Page 74 of Bound By Fury

“You are right, though,” Daisy finally chimes in, her deep brown eyes trained on me. “No one gives a shit, and we can’t keep letting that slide. If you’re going to break into the office looking for answers, then I fully support and plan to enable you.”

A grin stretches across my face.

“Okay, yeah… you know, I do care, I really do. I just don’t want to get in trouble.” Sam’s expression is sheepish, and I smother the resentment that constricts my throat. Not everyone is going to have the same conviction about things as me. Not everyone is willing to brave the fire of justice, but after years and years of resistance within the walls of my own home, I have trained myself to withstand the heat.

“Someone has to be willing to get in trouble for doing the right thing,” I say, folding my arms across my belly, the wind carrying my curls and flinging them into my face. “If we get caught, I’ll take the blame.

“I’ll let them burn me at the stake.”

I leave Sam and Daisy and immediately put them into a group chat with Missy.

OCEAN’S FOUR

Harper: don’t be mad, but I recruited some people for the heist

Sam: someone please explain why we’re leaving behind a trail of evidence with this gc

Daisy: oooohhhhh heist core

Daisy: i have the perfect aesthetic board for this

Missy:

I’ve just finished shoving my phone into the side pocket of my bag when a warm hand slides into my own.

The gentle heat seems to spread up my arm and into my chest until my shoulders relax and the anxious, obsessive thoughts inside my head subside.

I’m enjoying the temporary silence of my mind when Lucas says, “You haven’t been answering my texts.”

I meet his crystal-blue eyes. “I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been busy with my history project and stuff.” But maybe it’s more than that, too.

I spent so much time with all these weird, complicated feelings for Malachi. Every summer the way he and I intertwined only grew more knotted until there was no undoing what felt like our destiny. But last year, even before the almost kiss with Lucas, before the accident and the fight and the end of everything, we had already started to change in ways I never expected.

If moving to Earnest and coming to BMA has taught me anything, it’s that those warm, blooming feelings between Lucas and me last summer weren’t a fluke. They were real.

And that scares me.

He smiles as we climb the bricked steps at the entrance of Rosewood before opening the door for me. “That’s okay, I get it. Are you excited about homecoming?”

Shit. I forgot that’s next weekend.

We weave through the hallway.

“Uh, yeah. I guess.”

“You guess? It’s one of the best nights of the year. I know you’re not into school functions and stuff, but I really want you there.” I turn my face away to hide the blush spreading across my cheeks as his fingers run over the ridges of my knuckles.

“Alright,” I laugh as we stop outside the classroom. Lucas leans against the wall, his hands finding my waist and pulling me closer to him. “I’ll be there.”

“Can’t wait,” he grins, but it quickly vanishes, his eyes catching on something down the hall. I turn, looking for what’s bothering him, but all I see is the tail end of a suit jacket slipping around the corner.

“Hey, are you okay?”

He chuckles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah, of course! You know me, I’m always okay.”

On top of everything else, I haven’t forgotten the uncomfortable conversation with his dad, the ludicrous comparison between Lucas and Malachi. Had it always been like that and I just didn’t notice? Or is this new, a byproduct of Alastair now having to parent two kids instead of one?

Even though it should be three.