“Always a possibility. Though, Sonny never went into the drug trade like his sister did. But, considering what happened to Brianna and Brian Junior, maybe they’re wise to be jumpy.”
Brianna and Brian were April’s cousins, and they’d run into trouble a couple years back, thanks to their parents’ dispensary.
Ben nodded as he chewed on a strip of bacon. “It’s bothered me ever since. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The whole family’s worried about something, or at least they were.”
“Seems like they’ve gone back to normal,” Shane said.
“Not all of them. April’s gone cold toward you, Elk.”
Shane felt his chest tighten. It would be easy for him to lash out at Ben, tell him to butt the hell out, that it was noneof his business. Accuse him of inferring that Shane had done something to fuck up the potential relationship.
Again.
But that was just projection on Shane’s part. Ben wasn’t accusing him of anything, and he was the last person on earth who deserved Shane’s anger.
“I’m asking because maybe I could t-talk to her for you,” Ben said, looking down into his coffee mug.
There it was. The slightest stutter gave Ben away—he was remembering the way Shane had treated April. And now he was offering to play peacemaker again. Same old Ben.
“No, brother. I got this. Thanks.”
They finished their midnight breakfast in a silence that was anything but comfortable, Shane lost in his thoughts, thinking back to his betrayal.
TWO
April Taylor,age 18
The bus stationbench was hard and cold through the back of her thrift-store sundress, and the lights buzzed overhead with a flicker that got on her last frayed nerve. April Taylor crossed and uncrossed her legs as she twisted the strap of her duffel bag around one wrist like a tourniquet.
Shane was late. But he was coming. He had to be.
She glanced at the giant clock above the ticket counter. Twenty minutes before their bus left.
He said he’d meet me here.They were supposed to be on their way to California, kissing this shitty little town goodbye and leaving every bitter memory behind. He was going to defy his family and join the Navy, become a SEAL. She was going to work for one of the tech start-ups and build something amazing, then retire as a multi-millionaire at twenty-five. Shane had told her if that didn’t work out, she was gorgeous enough to be an actress or a model.
He’d also told her he loved her. That he’d marry her once they were settled.
That was the plan.Theirplan.
She blinked hard, eyes burning.
All throughout the graduation ceremony yesterday, April kept telling herself it was the last time she’d see any of those assholes from high school again. Especially Leslie Trent. It wasn’t good enough that Leslie and Shane were the king and the queen of Homecoming, and the Snow Ball, and the prom, while April stayed home pretending she didn’t care about a stupid dance. Leslie Trent had booted April right out of being valedictorian with that smirky smile and her lies about April cheating on her mid-term exams. Those lies had cost April a full-ride scholarship to Stanford. Leslie Trent had ruined April’s life out of jealousy over Shane.
April clenched her jaw. She’d done everything she could to prove her innocence, but the principal stared right through her while she laid out her case, then told April she was lucky she wasn’t getting expelled.
She should’ve known the system would never let a girl like her win. Not when she came from a family of drug dealers and black sheep. Not when everyone in town was just waiting for her to screw up and prove they were right about the Taylors—every last one was a criminal and a loser.
But Shane hadn’t cared about any of that.
Had he?
She glanced toward the door again. Ten minutes.
Still no Shane.
April never thought she’d be the girl to catch Shane Foti’s eye. Not in a million years.
Shane was the kind of guy who’d been born with a spotlight already shining on him. Rich, handsome, athletic—destined for prom king before he’d even gotten to high school. The kind of boy who never had to try too hard because the world just... tilted in his direction. Teachers smiled at him. Girls practically meltedinto their lockers when he walked by. And the guys? They could have been jealous but most of them liked him anyway. Shane Foti had swagger.
