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STACEY

SIX YEARS LATER

Ipull the duvet away, slowly and quietly, and slide my legs out of the bed first. He stirs and reaches across the mattress, but I’m out and on my feet before he can touch me.

My dress and underwear are scattered across the floor, my heels probably on his stairs or in the living room. A Tinder date that began in the pub, something to keep me busy. After a few drinks and endless flirting, he invited me back here.

Is it bad that I can’t quite remember his name? He’s either Bryan or Byron. They do sound the same. I’ll need to check his profile before I delete the app.

I notice a few missed calls on my phone from my best friend Lu, one from my other best friend Tylar and several messages from my stepbrother, demanding to know my whereabouts.

I groan, rubbing my temples to try to ease my headache, then open Luciella’s contact and type out a message.

Me: Can you pick me up? I’m at Branchton. There’s a row of houses across from a church. Do you know the place?

I tiptoe down the steps with my heels and jacket to hand until I reach the bottom, sitting on the bottom step.

My phone vibrates.

Lu: On my way. Be there in five.

Thank God.

I know my friends are going to want the details. I can already hear the high-pitched squeals they’ll make when they hear I finally had sex after months of not being the slightest bit interested.

The last person I slept with told me that as much as I’m a lovely girl, he couldn’t meet up again. Weirdly enough, he went missing a few days later, and still is.

Being called a lovely girl at the age of twenty-one annoyed the hell out of me.

There’s a car horn sounding outside, and I sigh in relief.

Luciella’s stepfather bought her the car for getting into university. Ty is planning on taking over her family’s dance studio.

I’m still trying to find myself, and I’m okay with that. I’m in no rush to sort my shit out. I’m a dancer and an aerialist, an instructor three nights a week for kids’ and adults’ classes, and we train for shows and competitions.

My mum died when I was thirteen, and when my dad fell in love with Nora Fields, he moved us to this town to live with her and her two boys, Kyle and Chris.

My dad died two years ago, but Nora and her sons insist on me staying there until I save up enough money to move out; she kept all the inheritance that was supposed to be for me.

I don’t need to pay dig money, which is good, despite the utter nightmare of living in that house. It means I can focus on my goals.

It’s nearly the break of dawn as I step outside. The black Audi R8 waiting has me freezing. The tinted windows hide the driver, but I know exactly who it is, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck rise, my heartbeat accelerating.

The alloys are shiny, as if they’ve been freshly polished, and the headlights nearly blind me. I grimace, wondering if I can turn around and walk away.

Lu is going to catch a slap when I see her later.

The horn sounds again, making my shoulders tense.

“Unbelievable,” I mutter under my breath, seeing no other way to get home since an Uber will take forever to get to this side of town.

With my heels dangling from my fingers, messy hair, and make-up far from fresh, I feel nervous. Out of everyone who could pick me up after a one-night stand, he’s the last person I want.

Unhurriedly, I make my way to the car, opening the passenger door and throwing myself into the seat. I don’t look at him – I keep my eyes forward, tossing my heels on the floor in front of me as I attempt to put my belt on. It retracts twice, and I blow out a breath when I finally manage to click it in.

I try to ignore the addictive scent of mint, cigarettes and Tom Ford’s Noir. The same aftershave he’s used for years. I try to ignore him, but his presence is everywhere, even after two years of silence between us.

I cross my arms in front of me, glancing at him sideways. “Lu said she was picking me up.”

He doesn’t respond, looking bored as he types on his phone, his elbow perched on the leather divider between us. He has a fresh tattoo on his hand, which somehow makes it look even more veiny.

I gulp, quickly looking away before he notices me letting my gaze travel up the new tattoos littering his body.

His knees parted, gym shorts showing off his legs, he leans back against the driver’s seat, still texting. My scowl deepens as I watch him reply to messages instead of driving me home.

He must have been working out in the home gym at the manor. His top is tight against his chest, the taut muscles still swollen from his session. There’s a cigarette tucked behind his ear, and wavy black hair nearly as dark as his soul falls over his forehead.

He has a sun-kissed tan that makes me look like a ghost.

As much as I’d like to say I’ve forgotten everything about Kade Mitchell, I’m a terrible liar.

I roll the window down, ignoring the chill taking over me while I try to stop his scent from clouding my judgement. Yes, Kade might be handsome, a person that ticked every box for me at one point, but he’s my best friend’s twin brother and completely off limits.

I know that now.

The last conversation we had was two years ago, and he hasn’t as much as looked me in the eye since. I know Lu must have given him shit to get him to come pick me up.

He’d never do this off his own back.

Fucking Luciella. She’s aware of how much we can’t stand each other. She knows I try to dodge him every chance I get. I mean, she doesn’t know exactly why, but still.

After nearly three minutes of rock music playing low and him typing away on his phone, the sun starts to rise. My jaw rolls in annoyance, my gaze flitting between the steering wheel and the front gate of the house I left.

“Are you going to drive or just sit here?”

As usual, I’m met with silence. He clicks away on his screen, the corner of his mouth curling up into a smile.

