Page 72 of Kade

Ugh. Just thinking about him, I remembered his text. He’d been shoxting me. Shouting at me through text. I hated it because I’d rather he shouted at me in person. That’d be more fun.

The guys were watching me.

Beltraine snorted. “You’re a trip, Kade.”

Steele’s head jerked toward him. “Kade?”

Beltraine stepped up to grab my drink. “Maddy Kade. Or, wait. What’s your first name? Everyone calls you Maddy, but it’s something else, isn’t it?”

He was about to take a sip of my drink when I said, “It’s drugged.”

He froze, his eyes latching to mine.

I stepped forward and plucked it from his hands. “Just kidding.” I laughed, taking another long drag and moving toward the patio. “And don’t worry yourself about my name. You boys can just call me Kade. Right, Moreaux?” I taunted as I stepped outside.

Gathered around a table by the pool was the rest of Moreaux’s friend group—Axel, Aurelia Avoy, and her two best friends, Nea Kyoto and Amber Spiel.

I took a deep breath for patience.

Nea and Amber were okay. Aurelia, though, was a different thing.

Axel grinned when he saw me, laughing to himself as he launched himself into the pool, pulling off an impressive backflip.

I glared at Aurelia. “You.”

Nea and Amber’s mouths dropped open silently.

Aurelia’s face twisted. “You. What are you doing here?”

I took a seat at their table. “Traine mentioned it.”

“He didn’t tell us you were coming.” She sat stiffly, her eyebrows permanently stuck halfway up her forehead. It was a weird expression.

I had another sip. This drink wasgood. “Why? Wouldn’t have come if you knew I was here? Scared?”

Her face got red and she gripped the table. “As if. You don’t scare me, Maddy Kade. Your grandpa’s—” She choked on her words because my hand was at her throat.

There was a beat of quiet. No one expected me to grab her throat. It would take a minute before their brains could make sense of what they were seeing. I was going to make the most of their shock.

“You’re going to stop lying,” I told her, squeezing.

She began choking, trying to stand up.

I was strong. Like, really strong, and I kept her in place. I know, I know. Girls aren’t supposed to be that strong, but what could I say? When she tried to stand up, it was easy to keep her in place.

Then she forgot about trying to stand up and began tugging at my hand. Her nails scraped my skin, but I took a beat to have another sip of my drink.

Really good stuff.

Also, I wasn’t hurting her that much. She wouldn’t have bruises or anything.

Nea and Amber finally comprehended that I was choking their friend and they shoved to their feet, yelling at me, but they didn’t come over to me. They were too scared, and honestly, if I wasn’t myself, I’d be scared of me too. Or at least nervous.

This wasn’t a normal girl move. But again, story of my life.

Aurelia gasped for air.

A part of me, deep in the back of my mind, couldn’t help but note that maybe this was wrong of me to do. Of course this wasn’t right, but I wasn’t really thinking about it in those terms. I was more evaluating myself. Why did this feel so natural? Like it was in my DNA.

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