The one they found in the forest all those years ago. The one who’d forgotten how to speak. The one who’d fended for herself for who knows how long.

“And on that note,” Free said, stepping forward, “let’s break this little lovefest up.” Even clad in Levi’s and a ratty blue T-shirt, Free was the kind of girl that guys looked at and then looked at again. It wasn’t the thick blond hair, falling in carefree waves past her chest. It wasn’t her full lips or deep brown eyes. It wasn’t even the hips beneath the jeans.

It was her confidence. It was the fact that Free Morrow walked through life knowing that she could ace any test it threw at her—and didn’t much care either way.

She bent down and picked up Jude’s boom box. “Who wants to dance?”

Chapter 2

The next morning, I was up with the dawn. The party had left me restless. If I’d thought there was any chance that I could have gotten away with it, I would have spent the night outside, but Cady would have noticed, and she would have pressed Jude for answers.

Jude did not hold up well under questioning.

So I’d lain in my bed all night, trying not to feel boxed in. When the first hint of sun hit my window, springing me from my seemingly endless sentence, I was up and digging through the pile of clean laundry on my desk in seconds. As I donned a pair of running shorts and looped my hair back into a ponytail, Silver stirred on the end of my bed. She lifted her head, liquid brown eyes meeting mine.

“Go back to sleep,” I told her.

Silver made a huffing sound and jumped down to the floor. She was almost thirteen—old for a German shepherd—and didn’t move as easily as she had in her youth. Still, she was spry enough to block me from exiting the room. Her head butted gently—and reproachfully—against my thigh.

No matter how old I got, Silver would never see me as more than a pup.

“I’m fine,” I told her, sinking down to let her see for herself as I ran my right hand over her coarse fur. “I just need to run.”

Silver was Cady’s dog, but I was Silver’s human. She’d been the one to find me all those years ago. Since then, she’d stood guard over me through much worse than a restless night’s sleep. The stubborn look on her face now made it clear that she was not getting out of my way until she was certain I was okay.

“You’re impossible,” I commented.