We both spot Ella at the same time, and East jogs over and pretends to hide behind her. “Save me, little sis. Big bro is picking on me.”

“Reed, pick on someone your own size,” she calls.

I take a moment to drink her in, all the individual parts of her that I like, from her gorgeous smile to the ponytail that swings in an arc as she walks. The plain school uniform—pleated skirt, white button down shirt, blue blazer that everyone else wears—looks sexy as hell on her. Probably because I’m imagining what’s underneath.

“You’re right. East’s kind of puny. I’ll take it easy on him.”

When she draws near, I reach out and drag her the rest of the distance. Close enough that I can feel the straps of her backpack push against my chest. I bend down and kiss her long and hard until East starts coughing behind her back.

When she pulls away, her lips have taken on a perfect rosy hue. I want to skip school, haul her off to my car, and make her turn that color everywhere.

“Hey, little boy. Want a piece of candy?” she asks with a wicked grin.

“Absolutely,” I answer immediately. “Where’s the van? I’m ready to be kidnapped.” I pretend to look around.

“No van, but here—” She turns around and wiggles her backpack. Right inside the top of the pack, I discover a small white box. “There’s a donut for each of you,” she says as I pull it out.

Easton dives for the box and has half a donut in his mouth before he hands the container back to me. He gives me two thumbs up. As I devour my own snack, I spot the twins crossing the lawn with Lauren. They give me a chin nod of acknowledgment when I wave them over.

“One’s in there for you, too, Lauren,” Ella tells her when they arrive.

Lauren ducks her head with a shy smile. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Ella leans against my side as I demolish the rest of the donut. “How was practice?”

“Good. Everyone’s hyped up for State. We got bounced in the semifinals last year. Guy from St. Francis Prep knocked Wade unconscious and the docs wouldn’t let him back in the game. Our backup couldn’t hit a target if a gun was to his head.”

Ella snorts. “Guess you don’t care about winning, huh?”

“Nah, not at all.” I grin. We both know I get off on winning, among other things.

Shouting over by the steps of the school draws our attention.

She squints. “What’s going on?”

“Probably some playoff stuff. There’s gonna be a lot of that the next few weeks. Get your spirit on,” Easton warns.

Ella gives an unenthused woo hoo. We’ll make a fan out of her yet.

“The good thing about the four weeks of playoffs is that there will be days you don’t have to wear your uniform,” Lauren informs her. “Like blue days. Gold days. Crazy hat days.”

“Pajama day.” Easton wiggles his eyebrows up and down.

Wade and Hunter join us. “What are you grinning about?” Wade asks East.

“Pajama day.”

“Favorite fucking day of the year.”

Wade and East exchange a high five. “Remember Ashley M?” my brother says. “She wore the pink—”

“Baby doll dress,” Wade finishes. “I remember. I had a boner every time I saw pink for a month after.” He turns to Ella and asks, “What are you wearing?”

“A floor length prairie gown and granny panties,” she says with exasperation. “What about you? I assume you guys run around in boxers?”

Wade’s all for it. “Dude, if it was allowed, I’d be naked all day. Free balling twenty-four-seven. That’s my dream.”

Before either East or I can make a crack about how we don’t want to see Wade’s nuts and sausage out during class, the yelling and murmuring from the front doors gets louder.

Hunter, Wade’s ever-present but never talking companion, peels away to investigate. The rest of us follow because class is starting soon.

The noise isn’t necessarily out of place, but the crowd of students five deep is. Only football games draw this kind of crowd. Even then, for most kids the games are just an excuse to get together and socialize.

I exchange a wary look with East and Wade. Even Hunter recognizes this is out of place. As one, we start pressing forward. Ella’s hand is on my back and I reach behind so I clasp her wrist. I don’t want to lose her. This doesn’t feel good or right.

And the spectacle that greets us is about as bad as it can get. Taped up against the rough brick exterior of the main entrance is a nearly naked girl. Her head is bowed, and even from a distance, I can see a section of her hair hacked out of the back. Her arms and legs are spread wide and she seems to be supported only by tape. A shit ton of it. It crosses her body above the chest and along the thighs, emphasizing the parts covered only in her underwear and bra.

My stomach turns over.

“Jesus. What is wrong with you people?” Ella yells.

Before I can blink, she runs by me, dropping her backpack and ripping off her blazer at the same time. The girl is too high for Ella to fully cover, but she tries.

I reach Ella at the same time as Hunter, and we start tearing at the tape while Ella holds her blazer up. Next to me, I see Hunter pull a knife out of his boot. He starts slicing and I start peeling.

There’s so much tape, it takes us five minutes before we get the girl down. East hands me a jacket and I try to place it around the girl’s shoulders. She jerks away, crying so hard I’m afraid she’s going to throw up. Or pass out.

Ella takes the jacket from me. “It’s okay. Here. Put this on,” she soothes. “What’s your name? Can you tell me what your gym locker is? Do you have clothes there?”

The girl can’t—or won’t—respond. She continues to sob.

I clench my fists at my side in dismay. I want to kill someone.

One of the twins pipes up. “I’ve got shit in the car. Hold on.”

A couple more jackets are tossed in our direction until Ella and the girl are covered with them. “Lauren, come here,” Ella commands.

Lauren hurries to her side and crouches down. Carefully, Ella shifts the wounded girl from her arms to Lauren’s. Once the transfer is done, Ella rises to her feet and stares at the assembled students.

“Who did this?” she growls at the crowd. “Someone saw something. Who did this?”