I should have watched my step.
I knew the ground was wet—the forest had rained the night before, leaving the earth slippery and treacherous. But the moment we stepped onto the downhill path, my boots slid on a patch of mud, and everything happened too fast to stop.
One second I was walking behind Arthur.
The next, the ground vanished under me.
My breath caught…
My feet flew out…
My body lurched forward…
“No…!”
And the next thing, I felt a strong hand clamped around my wrist so fast.
While another arm wrapped around my waist.
Suddenly I wasn’t falling.
I was pressed against Arthur’s chest, as my breath knocked out of me, and my heart was pounding like a trapped bird.
And Arthur…
Arthur froze.
His grip tightened on my waist which is too narrow, too soft, too wrong for the boy I
