Page 122 of The Lies We Steal

Alistair stood with his hands shoved deep into his dark jeans, his hood pulled up over his head to shield his face from the harsh weather, a leather jacket over the black hoodie.

He was a stark contrast from the white falling around him, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Snow crunched beneath my feet, making him raise his gaze in my direction. I was almost taken back by how unfairly stunning he was standing there. Everything faded when he looked at me, when the little bit of sunlight hits his eyes they become this brilliant, almost clear black. Like perfectly worn sea glass or water in a stream running over stones.

I take my time walking towards him and he sits perfectly still, eyes zoned in on every single step, and as soon as I’m within distance, he attacks. Wrapping a toned arm around my waist and pulling me snug against his body.

As if it’s a greeting, he drops his head to my hair, inhaling my scent before saying,

“Hello, Little Thief.”

I love the way my skin warms when he talks, heating me up from the inside out.

“Caldwell.” I throw back, pulling back so I can look up at him. I tuck my hands around his waist beneath his leather jacket, keeping my hands warm. This is what a safe place felt like.

“See all the cops on campus?” I ask casually, even though it makes my stomach roll.

“I did.” He says easily, looking down at me, “It was a risk we knew about before we did this. I won’t apologize for it if they find out what happened, but I doubt it.”

I didn’t expect anything less from him. It was the one thing about Alistair that didn’t change from the moment I met him, he never apologized for who he was. You either took him as is or you hated him for it.

“Still working on Frank?”

He nods casually in answer. I didn’t need him to change, I didn’t need him to tell me he loved me or shower me with flowers. But I did ask for the truth, no matter how bloody it got, he promised he wouldn’t lie to me.

And he’d kept that promise.

He told me everything. All the things they did before Greg, everything that happened to Rose and what they had planned to do with the mayor. Which wasn’t much at the moment because they were waiting on Silas to call the shots for the next move.

All they did know was that he wasn’t getting away with it and his time was coming, soon.

“I’m scared. I don’t like not knowing things.” I whisper, resting my chin on his chest, resting there.

His fingers push my hair behind my ears, thumbs swiping across my cheek bones.

“I’m not sure where we go from here, Briar, or what will happen, but I know no matter what, I’ll protect you. I’ll protect this.” He says, soothing the anguish that sits in my heart when I think about him being taken away or worse winding up dead.

Hollow Heights had been nothing like I thought it would be. Everything I planned to happen wasn’t even close to what I got. Never in a million years did I think I’d be standing here. Never thought I would be the girl who protected murderers.

I guess some people are just born to run with criminals. I guess that person is me.

“It’s funny, I thought when I came here it would all make sense. What I wanted to do with my life, where I wanted to end up later in life.” I drift off, “I’d never had anything good like this happen to me before, so I never really thought anything good would be possible for me in the future. But I’m starting to like figuring it out as I go.”

“Yeah? You don’t have any idea what the future looks like for you?” He asks, raising an eyebrow, a mischievous twinkling in his eyes like stars in the night sky.

“I mean,” I sigh sarcastically, “The idea of you and I apartment hunting next year doesn’t sound too bad. Snagging an internship with the data science program might be nice, throwing surprise birthday parties for you…”

“Briar.” He growls, interrupting me.

“No birthday parties?” I ask with a smile.

“No parties. I enjoyed the way I spent this one,” Leaning towards my face, moving his warm lips across my own, “Fucking you.”

Heat surges between my legs, that dull ache that never leaves increases and I’m suddenly thinking about all the things we could do inside this maze. I bite at his bottom lip playfully.

“What about you, Mr. Caldwell? Any ideas for your future?”

“Continuing to tell my parents to shove their business ventures up their ass.” He grunts and I can’t help but laugh, “Making sure the boys don’t end up in jail and spend every moment I can trying to find new ways to scare you.”

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