He only heard about every third word she had said. He’d gotten distracted when she hit the light, giving him his first good look at her. The tight faded Levi’s, cowboy boots, and weathered Carhartt jacket were quite a switch from the baggy jeans–loose cardigan–Doc Martens wardrobe she usually favored. But it was working for her. Big-time.

Her snap-button denim shirt was open at the neck, just enough to reveal a light patch of freckles scattered across her chest. He also noted that her hair had been haphazardly pulled up and secured with a plastic clip—another first. After sitting behind her in economics class for weeks, he regretted that it was only now that he’d gotten a look at her nape, where light wisps of red hair brushed against flawless ivory skin.

Even the gum she was chewing smelled good. He was pretty sure the flavor was apple cinnamon, but he found himself wanting a taste just to confirm it.

Also—somewhat perversely—the fact that she seemed pissed at him only served to increase her appeal.

“Cole?”

“Huh?”

“Did you hear me?”

“No. Yeah. Hear you say what?”

“I said, call me old-fashioned, but I’m not really up to traipsing through the dark where thirty of my classmates perished last night. Can’t we just catch a movie or something?”

He blinked back to full attention and smiled. “I thought this wasn’t a date.”

She scoffed and switched off the light.

“Don’t worry about the dark,” Cole said. “I came prepared.” He reached into his gym bag and came out with a flashlight.

“Oh, I feel so much better now.” She jammed the stick into first and drove off the lot. “What else you got in that bag?”

“Nothing. Yet. We have to make a stop. You know where the road bends sharply just past the lumber yard out on Fourteen?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Head that way. We’ve got to pick up something before we head down to the river.”

“What, some lumber?”

“No, a dead skunk.”

The sharp curve on Route 14 near the Cravens Lumberyard had cut short a number of young lives in violent car crashes over the years. The turn came at the end of a flat, three-mile straightaway, where speed traps were rare and drag races were common. Due to its location outside the town limits, and the fact that it was a completely blind turn, it rarely lacked a scattering of road kill.

Cole told Savannah to slow down as they approached the curve. He leaned forward and peered through the windshield until he found what he was looking for. “There’s one. Stop right here. Pull to the side.”

“What is it?”

“Skunk, I think.”

“Looks more like an armadillo.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right. You think it’ll make a difference?”

“I really can’t answer that question, Logan, seeing as how you won’t tell me what the hell we’re doing.”