He doesn’t finish the sentence because he doesn’t need to.
We both realize what’s really happening here.
Her dad knows about Callum. Probably has footage of him coming and going. Maybe footage of all of us from the nights we’ve been parked outside watching.
He’s building a case.
Trying to prove that we’re obsessed with her?
To prove to her that the boys are dangerous and can’t be trusted?
To justify whatever he’s about to do next.
And Tigerlily—she’ll disappear into that house and convince herself it’s the right thing to do.
And Callum—cocky, reckless Callum who thinks he can charm his way through anything—is an idiot, but a thought crosses my mind.
“What if we use Cal as a decoy?”
Jax’s eyes dart to mine. And we’re both thinking the same thing.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Tigerlily
My phone buzzes with another message in the Eng Lit group chat.
Did anyone finish the Barthes reading?
I stare at the text, dread growing in my stomach. I didn’t.
Someone else chimes in.
Wait, we needed the second edition?
There are no extensions.
My stomach drops.
I’ve been putting this off for weeks. Ever since I found that box in the garage with Mom’s old things—photos and letters and a necklace I’d never seen her wear. It sent me spiraling for days. I couldn’t focus in class, couldn’t take notes, couldn’t do anything but replay every memory I had of her.
Now I’m three weeks behind on a project worth thirty percent of my grade, and I don’t even have the book.
I walk across the house to my dad’s bedroom and knock twice.
He opens the door. “What?”
“I need to go to Barnes.”
“Why?”
“The library doesn’t have the book. It’s checked out, and I need a specific book for a project. I kept putting off this really big project, and it accounts for a lot of my grade. I need to grab the book tonight, so I have enough time to read it and turn it in. Can I go to Barnes right now?”
Zinnia appears behind him in the hallway. “Can I come?”
“No, Zinni. I need to make this fast.” I turn back to my dad. “Dad, I’ll make it fast. I can even pick up dinner on the way home.”
He studies my face for a long moment. Then he pulls out his wallet and hands me two twenties.
“Make it fast. Zinni, do your homework.”
