The bell had long since rung, but I couldn’t make myself leave. I sat on the hood of Sage’s car, hands trembling, trying to breathe in air that didn’t taste like fear. The girl—they’d taken her home. Safe, for now. But my skin still crawled with the memory of those voices.
Footsteps crunch in the leaves behind me.
“You planning on just… sitting here till nightfall?”
I turned. Tyler stood a few feet away, one hand shoved in his pocket, the other gripping the strap of his backpack like it was the only thing keeping him tethered. His hair was still a mess, and there were shadows under his eyes, but—he was here.
“I didn’t want to go home yet,” I admitted quietly.
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he closed the space between us in three long strides, stopping just close enough that I h
