Page 14 of Die for You

“You have your whole lives ahead of you.” Coach is back to pacing in front of us. Only a few steps each way in his cramped office. “You need to be more careful.”

“We will be,” Damien vows. He’s been wearing his guilt like a second skin in the forty-eight hours since the accident, despite Knox’s reassurances that it could’ve been any of us behind that wheel.

“Good. And you better be very,verygrateful that girl was there.”

That girl.That girl we haven’t been able to get out of our heads since we laid eyes on her. Since she came roaring back into our lives at the worst possible moment. And the best.

“Aurora,” Knox supplies. He glances at me and Damien with a glint in his eye. “Trust me, Coach. We are.”

“Very grateful,” Damien confirms with a nod.

We’ll show her exactly how much.

Aurora Archer.Five-foot-five. Twenty-one. Music major. Address: 3265 Maple Street, Apartment 13.

As soon as we got back from the hospital, I was on my laptop searching for her student profile. From there, I foundher full name, her major, her address. No records at the DMV, criminal record, or social media accounts. Only reason a college girl wouldn’t have social media is because she’s hiding from someone.

There’s so much more to learn. Damien and Knox were barely satiated by the information I fed them.

“Did you even get her class schedule?” Damien leads the way to the dining hall, all of our faces flushed after practice.

I shake my head.

“No need.” Knox beams and waves over his head. “We’ll ask her. Rory!”

She keeps striding for the exit without a moment’s hesitation, blonde hair trailing behind her and a heavy bag swung over one shoulder.

“Aurora!” Damien’s booming shout is enough to make a few girls standing in line at the dining hall jump.

She glances over her shoulder, brows drawn together. Our angel is magnetic. A single look from her roots me in place.

Knox claps me on the shoulder. “You knew she’d be here, didn’t you?”

Both of them take one look at my smirk and I don’t need to say a word. Damien gives me a single nod of approval. “Good man.”

Aurora visibly sighs and begrudgingly makes her way toward us. “Hello again.”

“Have dinner with us,” Knox says.

“I don’t think so?—”

But Damien is already whipping out his student card and swiping it twice. “Come on. Eat.”

“Is this going to be one of those saving-someone’s-life situations where you follow me around like puppies and act indebted to me forever?”

Knox flashes her a smile. “Now you’re catching on.”

She purses her lips, casting me an irritated side-eye. “You’re all insufferable.”

We get worse, angel. Just wait.

I can’t drag my eyes away from her ass hugged by those jeans as she goes through the line in front of me and picks out a whole buffet of food from the dining hall. Reluctantly, she follows Damien and Knox to the table where our friends are already eating.

Sienna brightens when she spots Aurora, and Aurora’s shoulders relax the slightest bit when she notices the girls. Whoever made her afraid of men needs to be put in the ground.

“Stalking skills are still intact, I see,” Luke tells me.

Aurora’s light brown eyes land on me, narrowing. “What’s he talking about?”