Crossing The Line

Chapter 1

Camille Hayes

The first time I met Kane Rhett Mercer, he was nine, bleeding from the mouth, and laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world. Cass dragged him through our front door at twelve in the morning while I sat on the kitchen counter eating stale cereal because I couldn't sleep.

"Don't freak out," my brother said immediately.

Which, obviously, meant I should freak out.

Kane looked up then, dark eyes landing on me while blood dripped from his split lip onto our tile floor.

And the asshole smiled. "Who's your friend?" he asked Cass.

I remember narrowing my eyes instantly. "I live here."

"Cute," he said.

"I hate him already," I informed my brother.

Cass laughed while throwing Kane’s arm over his shoulder. "You'll get used to him."

I didn't.

If anything, Kane only got worse.

༒ ⋆ ✦ ⋆ ༒

"Camille Hayes."

I blink, snapping back to reality as my professor stares at me from the front of the lecture hall.

"You with us today?"

A few people laugh quietly.

Heat crawls into my cheeks as I straighten in my seat. "Yeah. Sorry."

"Then maybe you can answer the question."

Absolutely not.

I stare blankly at the numbers on the board, my brain still stuck somewhere between sleep deprivation and memories I didn't ask for.

Beside me, say Tara Morgan, my best friend. She snorts under her breath. "You're actually hopeless," she whispers.

I kick her chair lightly. "Shut up."

By the time class ends, my head is pounding.

I shove my laptop into my bag while Tara loops her arm through mine dramatically the second we step outside.

"You're coming tonight."

"No."

"That wasn't a question."

The cold October air hits my face as we walk across campus, leaves crunching beneath our shoes. Around us, students crowd the sidewalks, laughing too loudly for noon on a Friday.

"I have homework," I lie.

"You always have homework." I don’t miss the twinge of sneakiness in her voice. She was gauging my response, wondering if I’d lie again.

"And?" I respond blankly, craning my neck to the side.

"And you've been weird all week." She’s right, I hate to admit it. But she’s always able to tell I’m hiding from something. Or someone.

I glance at her suspiciously, trying to avoid this particular topic. "What does that mean?"

"It means," she says slowly, "you stare into space like you're in an indie movie."

"That's offensive." I laugh out loud, causing a few scowls to shoot in our direction.

"It's true." She’s shrugs like she didn’t just accuse me of being so in my head lately.

I sigh, adjusting the strap of my bag. "I'm just tired." I lie yet again. Me and lying never seemed to get along, yet I always relied on it for support when the truth seemed too much to say aloud.

Tara hums like she doesn't believe me. Which is fair. Because the truth is, Kane Rhett Mercer has been back for three weeks and somehow my life has already become significantly more irritating. Not because I actually see him often. But because when I do— he notices everything. Every annoyed glance. Every sarcastic comment. Every reaction. Like he's collecting them. And worse? He always looks way too pleased with himself afterward.

"Wait," Tara says suddenly, eyes narrowing. "Is this about Rhett?"

I nearly choke on air. "No."

"That reaction says otherwise." She smirks knowingly. Damn her intuition!

"There is no reaction." I recoil and try to calm myself. Just the mere thought of him makes my blood boil.

"Camille." She says again with such determination, like a mother who caught her child sneaking around.

I stop walking long enough to glare at her. "Kane, or as he prefers now, Rhett Mercer is Cass's emotionally unstable best friend with a superiority complex and unresolved anger issues." As the words hit the air, I felt a chill run down my spine.

"Wow." She stops staring at me with such surprise. Almost comically, her shocked expression morphs into a smile. Not a polite one, a ‘I caught you red handed’, smile.

"I'm serious." With my hands on my hips I continue my ruse and stare blankly as if I’m clueless to her insinuation.

"You sound obsessed with him." The words him and obsessed should never be spoken in the same sentence when referring to my feelings for Kane.

"I sound observant." I groan,

Tara bursts out laughing, as if I said the funniest thing known to man. I know she takes great pleasure in taunting me about my hatred for Kane. She had never met him until that damn party. Only impression she had of him was the call we overheard one late evening when Cass spoke to Kane. It seemed casual, now I know they were organizing my damnation.

I hate that this conversation follows me for the rest of the day. I hate it even more when it follows me home. Because the second I walk into Cass's apartment that evening, I hear male laughter from the kitchen. Two voices. One belongs to my brother. The other— "Angel," Kane drawls before I even make it fully around the corner. "There she is."

I stop instantly, gripping my keys as if it was my only tether to the ground. I barely raise my head to notice, Cass sitting on the counter drinking straight from the orange juice carton. God, I hate when he does that. It’s disgusting and quite disrespectful to our guests, not Kane he can choke on it for all I care.

Speaking of Kane, he’s leaning against the sink beside Cass, in a black hoodie, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. I don’t recall him having many tattoos before he left years ago. Just another thing to note when I imagine his death.

His eyes drag over me slowly. Not subtle.

"What do you want?" I ask flatly.

Cass gasps dramatically, still clutching the carton in his hand. "Why are you always so hostile?"

"Because you let him in here." I groan as I hang up my coat.

"I have a key." Kane says innocently with that stupid laugh of his. It’s somewhere between deep and shallow. One of the first things I learned, I hated about it. It’s nauseating.

"Tragic." I mumble and catch a smirk from Kane. God, I want to wipe that look off his face. Maybe Cass would let me slap it off? f**k, he’d prolly hit me for it.

"Bad day?" Kane asks casually, as if this is normal for us.

"No." I groan, regretfully.

"Liar." Of course he caught on, he never let me get away with anything as a kid. Always had to tell Cass.

Cass looks between us with the biggest grin imaginable. "You two are weirdly tense today."

"There is no 'we,'" I say immediately.

Kane's smile only widens. Then he pushes off the counter and walks toward me. Slowly. Like he’s observing his prey.

My pulse does something stupid and I try my best not to lose my temper too quickly.

"You know," he says quietly as he passes, his shoulder brushing mine just enough to feel intentional, "for someone who hates me so much..." I hate the way his voice drops lower. "...you think about me a lot." Then he keeps walking like he didn't just completely derail my nervous system.

The apartment door shuts behind him a second later. Silence fell over Cass and I.

He looks at me suspiciously, I look back with annoyance. Then— "What the hell does that mean?" I snap.

My brother starts laughing so hard he nearly falls off the counter. I stood still for a good minute before I flip Cass off and walk off towards my room. f**k both of them!