Prologue

PROLOGUE

Twenty Years Ago…

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m taking matters into my own hands,” Sean James, her best friend and the boy who had been stealing her food since they were babies, announced as he grabbed the roll of electrical tape off the floor, only to rethink that decision and grabbed the bungee rope instead.

“What are you talking about?” Cayley asked, frowning when he gestured for her to hold her hands up.

“You need to move,” Sean said as he focused his attention on tying her hands together.

“Why do I have to move?” she asked, watching as Sean continued wrapping the green and black bungee cord that he’d helped himself to from his father’s truck around her wrists.

“Because we can’t be neighbors anymore,” Sean said with a sad shake of his head as he finished wrapping the entire bungee rope around her wrists. When he was done, he stood up with a satisfied sigh and gestured for her to get in the large cardboard box that she’d been wondering about.

Knowing that he wouldn’t tell her anything else until she did what he asked, Cayley bit back a sigh as she tried to get on her knees, only to end up falling over onto her face with a pained grunt when her legs refused to cooperate. There was a long-suffering sigh as she turned her head and watched Sean knock the large cardboard box onto its side before he moved behind her and shoved her inside.

She really should have picked one of his brothers as her best friend instead, Cayley thought, wondering why she’d settled on him when she’d had her pick of James brothers. Well, all but one, she amended since she was pretty sure that Bryce hated her. She should probably be concerned about that, but at the moment, she had other things to worry about, like the boy trying to kidnap her.

“Why can’t we be neighbors?” Cayley asked as she watched Sean reach over and grab another box, this one smaller, and dragged it closer.

“Because I can’t marry you,” Sean said with a long-suffering sigh as he grabbed a blanket from the small box and shoved it in the box with her.

“But I don’t want to marry you,” Cayley pointed out as he grabbed several coloring books, a bottle of water, two bottles of blue Gatorade, a handful of protein bars, and a sandcastle bucket from the small box and shoved it in the box with her.

“It doesn’t matter because I’m sending you to Santa so that you can ask for a new house,” Sean said with a firm nod as he stood up and grabbed hold of the box and flipped it back over.

“I really hate you,” Cayley mumbled when the move made the coloring books and protein bars hit her in the face.

“No, you don’t, which is why I’m doing this,” he said with a long-suffering sigh as she shoved the coloring books out of her face, only to sigh when he threw another blanket in the box.

“You’re sending me to Santa Claus because I don’t hate you?” Cayley asked as she struggled to get more comfortable, only to sigh heavily when the move caused one of the bottles of Gatorade to become lodged behind her back.

“Bradfords marry their neighbors,” Sean said with a firm nod as though that explained everything.

“Your dad didn’t,” Cayley pointed out even as she couldn’t help but wonder why she’d believed him when he promised to give her a puppy if she came over.

“And look how that worked out for him,” Sean said with a shrug as he grabbed the Tupperware container filled with the baked goods that her Aunt Laura dropped off at her house earlier and went to shove it in the box with her only to rethink that decision, pulled the lid back and helped himself to a chocolate cupcake with red frosting before closing the lid and shoving it in her arms.

“Can we talk about this?” Cayley asked with a hopeful smile that quickly died when he shook his head and gestured for her to lay down with the cupcake in his hand.

“Let’s go,” Sean said, once again gesturing for her to lay down as he popped the last bite of cupcake in his mouth before shifting his attention back to that box and-

“I forgot the tape,” Sean said, sighing heavily as he glanced from her, back to the box, and then towards the backdoor.

“You should probably go get it, then,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly as Sean shifted his attention back to her as he debated his next move.

“Maybe I should get the nail gun instead,” Sean said, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as she did her best not to panic.

“That does sound like a better idea,” Cayley somehow managed to force out of her mouth before she cleared her throat, shifted, and went for that hopeful smile once again.

“I should probably grab the staple gun, too,” Sean said, looking lost in thought as he reached down and grabbed the Tupperware container full of baked goods and helped himself to a brownie before shoving it back in her arms. “And more duct tape.”

“You can never have enough duct tape,” Cayley murmured in agreement as she did her best to appear innocent.

