AMBER
Stephanie’s voice was as firm as ever, her gaze pinning me in place like she’d already made up her mind and nothing I said would change it.
“I’m serious, Amber,” she said, her tone low but final. “You need to avoid those boys. For now, at least.”
I crossed my arms, heat rising in my chest. “And why exactly? Because you don’t like them? Or because you’re scared I might actually make my own decisions for once?”
Her expression didn’t falter, though I caught the tiniest twitch in her jaw. “Because it’s dangerous. You know what they’re capable of. And right now, you don’t know enough about yourself to be anywhere near them.”
I groaned, throwing my head back in frustration. “You sound just like—” I cut myself off before I said my mother, but the thought still burned in my head.
She s
