5. June 19th

5

June 19th

" T here you are!" Carrie pulls me into a tight hug as soon as I open the door, bouncing us up and down together.

It takes all of my willpower not to fall apart in her arms. I didn't realize it, but I needed a hug. I am craving human contact.

Behind her, I see a black BMW and curse. "You didn't tell me Maxwell was with you," I admonish Carrie, separating from her.

Carrie's newest boyfriend, Maxwell Thorne, is also one of the founding families of this town we all live in. He isn't old money, he is ancient money. Everything in this town can be traced back to the Thornes in one way or another.

What's more–Maxwell's best friend, William, is the sheriff's son. The two families together have their hands on anything and everything that goes on in this town. It's part of the reason so many leave after graduation and never return.

There's nothing exactly wrong with either of the guys, but something about both has always given me the heebie-jeebies. And combined with who their families are? Either could easily get away with murder.

Carrie's sharp fingernails digging into my wrist has me snapping back to her.

"Come on Sunday!!" she exclaims excitedly, not deterred by my annoyance. "Maxwell is sober and he's throwing a kegger at his house tonight. It will be fun I promise. And if you hate it? Well, we can leave and find a good spot to watch the stars together."

My resolve softens. Carrie may seem like a typical ditsy blonde, but I know that she is one of the kindest women in existence. If I asked her to ditch her boyfriend, I know she would. But I don't want to do that to her.

"Okay," I agree. I try to follow her towards the car, but a hand snaps out from behind yanking me back by my blouse.

I go to scream, but another firm hand claps over my mouth.

"Stop it, I'm not going to hurt you." Axel's rough voice sends a thousand volts of electricity across my skin.

Carrie turns back to see why I have stopped my progress and her face goes white. "Axel," she acknowledges the man that has now removed his hand from my mouth.

He moves it to my stomach, holding me even more firmly in place. "We'll meet you at the party." Axel's words leave no room for argument.

But that's exactly what I want to do. I don't know Axel and I certainly don't want to listen to him.

He's a creepy asshole that basically jumped out of the bushes in the middle of the night and then began to dictate what I should or shouldn't do.

Except the warmth and strength of his grip is hard to ignore. Even more difficult are the parallels to his twin. But those similarities are only surface level. Tripp would never be this aggressive with me. Tripp was always a sweetheart.

Carrie's face appears unsure. I can't understand why Axel is here, but I don't want her to be any more involved than she needs to be. "I'll meet you there." I offer up the best reassuring smile I can.

I'm not sure if it's due to her noticeably drunken state, but she accepts the sudden change of events easily. She lifts her hand in mock salute and spares me only one more glance as she makes the rest of the way to the BMW that still idles on the road.

I watch her the entire way, ignoring the man at my back. When she opens the car door, I can just make out the shadowed face of Maxwell in the driver's seat, before she shuts the door and he peels away.