Page 53 of You Belong With Me

Pulling out his phone, I can see him open the timer app and set it to 30 seconds. When his thumb hits “start,” I turn andrun.But this time, instead of trying to outrun him, I look for somewhere I can hide.

This beach is relatively empty, though. There are no restaurants, or apartment buildings unless I want to cross over the main road again, and I don’t. It would take up too much time.

So I zero in on the only thing I can see in the distance—the dark outline of a lifeguard tower perched atop a little hill that overlooks the water. I run toward it as fast as I possibly can, trying to keep my breathing as quiet as possible, because once I’m out of the glow of the bonfire, it’s pretty dark—so there’s a chance he won’t be able to see which way I ran. It’s why I made him turn around.

It takes me a few minutes to reach the tower, so I know my thirty seconds is already up, but I don’t dare look back to see if he’s behind me. I can’t. I have to keep going.

There’s only a sliver of moonlight tonight, so I can barely see anything, but I manage to find a little footpath that climbs up toward the tower. When I reach the base of the ramp that leads up to the tower, I realize the structure is all boarded up with no possible way to get inside.

Fuck.

I glance back, toward the bonfire in the distance, but I can’t see anything in the darkness. Lucas could be twenty feet away and I wouldn’t see him, which sends my heart rate skyrocketing.

Turning, I climb the ramp, ducking a little to keep myself low. When I reach the narrow deck, I realize it doesn’t even go all the way around the tiny tower.

M’kay, maybe this wasn’t the best choice for a hiding spot. But it’s not like I had a ton of choices, either. Hopefully, he assumes I ran toward the parking lot—unless people justtellhim which way I ran. Fucking assholes. I wouldn’t put it past them.

Swallowing, I lean back and rest against the wall of the tower. The ocean is straight ahead, and I stare at it—though, honestly, the dark, churning water blends seamlessly with the night sky, so there isn’t much to see. But I can hear the waves crashing against the cliff directly below me, and the soothing sound gives me a moment of peace.

This spot isn’t going to work, obviously. It’s too exposed. I just need to catch my breath, then I can come up with a new plan. Maybe I could run back toward the bonfire? Or find a path up to the road?

I stay like that for a couple of minutes, until I feel more calm, then I turn back toward the ramp. I stop dead when I see a shadow waiting at the bottom.

“Lucas,” I breathe.

He doesn’t say anything, he just moves slowly up the ramp toward me. I don’t have anywhere to go. The lifeguard tower is perched on a little hill, and beyond the deck is a twenty-foot drop to the ocean.

Like an idiot, I’ve managed to trap myself.

“I guess this means I get to keep you,” he says, that husky voice skipping down my spine.

I swallow, remembering the surveillance video. Remembering the coldness on Lucas’ face when he pushed that guy into the path of a train. It takes a special kind of monster to do something like that. And then to pretend togrieveafterward? That’s just diabolical.

That’s the monster I’m confronted with now.

He moves closer, stopping right in front of me. I can barely see his face, even this close, but his clean, soapy scent surrounds me, and I suck in an involuntary breath.

Leaning forward, he grips the railing on either side of me, cadging me in. It’s dark, and it’s cold, and the ocean breeze is whipping through my hair. But his warmth surrounds me, and despite the fear knotted in my stomach, my body starts coming alive.

His lips brush against my temple, and he pulls in a deep breath. “You think you can run from me, Wyn…” His voice is barely audible over the sound of crashing waves below us. “But I’ll always catch you.Always.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Wyn

My whole body is trembling.I don’t know what to say, or what to do. I’m completely trapped with no possible hope of escape—and that is averyfucked up feeling. A feeling I don’t know how to process.

He pulls in another deep breath. “We belong together, Wyn. Why don’t you get that?”

“I’m cold. W-why don’t we go back to my place?” I say if only to distract him a little. Maybe it’ll give me time to talk him out of this delusional thinking.

Instead of responding, he lifts a hand from the railing and brings it up to push the strap of my tank top down. I’m not wearing a bra, so when the tank top sags, my left breast is exposed. His large hand cups my breast, and the warmth of his hand spreads through me.

He brushes his thumb across my nipple, his mouth hovering over mine. “Do you know what you do to me, Wyn? Do you have any fucking clue?”

I swallow back a moan as tingles trickle down my spine. His touch is electric, igniting everything it touches. My nipple stiffens under the gentle enticement of his thumb.

“You’ve convinced yourself I’m special, Lucas, but I’m not,” I say, and it’s the truth. I’m no different than any other girl attending ExU. I have the same fears and hangups as anyone else. And the same attraction to hot, toxic men, too, apparently.

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