She unclicked her seat belt and knelt up on the passenger seat, leaning across to brace a hand on his shoulder.

It was almost enough to make him hit the guardrail. “What are you doing?”

“Keep your eyes on the road.”

“Did you set me up?”

“Shhh. Drive.” She leaned in close and blew on his neck.

No, that was almost enough to make him hit the guardrail. He pushed her away. “Stop. Tell me the truth. Did you—”

“No. I didn’t. Let me help you.” She shoved his hand out of the way and knelt up again.

Her breath on his skin felt awful and amazing at the same time. He fought not to make a sound.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I wish I had more power.”

“No,” he ground out. “You don’t.”

“I saw their car,” she said. “Around the corner. Tyler and my dad have been talking about staking out the sports center all week—”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

“I never thought they’d really do it.”

He gave a humorless laugh. “Of course not.”

She fell silent for a while, and all he heard was her breath whispering along his skin. Too much had happened in a short span of time. Part of him wanted to push her away again, but a bigger part wanted to pull her closer and beg her to say she was on his side, that she’d had no part in this.

Finally, he couldn’t take the silence anymore, and he needed a destination. He couldn’t go home, not with her in the truck, and he sure as hell wasn’t driving to her house. “Where am I driving?”

“Go to the quarry.”

His head had cleared enough for him to look away from the road. “The quarry?”

“There’s lots of exposed rock. That’ll help you, right?”

“Yeah, but there will be other people there.” Given this heat, probably half the senior class would have snuck in to go swimming.

“Don’t worry. I know a hidden path down to the water. We can stay out of sight.”

“Why are you helping me?”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. When she spoke, her voice was soft. “For years, I’ve been hearing how dangerous you are. How we shouldn’t have made this deal, because you’re out of control, that you’re mean, that you’ll hurt us if we get close to you.”

Michael snorted. “I’ve been hearing the same thing.”

“But you’re not! All week, you’ve been nothing but nice—”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“—when I keep hearing my father talk about how they should just take care of the problem themselves. And then Tyler does this . . . this horrible thing, when you didn’t even provoke it. I don’t think you’re dangerous at all.”

Michael didn’t say anything. They came to the turnoff for the one-lane road that ran behind the quarry, and he hit the turn signal.

“Even tonight,” she said. “You didn’t kill them, and I know you could have. On Friday, you could have hurt me, and you didn’t. I’ve heard the way you talk about your brothers. I know you care about your family. I told you already—I’m sick of living with all this hate. But I’ve been blaming you, when I should have been blaming them.”

He pulled the truck onto the gravel shoulder when there was space and killed the engine.

Suddenly, the car was only full of the sound of their breathing.

“Please,” she said. “Say something.”

He looked over at her. “I wanted to kill them.”

Her breath hitched, but he wasn’t done.

“All of them,” he said. “Including your brother.”

“But you didn’t.”

He held her eyes. “If he’d kept up with that lighter, I might have.”

She swallowed, but nodded.

She looked so tiny in the front seat of his father’s work truck. Michael couldn’t believe she’d faced down her brother and his friends with a putter. “Are you still afraid of me?”

She shook her head.

“Good.” And he leaned over and kissed her.

CHAPTER 7

Emily sat with Michael near the water’s edge, at the far side of the quarry, hidden among the clumps of trees. He’d been right: Despite the creeping darkness, a dozen kids were swimming at the other side, where the cliffs weren’t as steep and the depths were free of debris.

Here, though, the trees were silent and the water still, and it was easy to pretend the mess they’d left had never happened.

Especially with Michael’s fingers wound through hers, the taste of him still on her lips.

“Are you still hurting?” she said.

“I’m all right.” He turned to look at her, and the fading sunlight caught his eyes. “I was worried they’d follow us.”

Emily shook her head. “I don’t think so. I slashed Tyler’s tires.”

Michael’s eyes widened, and then he laughed. “You’re definitely not predictable.” A pause. “In a lot of ways.”

“It took me a minute, or I’d have been back sooner.” She reached up to touch his chin, where the skin was darker and a bit blistered. “I’m sorry Tyler did this.”

He caught her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “He’s definitely predictable.”

She reveled in the feel of his breath against her skin. Every time he touched her, his gentleness took her by surprise.