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Not noticing the mini freak-out session I was having in my head, Xander and Faith started talking about what it had taken for her and Oaklynn and Hope to fix me up. All the while, I crept in reverse until my back hit a wall.

And I thought I was hidden well enough there until I heard, “Psst. Hey, Waverly.”

Turning, I found Hope motioning me toward her where she was peeking into the entrance of the kitchen.

Xander was busy talking to Faith with her back to me, so I eased out from behind her and slipped in Hope’s direction, only to wince when some guy tried to maneuver through the doorway just as I reached it. He bumped into me, making me stumble a step back.

Hope smacked his shoulder. “Bro, really?” she demanded, lifting her hands and scowling at him. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Damn. Sorry ,” he mumbled, not sounding apologetic at all.

She rolled her eyes after him but then turned to me and grabbed my arm.

“Wanna play lookout for me?”

I furrowed my brow in confusion, but she just pulled me after her, right into the front room and down the steps into the lower level of the house.

“So I have this sneaking suspicion that Keene’s afraid of snakes,” she told me as she glanced back with a devious smile. “Ergo…” She pulled a black snake up from inside her shirt, making me gasp and rear back before realizing it was fake.

“I’m going to hide this in his bed.” With a maniacal laugh, she motioned toward the steps. “Go guard the stairs and make sure he doesn’t come down here, will you?”

“O…kay.” I blinked after her as she dashed through the first door on the left, and I lifted onto my toes to see more into his room, but Hope glanced back and snapped her fingers.

“Waverly! Go. Watch.”

“Oh God. Okay,” I mumbled and turned around to make my way back up the stairs.

A couple of girls were trying to come down.

“Is there a bathroom down here?” one asked.

I started to shrug and shake my head, uncertain, before Hope called from Keene’s room, “First door on the right!”

I sent them a tight smile and pointed. “First door on the right.”

After they filed by, Hope appeared, smiling big. “Thanks,” she told me, bumping her arm into mine gratefully as she hurried up the steps past me.

“Yeah,” I mumbled dryly. “Anytime.”

As soon as she was gone, and I was left alone on the stairs, I glanced back to the first closed door on the left.

Temptation lured me for a good two seconds before I shook my head and turned back, starting up the steps away from his room. But the moment I reached the landing and lifted my face, I stopped dead in my tracks.

Keene was just exiting the kitchen and entering the front room. Ten to fifteen feet of space separated us when he finally noticed me.

Slowing to a stop, he lifted his eyebrows as if shocked. “Holy legs,” he uttered.

My lungs stopped working. My skin went into hyperactive mode. And I froze, too terrified to even breathe.

But this was it. He was looking at me. His gaze started at my feet and worked its way up my legs to the skirt and top. He hadn’t reached my face to figure out it was me yet, when someone else called his name.

“Hey, Keene.”

And yep, that was it. Game over.

Attention diverted, he turned away to focus on the girl who was strolling up to him.

His lips twitched in pleasure. “Makayla, right? From Patho class?”

“Very good,” she cooed, reaching out to stroke the front of his shirt. “So I heard the most interesting thing about you today…”

“Oh yeah?” Keene’s eyes gleamed with interest as he turned more fully toward her and put his back to me. “What was that?”

As she rose up onto her toes to whisper into his ear, my teeth clenched.

Bitch, back off, I wanted to snarl. This fish was mine .

But she was already reeling him in, hook, line, and sinker.

I’d lost before I’d even begun. I’d been too scared to approach him, and now someone else was already claiming the one and only guy I’d wanted to at least try with.

God, life sucked.

When a husky chuckle came from him as he listened to the skank Makayla whisper her sweet nothings in his ear, my eyes began to sting. My body prickled with disappointment, and my heart sank.

I slunk off to the side, determined to disappear into the nearest wall as I continued to watch Keene and Makayla speak in hushed tones.

He made a couple of arm movements as if he were giving her directions.

She frowned and shook her head once but then seemed to roll her eyes and give in a moment later.

“Okay, fine. But I gotta stop by the bathroom first.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He chuckled and kissed her cheek before slapping her on the ass as she moved past him down the steps.

They’d probably just agreed to meet in his room.

I might throw up.

Or cry.

Maybe have a complete meltdown.

All the while, Keene grinned after Makayla, calling, “Five minutes. Don’t be late.”

She waved over her shoulder at him, and he seemed momentarily proud of himself before he squinted and glanced around the room, searching for something .

I stayed hidden behind a tall plant, wondering what he was looking for until he grabbed the arm of some guy passing by.

“Hey, did you just see a girl?” he asked the stranger. “About yea tall.” He lifted his hand to my height. “Dark hair, green top, short skirt, and legs that wouldn’t stop?”

Me. He was looking for me. I held my breath and remained hidden as the other guy shook his head and moved on.

“Naw, man. Sorry.”

“Damn.” Keene’s shoulders dropped in disappointment, and I almost stepped forward.

But he’d already made his decision to be with someone else—someone he was meeting in five minutes—so I stayed where I was, trying to console myself until he finally gave up his search and turned away. Probably to go meet her .

God, I was pathetic. Why was I doing this to myself? Why did I care what he did? Or with whom? Why couldn’t I just…stop liking him? This was ridiculous. I was ridiculous.

But I guess since I was already being stupid…

The moment he turned away and started off, I darted after him before I could stop myself.

My blood pumped through my veins, my heart buzzed, and my entire body vibrated. This was crazy, insane, and thrilling, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself no matter how much my mind balked.

I just wanted to see if he actually was going off to meet her; that was all. Then I’d sneak away and go find Xander.

This was the story I told myself anyway.

I followed discreetly as he whistled to himself and moved through a crowded sitting room until he reached a sliding glass door that went out the back of the house.

Leaving it open a couple of inches behind him, he stepped out into the night and went left.

I waited a few seconds, then did the same.

No one else was out here, no lights were on, and the sudden quiet darkness made me shiver. I would’ve turned back and retreated inside, but I could hear Keene whistling ahead of me, so I followed, curious to see where he went.

My shoes were quiet in the grass, but my breathing felt like a tornado to my ears. I shut my mouth and forced myself to breathe through my nose. And I was so concerned with being quiet I didn’t notice how everything else had grown silent around me.

Keene had stopped whistling.

I froze in my tracks with no idea where he’d gone.

I’d just decided to turn around and head back inside when a set of male arms swooped around me from behind.

“There you are,” his voice sang in my ear as he slid one arm up to cup one of my breasts and another one down between my legs.