Page 27

“So I can meet him after school and he’ll talk to me?” I questioned, hoping I wasn’t wasting my time again. Anna was obviously dodging my questions and I didn’t want to find out Dominic was going to do the same.

She shrugged uncertainly and I sighed.

“He’s probably not bound like I am, but I don’t know how much he can tell you,” she finally answered and I rubbed my forehead. Bound? What the hell did that mean?

“Well, if he can tell me how to get rid of those assholes, I’ll call it good and leave him the hell alone.”

Anna nodded as the bell rang, disappearing down the hall to her next class.

The rest of the day dragged, as I waited impatiently for the last bell. I had the niggling thought that Anna might warn Dominic I was coming and he’d vanish before I could get to him, but she’d seemed genuinely concerned for me so I didn’t think she’d do that.

I popped out of my seat the second the bell rang and headed toward the gym. I had to fight against the flow of people eager to leave, and had a fleeting worry about how I would get home if everyone had left by the time I was finished with Dominic. I shrugged it off since I was more determined to find answers and possibly a solution to the problem at hand. If nothing else, I’d wait and have Dad come get me.

I finally made it outside and hurried toward the football field, surprised at how few people were around. The majority of students had left, leaving only the few who had gym last hour and those were all athletes. The campus felt empty and I couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder. There was no one there, but I walked faster anyway, almost gasping by the time I made it to the chain link fence surrounding the fields. I slipped through the gate and followed the sounds of their practice.

As soon as I stepped around the bleachers onto the edge of the field, he spotted me. There were easily a couple dozen guys between us, but my eyes went to him instantly. He met my eyes and jerked his head to the bleachers so I gave him a short nod, making my way carefully to one of the lower seats as I settled down to wait.

I was working on equations when silence caught my attention. Practice had been dismissed and the guys were all headed for the locker room and showers, except one.

I watched as he headed toward me, his long stride eating the ground, and the sudden flip in my stomach had nothing to do with fear. His body was rigid, his expression purposefully blank as he came to a stop a few feet away. He took a shallow breath and then a deeper one and I watched as some of the tension eased out of him. I didn’t take my eyes off of him as he stepped closer and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“You’re brave. Foolhardy, but brave.”

“Trust me, I’d rather be anywhere but here,” I responded tartly even as my inner voice screamed I was a liar. “Anna told you I was coming,” I didn’t make it a question because it wasn’t one. My heart hammered as he came closer, his steps smooth and slow to not frighten me away, knowing I had the urge to run, to flee him, and our strange connection.

He dropped down onto the bleacher by me, a good three feet between us, but still I could feel the heat from his body.

“You have questions,” he stated and I nodded. I had no doubt Anna had relayed our conversation in microscopic detail to him, so I just waited.

“The Hanley’s are a family that live in the next town. High Valley. One of the reasons I warned you to stay away from there.” Dominic pointed to the east and my eyes followed the length of his muscled forearm and the dark hair covering it. “They’re our rivals.”

“Like school rivals?” I questioned doubtfully and he tilted his head.

“Yes, they are actually, but it’s more than that.” He gazed at me for a second before taking another deep breath, and I sensed him relax a little more. Something about me set him on edge, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same thing that had caused the Hanley’s to stalk me. “But it goes a little deeper than that. They don’t like us and we don’t like them.”

“A feud?” I laughed as the words escaped me, my mind picturing something like the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s.

“Yes and no,” he finally answered and I stopped laughing. “It’s a rivalry and feud rolled into one. We don’t cross onto their land and they don’t come onto ours.”