Page 27

Cade grabs the backs of my thighs and effortlessly lifts me, setting me down on the edge of the kitchen counter as he steps between my legs. His body is like a solid wall of heat and muscle as I hook my legs around his waist to steady myself.

I feel it. His hardness is right against me, and the low growl rumbling from his chest tells me he feels it too. Leaning forward, he pushes the breakfast aside and the plates crack as they hit the floor.

I barely flinch.

I don’t care about anything but him in this moment.

“Cade—”

He doesn’t let me finish. He crashes his lips back onto mine, rougher this time as he lets his teeth graze my bottom lip.

His hands roam up my sides, his fingers teasing the sliver of skin between my leggings and sweatshirt.

My back arches into his touch, desperate for more, for his hand to touch me where I need him the most.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The sharp vibration of his phone cuts through the haze, and Cade groans against my lips, his breath ragged as he drops his forehead to mine.

“Can you ignore it?” I whisper as the frustration coils tight in my stomach, and I push my hips into his, not wanting to pass up the feeling.

His hands slide lower, gripping my hips like he’s considering it before he laughs, low and breathless. “I wish.” He gently strokes his thumb across my hip bone.

“If I don’t go now, I’m going to be late for practice.”

“Can you be late?”

“If it only affected me, yeah, but since the entire team would be stuck doing extra drills I can’t.”

I bite my lip and nod, even though every part of me is screaming at him to stay. As he moves away from the counter, he keeps a tight hold on me and helps me down.

Even when my feet are safely planted on the floor, he keeps hold of me.

“You okay?” he asks.

My legs are wobbly, my stomach is fluttering and I feel this craving to have him close, but I nod. “I’m good.”

Before he steps away, he grips my waist and pulls me in, kissing me one last time, slowly and deeply, like he’s making a promise this isn’t over between us. When he pulls back, he lets out a low laugh.

“You have no idea how much I don’t want to leave,” he mutters.

I smile, trying to keep my head above the flood of emotions threatening to pull me under. “I think I might have some idea.”

His thumb skims over my cheek, his eyes locked onto mine for a heartbeat longer. Then, with a reluctant sigh, he steps back and grabs his phone.

“Make yourself at home today. You know Stanley loves having you around.”

“Sure,” I say.

“July 17.”

I raise my brow in confusion.

“For my iPad. Call your sister. Tell her I said hi.”

I bite my bottom lip, wondering how the hell I would even start that conversation with Adley.

“Maybe tell her who I am first.” He squeezes my side, bringing me back to reality.

“I’ll be back this afternoon,” he says pointedly before he strolls over to the hallway and hauls a giant bag over his shoulder.

“Yes. I’ll see you later.” I try to tame down the stupid, lovestruck smile on my face, but it’s hard when Cade’s looking at me like I’m the best part of his day.

When the door closes behind him, I glance around the apartment, suddenly aware of the silence, taking it all in.

“So freaking lucky,” I whisper to myself as I clean up the kitchen.

Once I’ve finished, I grab the iPad and sink into the couch.

I type 0717 and spend a few minutes fumbling through apps before Stanley hops up beside me and curls in.

When I press the green call button, my pulse pounds. I’m about to see Adley. Not just hear her voice or imagine her on the other end of the line. I’m actually going to see her face.

Am I ready for this?

I’m not sure.

The screen flickers, then it clicks into place and my breath catches.

“Savannah?”

I let out a shaky breath as Adley’s face appears on the screen, her green eyes wide with disbelief, probably mirroring my own.

She’s there. Right in front me, looking the same but different.

Six years and she’s grown up so much. A lump forms in my throat as I take her in.

Her cheekbones are more prominent, and she’s wearing thick eyeliner which only emphasizes how big her green eyes are.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing you,” I whisper, my fingers tightening around the iPad as if holding it will replace the need to hug her.

She scoffs lightly, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it, either. I almost didn’t accept the call since I didn’t recognize the number. Whose phone are you using?”

I glance around the empty apartment, my gaze landing on Stanley, who’s next to me, his tail thumping lazily. “It’s my friend Cade’s iPad.”

“Friend?” Someone off-screen snorts.

Adley rolls her eyes, shifting the camera. “Sav, meet Briar. My… uh, foster sister.”

The screen moves and suddenly I’m staring at a girl with tangled dark hair and sharp, unreadable eyes.

She’s sitting on a bare mattress, her arms crossed over her chest like she’s not sure she wants to be part of this.

I get it. I know the feeling of being let down so many times that you instinctively push everyone away.

Even people who are going through the same thing as you.

“Hey,” she mutters.

“Hey, Briar. I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Ditto.”

My focus drifts past her to the attic behind them, and my stomach twists.

They both live up there, and it’s tiny. The walls are barely insulated.

There are patches of exposed wood in places that should be covered, and with the single, grimy window letting in a weak trickle of daylight, it can’t be warm.

There’s no rug. No decorations. There’s just a pile of thin blankets, a dented space heater, and books stacked against the wall.

Something inside me snaps. “Adley, is this your room?” My voice comes out quiet and careful when inside I’m angry. Frustrated that my sister has to live like that. How could anyone think that those people are doing what’s best for her?

