Not really sure that she wanted to watch this, Kristen asked, “Why do you think you’re invisible?”
“My brothers,” he said, shrugging it off as she once again found herself watching Kelly.
“Your aunt works at Dixon’s Bakery, right?” the boy that should probably leave before it was too late asked.
“Yes,” Kristen mumbled hollowly as she watched helplessly as Kelly squeezed every last drop of red paint into the bucket with a smile that actually terrified her.
“Have a plate of cookies waiting in your room tonight,” he said, making her frown as she glanced back in time to watch him climb out of the tube.
“Okay…” Kristen said, not really sure what to make of the incredibly strange boy as she glanced back at Kelly and found herself wondering why he was walking over to them and-
“My hair!” Kelly screamed as Kristen sat there, watching as the boy that deserved two plates of cookies finished dumpingthe rest of the glittery-red mess on top of Kelly’s head with a satisfied sigh.
Once he was done, he tossed the bucket aside and started to walk away only to stop as his emerald eyes locked with hers. For a moment, he watched her as he appeared to be thinking something over only to shrug as he leaned down and picked up a rock, leaving her even more confused as she watched him shove the rock in his pocket before walking away and-
“Definitely a strange boy.”
CHAPTER 1
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Present Day
This wasn’t going to end well.
Then again, Kristen knew that before she decided to drag the ladder the previous owners left behind out of the shed so that she could do something incredibly stupid, but in her defense, she hadn’t been left with much of a choice. Not after she’d realized that she’d locked herself out of her house and definitely not after-
“This isn’t over,” came the announcement from the man determined to make her life a living hell.
“Yes, it is,” Kristen said, releasing a shaky breath as she shifted her grip on the ladder while she stood there, pressing her forehead against the cold metal rung while she slowly exhaled and told herself that she could do this before she opened her eyes and-
Nope.
Definitely not happening, Kristen decided as she quickly closed her eyes again and tightened her hold on the ladder thatshe had no business going near as she waited for her heart to stop pounding against her chest. This was a bad idea, one that she deeply regretted as she struggled to find the willpower to release her hold on the ladder so that she could climb back down and-
What was that?
Swallowing hard, Kristen stood there, struggling to remember how to breathe as she did everything in her power to convince herself that she was imagining things when the ladder shook again. Really hoping that she was wrong, Kristen slowly looked down as she opened her eyes and found herself quickly climbing up the rest of the ladder when the large bastard, who had clearly lost his mind, decided to join her, leaving her with no other choice but to move her ass or risk both of them plummeting to their deaths.
In a matter of seconds, Kristen was making her way across the small roof to her bedroom window, praying every inch of the way that she’d left it unlocked only to realize that this day was about to get a lot worse. Really regretting her decision to leave the safety of her house to get the mail when he was home, especially since she knew better, Kristen turned around and pressed her back against the bedroom window that refused to budge as she watched the man who used to mean the world to her climb onto the small roof, looking more determined than ever.
Kristen opened her mouth to suggest that they finish this conversation safely on solid ground only to release a strangled whimper while she watched in horror as he shoved the ladder away from the house, letting her know that there would be no escape.
Not this time.
Swallowing hard, Kristen stared at the spot where the ladder had been for another moment before she slowly, ever so slowly,shifted her gaze to the man who she’d never thought that she would see again to find him watching her through intense green eyes with a look that told her everything that she needed to know.
It was finally over.
“Start talking,” Garrett Bradford, her one-time best friend and the man determined to make her pay for ruining his life, bit out between clenched teeth as Kristen reached into her pocket to grab her cellphone and-
“Looking for something?” Garrett asked as he pulled the cellphone that she was really hoping wasn’t hers out of his pocket while she stood there, wondering why she let it get this far.
She should have put a stop to this years ago, but…
He didn’t deserve to know the truth.
Not after what he said and definitely not after everything that he’d put her through over the years. Because of him, she’d been forced to leave the only home that she’d ever had and start over somewhere new, somewhere where no one knew who she was as she did everything that she could to move on and forget about him. For five years, that’s exactly what she did. She’d started a new life and focused on the only thing that mattered to her.
