Starlee's Heart (The Wayward Sons 1)

The cool early morning air hits my flushed cheeks and I pause for a minute remembering that my trashcan is…well, trashed. I look down the path, still dark, and feel the discomfort in my chest.

“Starlee?” I hear my name whispered.

“Jake?”

He emerges from the side yard, breathing heavy. He probably jumped off the roof and over the fence. I think he really may be some kind of super-athlete. I step down the porch steps to meet him, not wanting to make too much noise near the house.

“You’re up early.”

“I had a nightmare.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Oh. Something scary?”

“Something stupid really. George brought over the Supernatural videos and me and Leelee have been watching them.”

“Oh right. Scarecrow?”

“What?” But my mind goes right to the episode with the scarecrow and the orchard. “No.”

“Mental hospital? That one scared the crap out of Dexter.”

“Really?”

He shrugs. “Supernatural hits all the urban legends, eventually they show one that gets under your skin.”

“What’s an urban legend?”

“You don’t know what an urban legend is?”

I shake my head, feeling stupid. It’s another reason to stay away from people my age. All those y

ears of isolation has made me lost.

He shoves his hands in his pockets. “It’s like a myth or story that people tell or share on the internet that is made up, but eventually takes on a life of its own—like it really happened.” He glances sideways at me. “So, which one got to you?”

I make a face, feeling like I’m revealing too much, but he’d been honest with me. “Bloody Mary.”

He laughs. “Oh man, yeah that’s a classic. No shame in that one.”

His laughter sends a prickle up my arms but I force myself to acknowledge it’s with me, not at me. It’s confusing—going against all my ingrained expectations.

My feet hit the pavement and I realize we’re no longer in the yard. Jake has steered me away from the lodge, down to the sidewalk. Stopping abruptly, my eyes dart to the bench in front of the market and the little space where I’d watched the sunrise that day. The day Dugan attacked me.

Jake stops and looks at me expectantly, then follows my eyes to the street. “Is that where the fight happened?”

I nod, swallowing back the creeping anxiety. “I don’t think I should be out here.” Not in general. Definitely not with Jake Hollingsworth.

“I know that was intense, but I’m here with you. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

But what if he’s the danger? He was everything I’d been told to avoid. Cute, funny, strong. What if this was just a trick to get me alone—away from people? What if that’d been his plan all along?

“We can go back,” he says. “But if you want, I can show you the best sunrise view in Lee Vines.”

I recall what my grandmother said. She trusts these boys. Did that include being out a four a.m.? What I know for certain is that I’m tired. Tired of being scared and nervous. Tired of hiding and not having friends.

I take a deep breath and look up at Jake; taking in his sharp cheekbones and wide shoulders. He may look like an All-American, but there was a reason he lived with Sierra. Something that, like Leelee said, made him not so different from me.

“Okay,” I say, the words sounding like a whisper. “Let’s go watch the sunrise.”