“We are killers,” Matthias said.Bad news.“Not girls. We don’t kill girls.”Good news.“She’s no girl.”Insulting news?“What? Of course she’s a girl.”“Want me to check?”“Shut up, Blake,” the rest of them chorused.”

“How'd you get the burn?"Ignoring him only got me a barrage of chatter."Yeah, how?"'Did something, or someone, do it?""You're bleeding.""It's her knee again.""She opened it up.""Did you fall?""You've got grass in your hair.""Were you in a fight?""How'd you get grass in your hair?""I think she was in a fight.""Leaves and some dirt, too. And...is that a feather?""You were in a fight with a bird?""Hey, how did you manage to knock Blake down?""She didn't knock me down! I caught her.""Hah! A little girl took you out.""Shut up or I'll take you out.""Her extreme velocity overcame Blake's superior mass.""I am superior.""How'd you get moving so fast?"I stopped abruptly and turned on them, arms gesturing wildly. "Shut up!”

“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.”

“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.”

“I caught you!" he beamed. "See, girls really do throw themselves at me. Hey, guys!" His voice echoed off the carved stone and marble of the empty cavernous space. "Oh, come on. I save the girl and no one's around to see it?""Sorry about that," I said. "But thanks.""I don't mind. I'm a contact sport kinda guy.”

“One hand planted on the top rail, slick from a recent rain, I swung my legs sideways, up and over. Home free. Until my bottom foot clipped the post, and I spun as if caught in a crocodile’s death roll.Good news? The spongy forest floor cushioned my fall.Bad news? Momentum slammed my torso into a tree trunk. Couldn’t breathe.But good news again. I’d rolled under a fat, bushy pine, which, along with the fading twilight, concealed my position. I heard the beast fly overhead in pursuit, taking out a few treetops on its way by. Yeah, that was my plan all along. Man, I’m good. Except my body. It hurt.”

“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.”