“No, you can’t,” Sean mumbled absently as he took a bite of brownie as he stood there, considering her for another minute and just when she thought that he was going to try his luck with the electric tape, he nodded to himself as he tossed the last bite of brownie in his mouth and headed for the backdoor with a muttered, “Stay here.”

“Of course,” Cayley said, watching as Sean made his way across the living room to the backdoor, where he paused to throw her a look of warning that she chose to ignore.

“Stay here,” he bit out one last time before he opened the backdoor and left, closing the door behind him. Slowly exhaling, Cayley moved to climb out of the box only to remember who she was dealing with here and forced herself to sit there, keeping her expression blank as the backdoor slowly opened seconds later to reveal Sean, standing in the doorway, watching her through narrowed eyes.

“This is a really nice box,” Cayley murmured, nodding solemnly as she watched the boy that she was never sharing her cookies with again as he slowly closed the door, his gaze never leaving hers until finally, the door clicked shut and it was time to move her butt.

“Stupid box,” Cayley grumbled as she struggled to stand up, only to give up, slam her shoulder into the side and grunt in pain when a bottle of Gatorade hit her in the head.

Vowing to make Sean pay for this one day, Cayley yanked her wrists free, thankful that he’d used the bungee rope instead of the tape, shoved the bungee rope aside, got to her feet and started to make a run for it, only to remember who she was dealing with here and grabbed the Tupperware full of treats first. She ran as fast as her severely uncoordinated legs would carry her to the front door and-

Quickly decided that her best bet was running upstairs and hiding under the first available bed that she could find when she saw the front door opening. Decision made, Cayley ran upstairs, struggling not to panic as she ran down the hallway and slammed into what felt like a cement wall. Stumbling back and admittedly a bit dazed, Cayley found herself looking up at the large man that really seemed to love glaring at her.

Clearing her throat, Cayley gestured with the large Tupperware container in her hands back towards the stairs as she mumbled weakly, “He ran out to get the nail gun,” as she watched Mr. James’s eyes narrow on her and decided that perhaps she’d be better off taking her chances in the box.

Never taking his eyes off her, Mr. James reached over and opened the bedroom door to his right. With a sniffle, Cayley said, “Bless you,” as she headed into the messy bedroom, only to grumble when Mr. James plucked the Tupperware container out of her hands. She’d been hoping to use the baked goods to distract Sean if he managed to corner her again, but that was fine, more than fine, Cayley told herself as she took in the messy bedroom and-

Decided that she was wasting precious seconds standing there when she heard another door slam shut somewhere in the large house and dove under the bed in front of her. That was followed by a grunt of pain when she landed on a baseball, cleats, and a fork for some reason. Shoving everything out of her way, Cayley quickly made her way beneath the bed and pressed herself tightly against the wall just as the bedroom door opened again.

Praying that it wasn’t the deranged boy determined to ship her off to the North Pole, Cayley swallowed hard as she debated making a run for it, only to decide that she was good where she was when someone heavy dropped down on the bed, forcing her to bite back a groan. That led her to wonder just how much Mr. James fed his sons when she was forced to press herself against the wall more tightly when whoever was on the bed shifted to get more comfortable, causing the mattress to press down on her.

This was definitely a bad idea.

Maybe she should-

“Why’s Sean breaking into Dad’s workshop?” Craig asked right around the time that Cayley decided that she was good where she was.

“No clue, but it probably has something to do with the little pain in the ass next door,” Bryce said, sighing heavily as Cayley opened her mouth only to close it on a silent grumble since she really couldn’t argue that one.

“She’s not that bad,” Craig said, chuckling.

“That’s easy for you to say. She’s not stalking you,” Bryce bit out, making Cayley frown.

There was a heavy sigh, and then, “She’s not stalking you,” Craig said as Cayley found herself nodding in agreement.

“Then, what is she doing?” Bryce asked, shifting on the bed again and forcing her to bite back a grunt as she glared ahead.

“Hiding beneath your bed,” came the amused announcement that had Cayley swallowing hard as she lay there, wincing when the bed creaked seconds later and-

“Oh, no,” Cayley barely managed to get the words out when she felt the hand wrap around her ankle and found herself being dragged towards a boy who really didn’t look happy to see her.