Page 107 of Wicked Dreams

Caleb’s body heat seeps into me, warming my chilled body. The sun set some time ago, dropping the temperature, and I’ve been shivering ever since. I slide my hands inside his jacket, and he chuckles.

“Ready?” Eli appears at our side.

Riley is tucked against him, watching me with wide eyes.

Caleb leads the way out of the crowd, toward the parking lot. He turns and walks backward, eyeing his friends. “We’re taking a quick detour.”

Eli snickers. “Oh, yeah?”

“You got a problem with that?” he goads.

“I think you’re gonna go do dirty things to your new girlfriend.” Eli laughs.

Riley elbows him, and I tuck my face into Caleb’s neck. I don’t have any desire to discuss sex—or lack thereof—with his friends.

Caleb spins back around, ignoring Eli, and stops at the passenger side of his car. He loosens his hold on the back of my thighs, letting me slip down. “Get in.”

I’m grateful when he turns the car on and blasts the heat.

“So, where’s the detour?”

“My house.” There’s something dangerous in his glance, hot and smoldering.

We drive toward his home, and my heartbeat picks up speed.

“I can’t,” I blurt out.

It isn’t that I haven’t had sex before—becausethat’swhat I’d imagine happening—but all I’ll be able to think about in that house is our past.

My past.

His.

They collided in an epic explosion when we were ten, and I’m trying to put everything back together. Caleb seems to have healed… but inside, there are still jagged edges.

Am I afraid of those jagged edges?Yes. Get too close and they may cut.

He slows the car, pulling onto a shoulder and putting it in park.

“What are you afraid of?”

I stare out the window, as far as I can see. Only yards ahead of us, the headlights bounce against trees. The rest is darkness.

“Are you afraid of me?”

I dare to look at him. “Do you think I am?”

His eyes narrow. “I don’t know, Margo. Sometimes I think yes. Sometimes I think… hmm, maybe she’s grown a backbone after all.”

“I have a backbone,” I scoff. “You don’t go through the system without developing one.”

“You break too easily.” He reaches out and grabs my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You cave. Youlose.”

I jerk away from him. “Then why chase me if I’m so boring?”

He laughs. “Even if you’re fragile, you’re far from boring.” He watches me for a second, then exhales. “Okay. Let’s go to the party.”

An unexpected weight comes off my shoulders. I open my mouth, but he cuts me off with a hand on my thigh, squeezing.

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