Irga’y.
Turn back.
Nadine tore her gaze away from the lives she had stolen. Of course the shadows had followed her here.
Only one life mattered to her now, and she was trying to learn a handstand in a stormy town thousands of miles away.
“Drop me off around the corner,” Nadine said.
The driver glanced at the mangy packs of dogs patrolling the abandoned lots. He pulled over next to a shuttered dukan. TheKinKamel’sdangled upside-down. “Oh, is this a surprise visit?”
“No.” Nadine opened the car door. “They’re expecting me.”
Ibalk, checking over my shoulder to make sure I haven’t hallucinated the last forty seconds. What does Jesse think he’s doing? Even if Jesse is taller, Alex has at least twenty pounds on him, and he trains religiously.
Jesse grabs the chain link and jumps the fence in one swift move. A few of Alex’s teammates stop running as Jesse crosses the track.
The fog of shock finally lifts. “Jesse!” I shout. The wind whips my voice away. I sprint for the fence. By the time I reach the chains, the last patch of dry clothing on my body has succumbed to the downpour. Ahead, Jesse reaches Alex, who breaks away from Diane with a scowl.
I grab the nearest player. “Greg, help me up!”
Greg raises his hands instantly. “Uh—”
I channel some of Rainie’s ferocious command. “Don’t just stand there! Pick me up!”
Alex’s teammate grabs my upper arms and swings me over the fence. My shoes land in soft mud, and I suppress a howl. Jesse issodead.
To my shock, Jesse knots his fist in Alex’s jersey and slams him into a bleacher. Diane covers her mouth. She flees for the admin building, and I push my legs harder. If a staff member catches Jesse accosting another student, he can kiss walking at graduation goodbye.
With a flying leap, I throw myself onto Jesse’s back hard enough todislodge his grip on Alex’s shirt. My arms wind around his neck, my legs sticking out on either side of his waist. “Stop!” I pant against his ear, not even caring how gross my labored breathing must sound. He deserves it for making me run in the rain.
Alex straightens, getting right up in Jesse’s face. Blood smears his bottom lip. “What thehellis your problem?”
“Taken too many basketballs to the brain, kiddo?” Jesse bites out. “Give it a guess.”
“You scared Diane!”
Neither acknowledge my very real presence on Jesse’s back. I climb higher, hooking my chin on Jesse’s shoulder. “Hello!” I shout.
Nothing. Not even a glance.
Jesse bites down on his knuckles with mock concern. “Oh no, I scared Diane? Do you think she’ll ever recover?”
When I start to slip for the third time, Jesse finally grabs my elbows and hauls me upward in one powerful motion. I squeak, barely remembering to grab onto the front of his jacket. He winds his arms under my knees, giving my legs an anchor. I’m plastered to his back like a five-foot-two koala, arms welded around his shoulders and neck.
I ignore how nice his hair feels against my cheek, even damp and rumpled from the rain.
“Did you forget you have a girlfriend?” Jesse spits. “Or did you lose that inconvenient tidbit behind Diane’s tonsils?”
Alex’s mouth opens, speechless, and I use the opportunity to shout directly into Jesse’s ear. “I don’t care about Diane!”
Unfortunately, I’m successful in grabbing Jesse’s attention just as I notice the red stain spreading over my pant leg. I must’ve reopened my wound while I was running.
Uh-oh.
Dizziness slackens my muscles. I slide off Jesse and crumple to the foamblacktop. Alex exclaims my name. Jesse shoulders him aside, crouching at my side.
“Why is she bleeding?”
