Chapters (43)
- Cover
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Epilogue
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- Readers Guide
- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
- About the Author
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“The police came, and then my family. I’d been missing for nineteen hours, but Gavin had taken my phone and texted my roommate, so no one even knew I was gone.” She lifted her chin, determined to make him understand the story had a happy ending. “He said no one would believe me, but they did. It was close for a minute, because people saw me staggering around at the party like I was drunk, because of whatever he put in my drink. He said I was just tipsy and said yes but then took it back. But it was hard to explain the cuffs, the way I had to escape out a window. He was convicted and actually got jail time. My lawyer said I was lucky, because that almost never happens in ra—” She swallowed. “But I had a witness. I had evidence. And I went through the hell of testifying so other girls would be safe.”
LJ turned and started digging behind the seat. She scooted forward to give him more room, even though she wasn’t sure what he was doing. After a second, he produced a screwdriver and leaned over to tuck it into the purse at her feet.
He straightened, and his deep-brown eyes met hers. Andra jerked, she was so surprised. People didn’t look at her when she told that story. They looked down, and they shook their heads with pursed lips. They wrote what she said into their reports. But they never looked her in the eye.
“If you ever come to my door,” LJ said, “I’ll answer.”
Six
LJ was getting mighty comfortable in Andra’s ranch-style kitchen. She had a big island that was perfect for chopping and a slick little kitchen faucet that came right off and turned into its own sink sprayer. He’d been worried she might not want to have him around as much, after their trip to the grocery store had taken such a somber turn. But instead she’d gulped down a deep breath and invited him up to make soup.
He couldn’t help but match her courage after that, so he took his own deep breath, shook off his sadness to tease a fresh smile out of her, and just like that they were friends again. Maybe even a little more than they had been before.
Today, the pot on her stove was billowing steam, condensation beading on the kitchen wall. LJ wiped sweat off his forehead and started to unbutton his shirt so it wouldn’t cling to his skin.
Andra smacked him with the dish towel. “Keep your clothes on, Delisle. And don’t think I’m going to burn the crap out of myself on these peaches just so I can ‘learn’ or whatever nonsense you come up with.”