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Chapter 1

Lucy stood in front of the unfaht of the suitcase in her hand pulled against her shoulder, but that wasn’t the only weight that she was carrying with her She had a secret—a secret that had brought her to the unfamiliar house with the suitcase in her hand

She knocked on the door She wasn’t sure whether that hat she was supposed to do; the house was meant to be her ho maid with a warm smile met Lucy’s eye “Can I help you?” the woman asked in a thick accent

“I’hter,” she added when the nize her name

“Oh,” the er, “this is your first time here, yes?”

“Yes” Lucy nodded “I thought I’d come over for a visit,” she explained She realized that she didn’t really need to explain why she was there to theher explanation ever since she’d set off fro to be spewed froht inquire

“Lucy?” Lucy’s mom called from somewhere above her “Is it true? Is it really you?” Her voice was getting closer with every word Lucy turned when the sound of heels clicking againstpulled her attention away from the detailed arch work that seemed to be above every doorway

“Yes, Mo down the stairs in the ht dress that Lucy had ever seen “I thought I’d pop over for a visit”

“What about college?” Her mom looked concerned in the few places on her face that were still able to show any eun to use

“I’ deal People do it all the time”

“If you say so, sweetie” Her mom had already lost interest in the conversation “You know, I think the boys are hoain”

The boys were Lucy’s stepbrothers She’d acquired them when her mom had married their dad a couple of years back They were twins and Lucy often had a hard ti them apart from each other, until they spoke Not that she’d really spentat the wedding, and they hadn’t run into each other since then

“They’re outside by the pool if you want go and say hi,” her mom pushed

Lucy didn’t want to go say hi She wanted to go find whichever room in the oversized house was hers She wasn’t in the h “Actually, I’m kinda beat down from the journey” She faked a yawn “Do you think I could catch up with them later?”

“You don’t look very tired” Her mo this fahed Her oes” fighting stance

“I’ the fae I think that’s a bit different, Mom”

“Lucy, you didn’t even come home at Christmas”

“I had plans”

“Yes, with your faitated “You come home and you spend Christmas with your fae so you can party with people you won’t even know in five years’ time”

That hit a raw nerve with Lucy Why did her mom have to be like that? She had come home to spend time with the fao Why was she dragging up the past and starting arguhed in a desperate bid to end the war before it began “I’ll go and say hi to them”

“Good girl” Her htly at the edges, as though they were trying to

Lucy didn’t need directions to find the pool She could hear the water being broken and thrown about from inside the house She followed the happy roars and peels of laughter that were co next to an i water that arden look like an oasis

The tere in the water One of the to knock him down “Hey,” Lucy called out to him

“Oh, hey” He sht?”

“Yeah” She nodded as she leaned down at the side of the pool Her glossy blonde hair was dancing dangerously close to the water “Which one are you?”

He grinned at her “Josh” His smile was an all-American, white exa on his cheeks “What are you d

oing over here? I thought you were super busy with college life” He kicked back in the water and started to float on his back

“I thought I’d stop by for a visit” She shrugged casually “Thought I’d co” Her attention was on Josh She’d totally forgotten about Daniel, who had been doing the handstand He wasn’t doing a handstand anyht It wasn’t until his warm, wet hand slid out of the water and pulled at Lucy’s arain “Hey,” she yelled as she found herself tu into the water

Daniel’s head broke through the surface, laughing “It’s been a while, my dear” He half bowed “To what do e the pleasure of your company?”

“You’re such a douche” Lucy slaainst the water “Look atand rub against her legs “Do you kno much these cost?”

“Chill out” Daniel laughed at her “I’et some more”

“That’s not the point” Lucy scowled at him “Who does that? What if I had my cell on me? What if I hurt

“You really need to chill” Daniel turned to his brother “This one can’t take a joke”

“I’m not sure that’s the problem,” Josh said quickly, a smirk on his face “I think the problem is that your jokes just aren’t funny” He skimmed his hand across the water and sent a wave of water crashing into Daniel’s face

Lucy laughed

“Dude, that’s not cool,” Daniel co chlorine-soaked water out of his eyes “What happened to bros before hoes?”

“Are you callingat Daniel The only thing that Lucy foundto Daniel was how attractive she found him It wasn’t fair He was such a jerk He was the reason that good girls got their hearts broken Not that Lucy could really consider herself a good girl, but that was a different issue entirely

“Well,” Daniel drawled out slowly, “those shorts aren’t exactly down to your knees, are they?” He let his eyes spend a teasingly long s

“Oh, you’re going to regret that” Lucy grinned as she jumped over and pulled Daniel down into the water He tried to fight back, but his reactions from the very start had been too slow His head fell under the water and Lucy took her opportunity to hold it there for a second, before she would let him come back up “Looks like this ho can take your bro down,” she said, s at Josh, when Daniel had come back up to the surface

“That’s obviously not true” Daniel shook his head fro Water sprayed away froht you”

“Sure, sure” Lucy smirked at him “Tell yourself whatever you need to”

Chapter 2

The chlorine froers through it, trying to co of hairs snapping between her fingers was too ive Daniel hell when she saw hih the door Three knocks followed “Lucy”

“Come in,” Lucy called as she pulled on a pair of dry shorts and a vest top “What’s up?” she asked when she noticed her h the door

“I thought you ht want to co away from the door “I don’t knohether you’ve made any plans or not, but if you haven’t, then we’ll all be eating downstairs in fifteen minutes”