Page 24 of Don't Let Go

A scarlet blush crept up her neck toward her face. “See you around.”

I couldn’t help but watch her walk toward the classroom next door. Those jeans hugged her hips perfectly. Rory seemed like a smart girl, and she was gorgeous as hell. I wondered why she was with a guy that treated her like scum.

It wasn’t my problem to dwell on. As the teacher prepared to start the lecture, I shot a quick text to Iris. I needed to find time to sneak up to Scottsdale and see her.

How was I to remember who I was in a completely new element like this? I felt like a fish thrown from the sea and asked to fly with the birds. Such an impossible feat.

In the back of the class were two guys snickering and fist-bumping. I missed my boys, especially Quincy. He got me through all the tough shit life threw at me.

Honestly, how was I going to make it in this new school? The cards were stacked against me, and I somehow needed to learn how to beat the house. My life depended on it.

12

Aurora

Six pops echoed through my window from down the street. A few times a month, there was a drive-by in this neighborhood. It was pathetic how an idiotic thing like turf or a sideways look resulted in a shooting. Last month, a bullet went through the living room wall of a house a few streets from here and killed a five-year-old girl who fell asleep on the couch watching a Disney movie.

With those morbid thoughts running in the back of my mind, there was no chance of me going back to sleep. I sat up, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. A basketball game loomed in the near future, and Paolo always talked my ear off about the plays and what could’ve been better, like I gave a damn. I understood how excited he was. The problem was I didn’t know much about the sport, even if I played in the band for every single one of the home games. Plus, he wasn’t that great of aplayer. He could never make a basket to save his life. He was too sloppy.

Kinda like how he was in bed.

My skin crawled at the thought of his tongue touching my skin. Of his lips tracing my thigh, moving his mouth higher. I shuddered and grabbed a book, hoping it would keep the dark thoughts away. I stared at the words on the page, but they turned into black blurs. After blinking, the words became clear again. I loved a good romance novel. No insta-love crap either. I enjoyed a slow burn, the flirting, and glances that blossomed into something more. If only real guys could be like those in books.

Halfway through my romance novel, I heard something outside as the two main characters leaned in for their first kiss—in the rain. I glanced at my window. My curtains were drawn, yet I looked at them as if that would help me identify the sound.

“Fuck this place,” I heard someone mutter.

“Hmm.” I placed my book on my nightstand and pushed the curtain to the side. Light from Tyler’s room reflected on the tree outside. He was awake.

I unlocked my window and pushed it to the left until it clicked in place. There was a small ledge outside the window, more for decoration than anything, but it was strong enough for someone to sit on. That was where Tyler perched, staring at the grass below.

I silently leaned out the window and peered down, nothing but shadows reaching across the grass. I turned my gaze upward to a sea of stars dotting a vast, inky black sky. The stars shined, but their beauty was wasted on us with the city’s light pollution. Sometimes I longed to be in the middle of nowhere so I could lie down and stare at the wonders of space.

“Fuck this,” Tyler muttered again, tearing my attention from the heavens.

“Jumping wouldn’t kill you. Probably wouldn’t even hurt.”

His eyes were darker than usual, filled with anger and agony. “Screw you. What do you want?”

I flipped my hair over my shoulder and moved through the window to sit on the little ledge. “Your rambling woke me up.”

“My bad.” He hung his head again.

“It’s fine.” I watched my bare feet dangle over the grass. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

“That drive-by got you too?”

I shrugged. “It happens more than you think. When it’s close I still wake up. Maybe in my dreams, I think I’m somewhere else.”

He let out a sound like a gravelly laugh. It came from deep in his chest, making me look over at him.

Even in the dim light, he was ruggedly handsome. His lips had a slight pucker as he frowned. The moonlight highlighted his strong cheekbones. His jaw tensed every few seconds. How could someone look so cute when they were that miserable?

“I know it’s a dumb question, but how are you?”

He wet his lips and stared at the stars.

“Where do I begin? I lost so much in a matter of days. I can’t stop thinking about the last words I said to my father. I hate South Ridge. No. I hate all of Phoenix and everyone in it.” He looked over at me. “I don’t mean you, it’s just—”

---