“No rules. No boundaries,” I said, tugging her over to me by the hem of her shirt. She looked up at me as I moved her hair back from her forehead, and then leaned down so my lips were hovering right next to hers. “You think you can handle that?”
“Try me,” she whispered.
Oh, I definitely fucking would. Max the bestie was officially gone.
MACKENZIE
It was 3 p.m.The last of the kids were gone, and the campgrounds were quiet. Nurse Campbell’s voice was still ringing in my ears, but Max hadn’t done anything to make me feel like I couldn’t trust him. I had been dropping hints all day to see if he flinched at me referencing the game.
But he was just Max. I’ll admit, we had been flirting with each other all day, and honestly, it just felt right.
The sexual tension between us was so high, but neither one of us was brave enough to pull the trigger. Honestly, maybeNurse Campbell was just an old bat, and I was thinking too much into it.
Max leaned against the fence, the sun in his hair, his shirt clinging to his chest, and radiating an illicit level of charm.
“You missed a spot,” I said, pointing at the smear of red popsicle on his arm.
He raised an eyebrow. “Wanna lick it off?”
“Please, I have standards.”
“Sure, you do.” He pushed off the fence, closing the gap between us. “That’s why you’re dating me.”
“Exactly. Low risk, high reward. Cute face, good ass, built-in snack provider.” I flicked a blade of grass off his shirt.
“Wow. You’ve been checking out my ass?”
“I love how that was the only part you picked up on.” I rolled my eyes.
I hadn’t told him about Jackson cornering me outside of the nurses’ station. I’d been toying with it, wrestling with it all day because I wasn’t sure if Max could be trusted. However, I chose to ignore what Nurse Campbell said. I trusted Max. He would never do anything to hurt me; he was my best friend.
Max didn’t know that Jackson had been texting me. Every day. All day. They were short, hungry lines at first, then rants, then promises.
The messages had shifted from possessive to pure threat. But they were getting worse. My phone had been blowing up with texts from him all day.
JACKSON KENSWICK
I miss you
Then an hour later,
I’m going to fucking kill youboth.
He had even sent me a picture from the archery range with one word:
Mine.
But that wasn’t all. This morning, I had seen footprints in the muddy path behind the cabin, prints that ended beneath my window. A latched screen that had been nudged open an inch.
I thought I had escaped the terror in my life, but with Jackson, it still lived under my skin. And now, I was unsure about everyone around me. Terrified that I was living inside a fishbowl, in a game where I was being targeted.
West was stuck in real FBI work, so I couldn’t call him. The thought of waiting for a grown-up rescue made bile rise sharply in my throat. Max was the only person who made me feel safe. He was reckless, sure, dangerous, and maybe a little too territorial, but he was the protector I needed. I needed someone who would stand between me and the thing that kept showing up in my life.
Fear.
I needed to be honest. And maybe if I did, Max would give me some hint if he couldn’t be trusted.
I dropped my voice. “Listen. I need to tell you something.”