I try not to stare at how handsome he is, despite being a reincarnation of the devil; how soft his skin appears under the harsh black ink. He doesn’t smile often, so who is he talking to? Annoyingly, my traitorous heart beats faster. Who’s making him grin like that?

No. Stop, Stacey. Who cares who makes him smile?

I can’t stay in this car. I need to get the hell out of here.

“I’m getting an Uber,” I say, unbuckling my belt, but Kade catches it before it can retract, yanking it to click back in without a word, eyes still on the screen. He types with one hand, the other holding my seat belt in place until he eventually shuts his screen off and turns the car back on.

The engine rumbles beneath us, and I’m rocketed back into the chair as he accelerates at a ridiculous speed.

He turns the music up, and I stare at him, at his beautifully harsh features, while his silvery-blue eyes blaze into the road. I eventually put the window up to stop my hair from blowing wild.

I open my messages and see one I must’ve missed.

Lu: Kade’s coming instead.

Me: I hate you.

She replies instantly.

Lu: Sorry! He was driving his friend home. Please don’t kill each other.

Me: I really hate you.

I click my screen off and stay silent, staring out the window at the trees whizzing by. My phone vibrates uncontrollably in my hand – a chain of messages from my stepbrother.

DoNotAnswer: Where the fuck are you?

DoNotAnswer: I’m on my way home and you better be there.

DoNotAnswer: I mean it, Stacey.

I roll my eyes and sigh as I ignore him. It’ll come back to bite me, but I can’t deal with him right now. Not while I’m in a car with Kade fucking Mitchell, trying not to breathe the same goddamn air as him.

“You should’ve told Luciella no,” I eventually say, loud enough so he can hear me over the music.

Kade’s jaw tenses as he speeds up.

I huff, resting my elbow on the window, palm to the side of my head. “I would’ve waited for an Uber or walked.”

He doesn’t answer me, just like I knew he wouldn’t.

Kade takes the cigarette from behind his ear, sparks it, then tosses his lighter into the divider between us.

He licks his lips, his sleepy eyes on the road, and I watch his mouth as he takes another draw.

You’re nothing. You’re fucking dead to me.

His voice echoes in my mind, a memory of the last time we spoke. Words he threw in my face; words I’d rather forget. I look away from him, keeping my burning eyes on the outside world as he drives into my housing estate.

The security is tight – all the houses need codes to enter the grounds. Nora asked me when I was growing up if I wanted to have sleepovers for my birthday, celebratory parties or anything that got my friends here, but I always said no.

I didn’t want any of them near the monster that lives inside those walls.

Kade stops at the biggest house – three floors of white brick and unused horse stables at the back. An empty pool and overgrown weeds make it look eerie.

He turns his engine off and flicks the cigarette out the window without turning to look at me. He taps his finger on his lap, the muscle in his jaw straining.

Say something, I want to shout. Yell at me. Anything!

I drag my gaze away from him, letting out a sigh as I grab my heels. I don’t say anything as I unclip my belt, and I stay quiet as I open the door and leave the car.

I reach the gate, ready to push in my code, when I hear the engine start again. I peer over my shoulder, and our eyes meet like a clash of thunder. Goosebumps erupt over my skin, a thrill of electricity rushing in my veins. His eyes are as electric as I remember, but there’s something else behind them.

Something dark that wasn’t there before.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “For driving me home.”

For a split second, I think he might actually say something back. But instead, he looks me up and down slowly, taking in my after-sex appearance, and draws his gaze away from me with a shake of his head.

He’s disappointed.

Kade lights another cigarette and turns his rock music up loud enough to wake my stepfamily before speeding off without giving me another glance.

Yep. He still despises me.

And after what I did to him, he has every reason to.

I quickly make my way to my bedroom on the top floor of the manor, letting out a breath of relief when I shut the door behind me. My back presses to the wood, and I close my eyes.

My eyes burn, fighting tears I refuse to let fall.

The first time I ever felt this way, this overwhelming feeling, was when we met. He’d interrupted me by the pool at his manor.

I remember the way he looked at me, and how it made a warmth build in my chest. His eyes were so full of life. We’d smoked a cigarette together in blissful, comfortable silence, before he turned into an asshole.

I’d tried to ignore him for years. But being around my best friend’s twin brother was too much – there was too strong a pull between us.

Until that night, when everything changed.

Kade Mitchell has been the broken shadow in my life ever since, and it’s all my fault.

My heels drop to the floor, and I lick my lips, remembering a time when I’d do it and be able to taste mint and faint tobacco.

I shake my head, pushing away the lone tears sliding down my cheek.

Without turning the light on, I pull my dress off and unclip my bra, ready to remove my underwear. But before I can do anything else, a firm grip wraps around my throat, causing a strangled gasp to catch in my chest as the person backs me away from the door and slams me into the mattress.

Air rushes out of my lungs from the impact in a choked-out cough. Pressure builds behind my eyes as they fly open in fear to see Chris – my evil and deluded stepbrother – above me.

I try to slap his arms as hard as I can, so he’ll release his painful hold, but it only causes him to tighten it and lower himself onto me, crushing my nearly naked body between him and the bed.

“Who the fuck was that?”