She offers me a sheepish smile, shrugging. “It’s fine. Briar and I are at school most of the time anyway.”

I press my lips together, forcing myself to swallow the anger rising up my throat. It’s not fine. It’s not even close to fine, and I’m led to wonder if this is how Cade felt when he found me sleeping in my car and making excuses for it.

Losing it won’t help her, though. I can’t afford to get a plane ticket over there just to berate her foster parents. I have to play by the rules they set, otherwise I risk losing Adley forever.

“I’m going to get you out of there,” I say. It’s not a question. Not a thought. It’s a promise. “You too, Briar. If you want it.” Okay, that might be me overstating what I can do, and I’m sure they both know it, but they don’t react to it.

“Are you warm enough up there?” I ask.

“It’s not that bad here, Sav. I promise. School’s pretty good.”

Briar lets out a laugh, and I immediately know there’s more to it than what Adley’s saying.

“What’s wrong with school, Briar?” I know she has no need to tell me what I want to hear.

Briar seems a little surprised, and Adley moves the camera so they’re both in view. “There’s a bitch in my year named Carissa. Stupid name, right? She’s terrible.”

“Is she mean?” I ask, looking back at my sister, watching her face, hoping I can tell if she’s lying to me or not.

“Only sometimes with me. She’s worse to Briar,” she admits.

“What does she do?”

“Nothing worth talking about since it’s not going to change my situation,” Briar says monotonously.

“Yet,” I whisper just as Stanley lifts his head and licks my cheek. His way of letting me know he wants me to scratch him behind the ears.

“Wait, is that a dog?” Adley asks.

“Yeah, it’s Cade’s,” I say, smiling. “His name is Stanley.”

“He looks like a bear.”

I laugh, rubbing the spot he requested. “He kind of acts like one, too.”

Adley shakes her head, her smile matching mine, and for a second, everything feels normal. Like we aren’t thousands of miles away and haven’t seen each other in years.

But then the girls freeze, and I hear a loud bang. Something passes between the two of them, making my stomach knot.

“Is everything okay?”

“We’ve got to go,” Adley whispers, barely looking at her phone when she says, “I love you so much.”

Panic claws at my throat because I have no idea what the hell is going on. “Adley—”

The screen goes black before I can finish the sentence and I stare at the empty screen, my heart hammering. This can’t be the end. I press the call button, but there’s no answer.

No. No. No.

A lump rises in my throat, thick and suffocating. Stanley nudges my arm, his big, warm eyes watching me like he knows something’s wrong. I sink back into the couch, my fingers still clutching the iPad, the ache in my chest spreading, raw and relentless.

“I miss her so much,” I whisper, my voice barely a breath as I hold back my tears because yet again, I feel helpless. I’ve been trying for two years to get her out of that place, and all my efforts have amounted to absolutely nothing.

I place the iPad on the table, pick up my phone in the process, and send a quick text to Adley.

Savannah: I’m sorry we got cut off. I’m so lucky to have seen you, though. I miss you, Ads.

I don’t know when she’ll see it, but I needed her to know that. Stanley presses closer to me, keeping me grounded, when all I want to do is leave this apartment and get my sister back.

My phone buzzes again and I click the screen on, hoping to see a message from my sister. My stomach drops when I see who it’s from.

Luke: Daniel called and said you haven’t called him about the apartment he has. Where are you staying? If you need a little more cash, maybe we could squeeze in a few extra dances for you.

All the warmth from breakfast, from Cade’s teasing, and his offer to stay vanishes in an instant, replaced with cool bile, settling in my stomach.

This isn’t my life. I’m only here because Cade feels sorry for me.

The thought is sharp and bitter, but it’s true. I don’t belong in Cade’s world. Not really. He has hockey, friends, and a future.

I have Luke. A pile of debt, and a never-ending battle to prove I’m capable of taking care of my sister.

Why would someone like Cade make room for that?

I stare at the message for a long moment, my fingers tightening around the phone until my knuckles turn white.

I want to pretend I didn’t see it. Just one time and have just one minute of pretending Luke doesn’t hold power over me, but I can’t.

That’s not how things work with him. Ignoring Luke never makes him disappear. It will only make him come looking.

A tremor runs through me as I set the phone down with a shaky breath, and I lean back against the couch, my heart pounding as a wave of anxiety swells so fast it nearly knocks the air from my lungs.

Stanley nudges my leg, sensing my unease. I reach down and grab him, harder than I mean to as I wrap my arms around his warm body, pulling him closer.

“Thanks, buddy,” I whisper, my voice catching in my throat as I bury my face into his fur, clinging to him like he’s the only thing keeping me from splintering.

And maybe he is.

I stare blankly past the coffee table, fighting back the sting behind my eyes.

If everything is so hopeless, if this life is already carved out in stone, then why is there still that whisper in the back of my mind? Why does some small, reckless part of me believe Cade might actually mean what he says? That he doesn’t just pity me. That maybe he wants me here.

I shake my head, pushing that thought away. That’s too hopeful. Hope is dangerous. Hope gets people hurt. But hope might be just what I need to get my sister back.