Page 14 of Beneath the Surface

I recognized Grayson’s panicked tone, yet he sounded so far away. My body began to sway, part of my own volition, the other from the force of the incoming traffic.

“Ava!”

Water.

It suddenly felt like I was falling underwater, making it hard to hear.

“Come on, princess, we need to get out of here.”

The words were spat as if I were an inconvenience. Fingers dug into my arm as I was being dragged away.

My eyes began to blink furiously as the haze from my panic attack began to subside.

The tracks were a mess of people and cars trying to make their way out so they wouldn’t be caught here. Sirens could be heard in the distance, all of them heading right to where we were.

“Micah,” I breathed his name as a prayer. I scanned the area, trying to see any sign of him and Grayson, but the place was such a mess that I couldn’t make out either of them.

“Are you trying to get caught?” Cruz spat at me.

That was when I noticed that subconsciously I kept trying to get away from him.

“I don’t know you,” I stated, proud that my voice came out even.

“Well, princess,” he said with disdain. “Your two boyfriends have left you. So you got me or you got jail.”

My jaw clenched, and I really wanted to wipe the smirk off his stupidly handsome face—but he was right. Right now, he was the only option I had.

“I don’t trust you,” I told him, and he scoffed.

“You skate pretty fast,” he mumbled, and his words surprised me yet warmed me deep in my belly. I almost scowled at him for it. “Now keep up, princess.”

Cruz Martinez let go of the grip he had on my arm, only to take my hand in an equally deadly grip. We took off running. He was pushing people aside so we could get through quicker. We reached his car a few seconds later. He made sure to open thepassenger door and once I was inside, he slammed it shut and took off to the driver’s side.

He had an older Civic. If I had to guess, I’d say it was from the nineties. The color was black and shiny. You could tell that the car was restored with care and lots of love. The leather was buttery soft. The dashboard gleamed with no specks of dust anywhere. When he turned the car on, it purred to life and I could feel the vibrations between my legs. I shifted in my seat, and from the corner of my eye I could have sworn he bit his lip.

“Buckle up,” he spoke, breaking the silence.

I did as he said, and the car took off. That was when it hit me that I was alone with Cruz Martinez, who may or may not be the one threatening us.

9

CRUZ

There was a high.

Then there was an adrenaline rush.

This was a mixture of both.

My blood was still singing from the race earlier. You’d think it would have gone down with the little showdown back there, but the only thing it did was fuel the fire that was coursing through me.

My lip stung, and when I licked my lips the taste of copper coated my tastebuds. I should have expected Grayson to know how to throw a punch. Everyone knew hockey players were an aggressive bunch. My saving grace was that the streets had beaten my ass more than once, so shit like this wasn’t new to me.

I didn’t want to think too hard on the fact that I should have expected this outcome. Wasn’t that how it had always been? Me against the world. I didn’t know why I thought this time it would be different. It was clear that the little figure skater, the brute, and the camera boy were a unit. Must be nice to have someone to share your problems with. If anything, it made the pressure from this fucking secret more bearable.

Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air. Not even in my dreams did that night evade me.

Now here I sat in silence with Ava Hayes. I held on to the steering wheel a little tighter as I maneuvered us out of the way of people and weaved through the cars.

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