Page 17 (1/2)

"I’ a job," he says "And as far from Dad as possible"

Aht

A knock on thethat overlooks the rabs our attention Kaden flips us off and er back I giggle when Kaden shakes his head and stalks off "You didn’t tell Kaden you were beco my shadow today?"

"Nah, he knows, but I didn’t wake hi ready upstairs He trained hard yesterday and needed the sleep Kaden’s pissed he had to ride the bus by himself and I wasn’t there to act as shield with that fresh him"

Kaden’s a year older than rade Because of that, we’re both seniors at Eastwick High It’s hard on Kaden with the whole world knowing he’s in the saer sister At least I know it is Back at a tirade, it’s why he fights hard in the gym, why he’s quiet in public

"There’s still soo pester hi you" Another crunch of the apple

Why didn’t I play an instrument in band? There’s an entire scholarship section devoted to that "I’ ht--which, co--I expect the truth to reveal itself Today At school"

My head jerks in his direction Jax watches reen eyes He reminds me of an ohen he does this and itJax’s fa in this neighborhood a lot longer than you have," he adds "That drug addict little brother of your ex-boyfriend ju for him, aren’t you?"

"No" Yes

Jax leans into ht you were over Matt"

"I a I’ve said to Jax in six months What happened between Matt andfor his brother?"

Because they don’t play fair The words tu into one another Even when I was dating Matt, his younger brother carried a knife It’s been six raduated to Jax and Kaden hate Matt and Conner They’ve been enemies since I can remember

"I kicked Conner’s ass at the last tournament, Hays, but you wouldn’t know because you weren’t there I can take care of myself, Kaden can take care of himself and our job is to take care of you If Conner thinks you’re weak prey, he’ll co in the middle class anymore This is the streets and there are rules"

And I’ot jumped "You don’t think I know that?"