I was supposed tolay low, rebuild, survive.
Not become some headline next to the Prince of Royal Oaks Prep.
Not even Shani knew everything. She thought I was just hiding from a bad school situation. She didn’t know the full truth behind the fire I was running from.
By the time I showered, dressed, and slipped outside, the air had cooled to a crisp bite that reminded me fall was creeping in. Leo’s car was already idling by the curb, sleek and dark like temptation.
He didn’t talk much on the drive. Neither did I.
We pulled up in front of the cottage just as the sky started bleeding pink.
He looked over at me with that signature half-smirk. “You want me to come in?”
It wasn’t loaded. Not entirely.
Just a real offer. Like he wanted to exist in my world for a little while.
But my walls were already crawling back into place.
“I’ve got homework. And I need a shower,” I said softly, eyes on the windshield. “Besides… what would you even talk to my aunt about? Vegetable gardening? The fall harvest?”
He flinched.
It was small. Barely there.
But I saw it.
“I’m more than just window dressing, Jade,” he said quietly.
And that was the part that killed me.
Because he was.
He was more than the smirks and the fights and the flashy car.
He was a guy who remembered what flavor of coffee I liked. Who erased voicemails when I gave up too fast. Who pulled me to a cliff when he knew I was breaking.
But I couldn’t let him in—not all the way.
Not when I still didn’t know how to keepmyselfsafe.
“I know,” I whispered. “I know you are.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek, quick and light, before stepping out and walking up the path.
The front door closed behind me, and I leaned against it, swallowing back the emotion crawling up my throat.
I wanted him.
But I wanted peace more.
And right now, it didn’t feel like I could have both.
Chapter Thirteen
LEO
Beingwith Jade felt like standing at the edge of a cliff—reckless, electric, and completely addictive.
