Page 31 of Beneath the Surface

My phone vibrated as I was reading through an article about the mysterious disappearance of a sixteen-year-old girl last summer, forty-two miles from Blackwell Lake.

Smith:

Where are you? Team strategy meeting started 15 mins ago

Shit. “I’ve gotta go. Team meeting.” Piling everything into my duffel, I rose to my feet. Across from me, Cruz raised a brow.

“Hockey?”

“Yeah. I’m the captain. I need to be there. And I-I—” Pausing, gathering my thoughts, I was taken aback when Cruz completed my sentence for me.

“You need to act normal. Like nothing’s wrong. In case someone is watching us.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He returned my nod. “Go. I’ll keep up the research.”

Our eyes met, and I made a split-second decision. It was a moment of madness, but fuck it, Cruz made me act out of character, so it probably wasn’t all that surprising. Tugging my notebook from my duffel, I slid it across the table to him.

“I’ve written down everything I’ve found so far that I think might be relevant. If you want to read it or add to it, or whatever…” I shrugged, letting my words trail off. Surprise flared in his gaze, but then he flashed me a quick grin that looked almost genuine.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah.” Lifting my hand in a goodbye, I turned on my heel and walked away.

19

MICAH

“We can explain the photo.” I leaned into Ava, unsure if my touch would be welcome, but she immediately curled into me. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I gave in, lowering my head and burying my nose in her soft hair. The night air was chilly, and she shivered. My arm tightened around her, letting her burrow into my body heat.

“How?” Her voice was muffled against my chest.

“Easy. We say I was there on a team photography assignment, contrasting hockey players with ice skaters. All I need to do is get some photos of you in action, and I can easily make an article out of it.”

“Really?”

The undisguised hope in her voice made me want to kiss her. “Yeah, really. It’s going to be okay.”

She stopped dead on the sidewalk, turning to look at me. Her hand came up to cup my jaw. It was as if she was seeing me for the first time, seeing me in a whole new way.

“Micah. Thank you. For everything.” Her hand trembled.

“You’re welcome,” I said softly. As much as I didn’t want to ruin the moment, I couldn’t help thinking about the library. “Ava? What happened with Grayson earlier?”

If we hadn’t been so close, I might have missed the flush on her cheeks in the darkness surrounding us, broken only by the intermittent lamps that edged the road. “He kissed me. I— It was confusing. I wasn’t expecting it.” She laughed humorlessly. “I don’t think either of us were.”

My heart sank, and at the same time, sped up. It was like a roller coaster—nauseating but exhilarating. “Did you like it?”

She bit down on her pouty bottom lip. The urge to kiss her was so strong, I had to take a step back, loosening my grip on her. This beautiful woman was so far out of my league, I shouldn’t even be contemplating kissing her, as if it could actually happen.

Eventually, she nodded. “I didn’t want to like it. I wish…” Trailing off, she gazed at me, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated. “I wish I could have?—”

“Ava!”

Both of our heads jerked up. It was only then that I realized we’d reached Ava’s sorority house, and one of her sorority sisters was in the open doorway, beckoning her inside.

We can explain the photo.

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