Wilder

My power of speech failed me.

“Besides, as much as we’re all adventurers, my parents had freaked about Brooke sharing with another girl, leaving me with the guys.” She wandered into the hallway, looking at the rooms. “What about your parents?”

“Um. They told me to have a good time?”

She walked into my room, where Hugo had my suitcase open on the bed and was unpacking my stuff. Then she picked up a large box of condoms out of my bag. Oh. My. Fucking. Lord. No.

“Those aren’t mine,” I whispered, knowing how much of an idiot I sounded.

Her laugh was bright when she turned over the box, then showed me the sticky note in my mom’s handwriting. “Be safe. Have fun. Loosen up for crying out loud. There’s a whole wide world waiting for you, Leah-bug. Love, Mom.”

“That’s what I get for being born to hippies.”

Penna wrapped her arm around my shoulder and tossed the condoms at Hugo, who was redder than the pair of cherry pumps he’d unpacked.

“I think we’ll get along just fine.”

After I kicked Hugo out and unpacked with Penna telling me hilarious stories while sitting on my bed, I realized that I hadn’t distanced myself from the Renegades at all…

I’d moved in with one.

Chapter Four

Paxton

Bermuda

I stretched my legs out, trying to avoid the Flyboard parts scattered on the floor next to me. I’d watched every minute of film Bobby’s crew had taken from the zip-line yesterday but still couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong or where the rigs had disappeared to. I wanted to write it off as a fluke accident, but the nagging feeling that it had been something more wouldn’t go away.

Penna and Landon had agreed that it was strange, but neither seemed too worried. After all, we’d done far more dangerous stunts and had way worse things go wrong. But just in case, no one else was touching these Flyboards.

“Seriously? Could you hurry up already? We have places to be,” Leah exclaimed from the doorway of my bedroom.

I nearly dropped the buckle assembly I was examining. “Well, I think that might be the first time a woman has said that to me in here.”

Her mouth dropped into a little O before she snapped it shut. “Well, you’ve only been sleeping in here a few days. Give it another week.”

“You’re assuming I’ve ever had a complaint. Usually the only requests I get in here are along the lines of faster, harder, deeper.”

She sputtered, and I couldn’t stop the grin that transformed my features and my mood. After the last few days with Leah, I was realizing that she did that to me. Even when she told me to go to hell, I kinda wanted to go because it riled her up.

“Where is it you think we’re supposed to be?” I asked, picking up the hose coupling and inspecting the seal.

“We’re in Bermuda.”

“And?”

“We have a mandatory field-study today. All day. And it starts in half an hour.”

Was that a gap? I pulled it closer and ran my finger along the seam. Nope. Good to go.

“We have to leave, so get your butt off the floor.”

I looked up. Damn, she looked good today. Her pants were skintight—leggings, that’s what Penna called them—and her blue top was oversized to fall off one shoulder, revealing a black bra strap.

Maybe her panties matched, too.

Was she a thong kind of girl? In those pants she had to be.

“Paxton, it’s time to go!” She crossed her arms and tapped her little sandaled foot at me.

“You go. I’m getting ready for tomorrow. Hell, add in a massage on me. Have them charge it to your room.” I reached for another part, but she beat me to it, snatching the board.

“This isn’t for fun, Paxton. It’s for World Religion.”

Fuck. I’d gotten through three of the flyboards, but there were seven left to examine. “Is it required?”

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Yes. That’s what I just said, which you would know if you’d put this down and pay attention.”

“I have things I need to do,” I argued, tugging on the hose.

“Yeah, like pass World Religion. Now stop whining and let’s go.” She pulled harder.

We locked eyes, and I read the determination in hers. “What will you give me if I go?” I asked. I could check the remaining gear tonight.

Her eyes rolled. “A pat on the back for being a good student. I’m your tutor, not your nanny. Now be a big boy and do the mature thing.”

“Not good enough,” I said, a smile tugging at my lips. She was so much fun to piss off. That’s when her shell peeled back to reveal a fire I desperately wanted to feel, to witness her burning.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I want your tomorrow.”

“You have my next nine months. That should be sufficient.” She turned her wrist to check her watch. “We’re going to be late!”

“The world might end.” Hell, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been on time for something.

Her lips pursed, but it wasn’t the anger that got me moving, it was the spark of fear in her eyes. She was seriously worried about missing whatever fucking field trip we were supposed to be on. “I want your tomorrow. If I go where you say today, you go where I say tomorrow.” Maybe if she saw the fun side of what we did, she’d start to understand.

She closed her eyes and sighed as if she was kissing her plans for tomorrow good-bye. “Fine.”