it was all I could do to restrain myself from—

He lunged for me, something sharp and metallic gleaming in his hand. I twisted away at the last moment, my reflexes honed from countless fights at the bowl, and snapped his arm back.

The howl he let out was almost inhumane.

“You might wanna get that arm looked at,” I suggested, swiping his knees from under him so he fell to the ground. His arm dangled uselessly, a weird lump protruding from under the sleeve of his jumper, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Instead, I continued. “You ever come near Raine again and it won’t just be your arm that’s broken. Every. Fucking. Bone. In your body will be broken. Not only that, but do you know who Raine’s closest friend is?” I paused for a moment. “Lena Drummond. I don’t think I need to remind you just how powerful the Drummond family are.”

Kicking at the ground, I saw the needle glinting in the weak glow of the security light. “You tried to tranq me? Why? Why did you fucking target Raine?”

Dylan groaned, his eyes unfocused.

“You fucking—” Before I could stop myself, I brought my Nike-clad foot down, booting him in the ribs. Dimly, I became aware of Kian pulling me backwards. Only after he’d booted Dylan, too.

“Carter. Stop,” he said urgently. “Raine.”

My vision cleared, and I straightened up. Crushing the needle underfoot, I spun on my heel and jogged away from Dylan, towards my truck. Towards Raine.

She was all that mattered, now.

40

Standing with Kian and Xavier at the top of the steps at the entrance to Alstone High on Monday, everything was the same, yet different. I accepted the praise from students as they passed us, congratulating us on our win, but the football game seemed like it had happened so long ago. I’d driven Raine to school this morning, as I would every morning, and I could tell the trauma of the last couple of days was still getting to her. She’d spent the last two nights in my bed, not wanting to be alone while her aunt was working overnight, plagued by nightmares that I did my hardest to soothe away. It was no surprise—Dylan Rossiter had completely blindsided all of us. The one good thing about it all, though? There was a connection between me and Raine that hadn’t been there before. When I realised just how fucking much this girl meant to me, and she’d not only chosen me for comfort, but trusted me to take care of her… I guess it was true when people claimed traumatic experiences were bonding.

The urge to go to her was stronger than I’d expected, but she’d told me that she wanted to carry on as normally as possible. I got it, but I couldn’t deny that it had been beyond difficult to let her go when we’d arrived at school.

Pulling my phone out from my pocket, I sent her a simple text.

Me: You OK?

I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

Raine: All good.

Raine: Thanks for checking up on me.

I smiled.

Me: See you at lunch. Text if you need anything

She responded with a string of emojis that alternated between a kissing face and a grinning face, and my smile widened as I pocketed my phone.

“You’re looking suspiciously happy there, mate.” Xavier eyed me with a teasing grin on his face. “You too.” He swung his gaze to Kian, who was smiling as Preston jogged up the steps towards us.

Kian shrugged, then gave him a sly look. “Sorted things out with Immy, yet? Huh?”

“Working on it,” Xavier muttered, the smile slipping off his face. The bell rang before I had a chance to get in a dig, and we headed to our classes.

All morning I was on edge, waiting to see Raine. It was a weird feeling—I’d never been that invested in someone else before. But I needed to see for myself if she was doing okay after all the shit that had happened.

Finally. There she was, standing alone in the doorway of the cafeteria. I couldn’t stop the grin from appearing when I took her in. She stood, taking in the table where I sat with my friends, her gaze unsure, like she didn’t know if she should join us.

Fuck that.