Page 2 (1/2)

"It’s alright, Ree Probably just a bird or soh" He shook his head ruefully and pulled out of the parking lot

Chapter 2

The Center wasn’t far, but parking was dreadful They were finally able to find a spot three blocks away and Ree was glad Paden had insisted on driving She hated to parallel park-- it was always a rather painful and eht colors for the winter holidays Twinkle lights were strung through the trees and Ree could hear Christ into the street fro stores as they half-walked, half-ran toward the entrance Weylin and Melanie, the friends that aiting for theainst a railing with his hands in his pockets He always looked so casual with his light brown, tousled hair and laughing brown eyes Melanie was talking to so unusual – she seemed to have friends everywhere Ree waved at Mel, and s her around, h, and then ruffled her hair She shoved his arm away and tried to fix thewith an arm around Juliette as they chatted quietly They had apparently beaten Ree and Paden by a few minutes Michael and the others were nowhere to be seen; thank God She really hoped their tickets had theroup

The line at the door waspeople for the concert As they neared the door, Ree reached into her pocket for the concert tickets Paden had handed her earlier that night

"Crap!" She reached into her other pocket and griht back The tickets must have fallen out in the car" She started to head back to where they had parked and Paden jogged after her

"Wait up I’ll ith you," He slowed to her pace and looked down at her "It’s not safe out here by yourself"

She suppressed a sigh as she looked up at hiht to look at Thethe planes of his face His hair waved gently in the light winter breeze "My, aren’t you the chivalrous one today? My very own knight in shining armor"

"Always at your service, Milady" He swept a bow in her direction

She chuckled and hoped it was dark enough to conceal the blush creeping up her cheeks She just could not seeotten older, she had been drawn to him He had a stubborn face, but with an undercurrent of sensuality that hadn’t been there when they were younger She rolled her eyes at herself How had she ever missed how cute he was?

It felt weird to be uncomfortable around Paden She had known hi When she had reached high school, he stuck up for her Even when his best friend, her brother Tristan, had started going downhill, Paden watched out for Ree As the popular jock, he had enough pull to keep the nerdy art girl froet for jokes and ridicule All of his friends had been so rich and beautiful, the opposite of Ree They all lived in a different world than the one she inhabited Some of the and talking to her Or worse, they had looked at her in pity,her feel like she was a lost puppy they wanted to pat on the head Well, all of them except Jules, Bryce, Melanie, and Weylin They had seeet her And, in spite of Paden’s social status, she had never felt uneasy with hihts to hiht-lipped with others She never felt like he was judging her or secretly waiting to get away from her In fact, he seemed to enjoy her co up with her every week He went to her art showings at school and bragged about her to his fa with hiate her hos were different

Did he resent looking after her? She had never asked him to fill Tristan’s shoes When Tristan died in the car accident, it had see around the family had helped Paden as much as it had helped the McKennas It had been a comfort to have someone to look after her at first, but recently the fact that he treated her like a younger sister had actually started to grate on her nerves Would he ever be able to see her as a woly art nerd in his ht never look anything like Juliette, she had fleshed out nicely Tall and sliht sprinkling of freckles over her nose Some days she liked the freckles, other days they were the bane of her existence She was definitely not Angelina Jolie, but she wasn’t without her good points She sincerely hoped he would see that one day

They rounded the corner just in time to see someone duck into an alley near their car Both of them stopped in their tracks "Did you see that?" Ree whispered

"Yeah" Paden shivered It was unnerving to see the skin crawl along his neck "Be careful, Ree Let’s reed

They hurried to the car and Paden unlocked the driver’s side door so she could search the seats and floorboards

"Ah ha! There you are!" She backed out of the car and held the tickets toward hi up and down the street, then back toward the alley "Er, what is it? Did you see so like someone" He trailed off, shook his head, and locked the door Ree stared at hi her lips nervously "Like so at the spot just between your shoulder blades?"

"How did you know?" He shivered and ran his hand across the back of his neck, trying to sht" She shrugged her shoulders, trying to look calm and sane Sane was important "I didn’t realize anyone else felt it, too"

"I was beginning to think I was going crazy" He chuckled beforeback

"You’re not the only one It’s nice to know I’ it Not insane" She settled into a stride next to hio that far, Little One" He chuckled when she frowned up at him

She hated it when he called her that It made her sound like she was still five years old Surely any moment he would reach over and ruffle her hair That would definitely et his like that? She crossed her aryou the Jolly Green Giant"

He laughed loudly and threw a friendly arm over her shoulders It was always nice when he touched her She shivered just a bit in pleasure, careful to not dislodge his ar she was cold "You’re just so cute when you’re angry I can’t help it"

She elbowed hiently in his ribs "It’s not nice to irritate people, O’Reilly I’et under your skin"

He looked down at her and there was an intensity she hadn’t noticed before as he scanned her face His eyes lingered on her lips for just a ave hi They continued in silence for a while, and Ree realized they were al fans was now deserted

Paden dropped his ar to miss the cover band! Let’s hurry up"