“His chin rested on top of my head as he stroked my hair. "It's alright," he murmured. "I'll keep you safe.""She okay?"Ayden jerked away, dropping his hands. And me.”

“Ayden and Blake stared each other down. "Oh. My. God," Luna blurted from Ayden's back seat. "It's a love triangle."We all looked at her like she'd sprouted an alien from her head. "it's just like in a book. Two guys after one girl and-"I groaned. "That's ridiculous, Luna, this is not a love triangle.""Says the girl in the middle of a love triangle. Luna ignored my protests and prattled on. "Not one Hexy Boy but two. I've got to call Danica. Oooo," she squealed and clapped her hands,"We could have teams. Team Ayden and Team Blake. With T-shirt and buttons and-""I could make a website," Lucian offered."No!" My voice pitched with panic. "No teams. No shirts. No-""I'll get you some headshots," Blake said, turning his profile towards Luna and Lucian. "I've been told the left is my best side. What do you think?""Aurora's right," Ayden said. "This is buts. Blake you can follow us-""Dude, you know no one would pick Team Ayden. You're just jealous.""That's not true. My team would be way bigger than yours.""Dare to dream, little man, dare to dream.""Care to make a wager on it?""Absolutely.""Fine. How about-""You two shut up!" I shoved myself out of the car.”

“Aurora?”“Logan?”He poked his head in and gawked. “He handcuffed you?”“Nah, it’s my latest fashion statement.”

“Backslapping and smiling all around. Even Matthias.“Oh my God,” I croaked. They all froze. “You havedimples!”The rest of the boys grinned at the Aussie who slapped a hand over his mouth to help cover the deep, adorable dimples prominently displayed in each cheek. He pointed a finger at us and said, “Knock it off!” but from behind his hand it actually came out “Naw ih aw!” We laughed harder. He gave up the hand and turned away in ahuff, but the dimples remained.”

“He likes you. You like him, you're just scared. Well," she glanced over her shoulder and dropped her voice, "unless you tell me he's some freaky psycho-killer..." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Then I'm not letting you mess this up for yourself. Your creepy hermit status is officially over.”

“My anxious gaze swept the theater."Don’t worry. I told them it was Sunday,” Ayden said as we sat down.“And they believed you?”“Of course.” He passed me the popcorn and took off his jacket. “I’m the master of deception.”“Uh-huh. So, when did you become a Hitchcock fan?”“After I saw Psycho,” answered a voice clearly not Ayden’s.We turned to stare at Blake.And Jayden.And Tristan.And Logan.All sitting behind us.I smirked at a sheepish Ayden. “Oh yeah, master of deception.”

“You don’t understand.She was mean to me. Very mean. And she’s dangerous. A very dangerous girl. I’m your guardian, Ayden. I have to protect you!It’s my sworn duty. My sworn duty!”“Protect me?”“Yes!” Pearl hovered frantically in front of “her boy,” and slathered her voice with disgust. “She threatened to…” Oh, she wouldn’t.“Kiss you!”She would. My cheeks fired. I stared at the floor.Ayden laughed. “Kiss me?”“Yeeeeesss,” Pearl wailed in agony. “She promised a big juicy kiss! On a real date. No pretending. With hand holding and—and cuddling!”And I thought it couldn’t get any worse.”