Whatever he was about to say was forgotten.

“Sam,” he groaned as he turned us so that my back was against the locker. He was against me now. As my finger tucked further down, I felt him harden. The power I had over him was intoxicating. It wasn’t just him. My head fell back against the metal locker, but I didn’t feel it. Everything else fell away. It was only him and me. Nothing else mattered.

My desire for him rose, and I fought against letting it take me over.

My eyelids flitted closed and I felt him bend down. His chest rubbed against mine now and then I gasped when his lips found the corner of mine. He stayed there, sucking lightly, as his other hand slid down to my hip and pulled me tighter against him.

“I feel pregnant just watching you two.”

Breaking apart, Heather was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest, and the corners of her lips curved down. She looked ready to vomit. “Honestly, come up for air every now and then. The masses look ready to riot.”

She jerked her head down the hallway, where Kate and the rest of the Tommy Princesses were.

I sighed, pushing Mason away. “That’s her locker?”

Heather leaned against my neighbor’s locker. “No, that’s Natalie’s. She and Jasmine are only juniors. Kate and Parker are seniors. Good riddance too. I’m ready for their entire group to ship out.”

Still watching Kate and the glower she was sending our way, I shook my head. “She looks ready to kill me.”

“You and me both. I’m not doing what she wanted.”

Mason frowned as he deliberately turned his back to Kate, blocking her view. “She wanted you to do something?”

“She told me to stop being friends with Sam.” Heather shrugged, but I caught the small look of alarm in her eyes. It flared for only a second. “She gave me the warning this morning and Tate, of all people, tried to help me.”

The interest Mason held fell flat now. He straightened from the locker as he ground out, “Don’t believe anything she says.”

“Well, I’m going to believe Kate.” Heather peeked around him, eyeing her warily. “I wonder what she’s going to do.”

“Nothing.” Not if I had anything to do about it. I was getting more and more irritated with Mason’s ex-on-and-off-again hook-up. She hadn’t even been a full-fledged girlfriend. She’d been used only as a scratcher when he had an itch. “I’m not going to let her.”

Mason frowned, twisting around once again.

I held my breath. There was an unspoken message there, and I knew he was delivering it to her. As she made an exasperated sound before slamming Natalie’s locker, I guessed she had received it, and whatever she saw, she didn’t like. Then he moved again. Kate and her group were coming towards us. I snuck a peek at Mason, whose eyes went flat, but she only hissed as they went past us, “You’re going to regret this. All of you.”

Her friends smiled at us, following behind her.

Heather shuddered. “Evil. They’re all evil.”

I agreed with her, but asked Mason, “How’d they take the exile?”

His gaze had lingered on Kate, who paused and glanced back once, but he turned back to me. “What?”

“The exile. How’d they take it?”

“Oh.” He lifted a shoulder. “They took it. They didn’t have a choice.”

“Must be nice,” Heather drawled. “You declare it and people have to follow it, whether they want to or not.” She snorted, tightening her grip on her bag. “I’d like to declare something. Whoever won the lottery last week will hand their ticket over to me.” She rubbed her hands together. “And voila, all my problems—poof!—gone.” She eyed Mason up and down. “Must be nice to be rich.”

He shot her a dark look. “That’s not how it went down.” He touched my arm again. “We have basketball practice. What were you going to do after school?”

“Oh.” I hadn’t driven to school and Coach Grath was gone for the week. I glanced at Heather. I wasn’t scheduled for Manny’s until Saturday so what else was there? “Running.”

“You want to take my car home?”

I held my hand out to Mason. “Yes, please.” I didn’t care how I got home, I just needed to run.

He grinned as he put his keys in my hand. “Just don’t go for hours. Please.” He pulled me close and pressed a kiss to my forehead, whispering at the same time, “And be careful. Keep an eye out when you’re running.”

My throat grew thick at his concern, and I nodded, reaching for him again. My hand clasped onto his shirt’s collar and hung there. “I’ll be safe.”

“Good.” He pressed another kiss to my lips before he pulled away.

As he headed down the hall, Heather groaned. “I stand by what I said. You two are disgusting.”

CHAPTER SIX

Running was my escape. I escaped all reality and pushed forward. I kept going. It was like a drug to me. It came with its own challenges and obstacles, and as long as I kept going, I broke through every single one of them. Tearing down a wooded trail, the bass was pounding through my earbuds and my adrenalin matched it. My heart pumped as I lifted my knees and pushed off from the ground. Power rippled up through my legs. I ducked my head and raised my hands to keep projecting forward.

I’d never tire of this.

And with that thought, I rounded a turn in the new trail. My eyes widened in surprise as Quickie’s came into the clearing. I never knew this path came through here, but it wasn’t far from Nate’s home. It made sense. There were no cars in the lot so I raced through, but saw the clerk watching me. When our eyes caught for a second, he lifted his hand and I nodded back, but then I was gone again. The path led up a hill behind the gas station and I heaved a deep breath, pushing myself upward now.

There were no thoughts in my head. No concern. No fear. There wasn’t even love. When I ran, I was just being. My nostrils flared and I kept going, flying up one hill and then another. I tore past another clearing. The trees parted below me and I braked. My chest heaved up and down, but I couldn’t move away.

I was looking down on Fallen Crest.

I hadn’t realized how high I must’ve run, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. It was breathtaking. My old school’s campus was on another hill, straight from where I stood. Fallen Crest Public was in the valley below. The massive football field was a patch of green among the rest of the town. Then I looked for the south side, wondering if I could see Manny’s. It was surrounded by trees so I wasn’t surprised that I couldn’t. Then, without thinking about it, I glanced to the neighborhood where David’s house was, my old home.