Page 46 of Beneath the Surface

It wasn’t very late, but the sun had already set. Had you asked me two years ago, I would have told you I was a fall girl. I loved the fact that it was cool, that it was seven at night and it was already dark out. Now, it was just another reminder that monsters were lurking in the shadows.

Sure enough, my dad’s car and Cruz’s were the only ones at the auto shop. I parked mine right in front of the closed bay since no customers would be coming in now.

The first person I saw was Cruz.

My steps halted as I took in his profile. He was hot, you had to admit that, especially when he was bent over the hood of a car wearing black sweats that hung low on his waist and a white muscle shirt.

I noted that his skin looked good against the white, then realized he usually tended to wear darker colors. The contrast between his skin and the white shirt was mesmerizing.

“Hey, you, working late today?”

When he didn’t turn around, my stomach dropped. Was he mad at me? Did he find out about the kiss? Did he hate mebecause of it? I barely knew him, but why did that bother me so much?

Before I knew it, my legs had started to move of their own accord. When I was behind him, I tapped his shoulders. His reaction was immediate. One second, I was tapping him. The next, he had grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him, then bent me with that same hand behind my back.

Fear and excitement rushed through my body at the same time.

It all happened so fast because the next second, he was cursing.

“Fuck,” he shouted louder than necessary.

He immediately let go of me and took a step back. My heart stammered as I regained my composure. When I turned around, Cruz bent his head as he took off his earbuds and then put them in his pants pocket.

“I’m sorry, Ava,” he said, sounding apologetic.

I hissed the moment I saw his face. Aside from the regret I saw shining on his face, there was a bruise on his cheek.

“What happened?”

“Did I hurt you?”

We both spoke at the same time.

This made me laugh. He still looked unnerved. He noticed my dropped bag, bent to pick it up, and handed it to me.

“I’m sorry. You took me by surprise.”

“What happened?” I asked, taking a step closer to him.

“Nothing.” He shrugged it off.

I glared at him as I tentatively reached for his face. He closed his eyes when I touched his shiner.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not as much as my ribs,” he spoke in a low hiss.

“Who did this?” I asked him, dropping my hand from his cheek and grazing his ribs. He winced at the contact, but not because I hurt him. It was probably the phantom pain.

“Don’t worry about it,” he told me.

“You shouldn’t be working,” I chastised him.

Cruz let out a humorless laugh.

“I don’t work, princess, my bills don’t get paid.”

“You could have taken one day off.”

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