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I blinked as he offered me a hand and pulled me to my feet I saw all the curious faces of the kids inside filling the dirty s, but it didn’t matter When he bent his head and sealed his mouth over mine, I drifted into hierous habit, one that, if I didn’t get a handle on it, was going to leavethe curve ofet you Monday”

I started to nod absently as he handed s in it I shookclose, and put a hand on his forearm

“No”

He lifted a dark eyebrow at et out of class until ten”

He didn’t like that I could tell by the downturn of his mouth and the way the shadows moved in his eyes He shook off my hand and pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up around his face I decided I hated it when he did that It was like he was pulling armor into place and there was no Shane, only Bax

“Callcold shafted down my spine and I bit my lip as he worked his way back to his side of the car I tilted my head to the side

“Bax?”

He paused before cli back into the car and looked at me All I could see was my nervous and unsure face reflected back at me out of those dark orbs

“No Roxie or Honor this weekend, promise?”

It was a question, because really, what did I expect froon of virtue and honesty We stared at each other over the roof of the car for a long ulped a little and nodded as I stepped up on the curb as he blazed away from me I let out a pent-up breath and wondered if I would survive dealing with hirenade with a loose pin I wanted to zig and every ti and exhilarating at the sah the front door, I was iers were too cool to show any outward excite in their eyes Bax was hard to miss, and it ell known I didn’t date or make time for a love life, so I’m sure everyone wanted to knoho he was and why I had arrived to work in his badass car when I typically took the bus in

I e of questions to get to the kitchen, where Reeve Black orking onthe kids dinner There were a total of twelve of thees five to sixteen, so it was no simple task, and she looked harried

“Need a hand?” She jumped a little at the sound of my voice

“Oh, thank God you’re here Lindsey and Blake were helping but then everyone bolted because of someone at the front of the house All I heard was ‘sweet ride’ and ‘hot guy’blah blah blah, you kno teenagers are”

Reeve was a few years older than me I didn’t know her whole story, but I think the bones of it were similar to mine I didn’t knohy she was as devoted to these kids as she was, but she was the heart and soul of this house She also looked like she could uy’sit with the rest of us average folks, but I never felt like it wasblack hair and unwavering cobalt gaze I think she saw more than she ever let on, and all I wanted to do was hide, so I tried to keep things between us totally professional