When I loved her, and I swore she loved me back.

One day she was here, and the next she was gone.

I wigged out, searched for her only to find nothing. The girl I was in love with had vanished into thin air, but as quickly as the worry came, it was replaced with resentment, because in our town, there is no such thing as gone at random.

To be gone with no trail to follow meant one thing—she made the choice to go, and had help.

When she popped back up, eleven months later, she was no longer a Bray Girl, but weaseled her way into Graven Prep.

To turn your back on a Brayshaw was like a stamp of approval, they welcomed traitors to their family with open arms and promises, but by that point, I didn’t care in the slightest.

That’s because I didn’t know the reason she had left was to hide her pregnancy, to have and discard my child, to try and pretend she didn’t exist and hope I was none the wiser.

I wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for the documents given to me, sharing the hidden news.

Victoria.

My head snaps over my shoulder, to the third-row seat where she’s pushed against the window farthest from me, staring straight out it with a wretched expression, elbow perched on the doorframe, thumbnail sliding across her chin.

Slowly her eyes make their way to mine and hold.

A deep, chocolate, brown.

Not blue.

Not blue?

My head flies forward, my eyes closing.

Fuck.

My stomach twists even more.

I shut off my phone, not opening the six-message thread waiting for me.

“Pull over,” I rasp, and all eyes are suddenly on me.

“Cap?” Maddoc frowns from the road to me.

We’re still a good twenty-minute drive from home, but I’m suffocating in this fucking thing.

“Pull over, man.”

He does, and I climb out into the fresh air, nothing but a two-lane highway seen for miles. I take a deep breath, ready to close the door when suddenly Royce’s shoes hit the ground beside me.

I look to my dad, and he gives a curt nod, shifting closer to Zoey’s car seat, so I close the door, and off they go.

It takes us well over an hour to get home, not a word spoken the entire time.

That’s one of my favorite things about my brother, his silent support, always there and never pushing.

As we walk up the steps, he turns to me with tension in his eyes, but he only clamps my shoulder and nods, disappearing inside while I drop onto my ass and look out over the driveway, at the orchard and the long road between them.

I pull my phone from my pocket, turn it on and read through Mallory’s messages.

My shoulders fall, and then Zoey’s voice flows through me, her sweet little call, and gentle laugh.

I look over to find her running my way, Easter basket overflowing with eggs, my dad, Raven and Maddoc trailing her, eggs in all their hands, a trail of some dropped behind them.

I laugh, and it tugs at my insides.

“Daddy, hu-mon!” She smiles.

Right then, her little hand lifts, brushing her curls aside.

Something her mother does.

Exactly the way her mother does.

How did I not connect the move sooner?

How could she share anything with a person she doesn’t even know?

A lump forms in my throat, and I swallow past it, my eyes falling to my phone again. I hold my breath, responding with a single, two-letter word.

I turn, set it down and hop off the porch with a smile. “I’m coming, baby girl.”

Daddy’s coming.

Victoria

Two days have come and gone since Easter, and while he keeps me at his side at school, and pulls me close when home, Captain’s lost in his own mind.

Each night that’s passed, his footsteps pad against the floor, my chest rising with each one closer he grows, only to leave me in knots when they disappear, but tonight, the shadow of him hesitates beneath my door.

He stands there, right outside, and I hold my breath, waiting.

He steps inside.

He doesn’t bother closing it behind him, doesn’t speak, but his eyes find mine in the dark, and slowly, he slides beneath my covers, lying on his side so he can face me head-on.

His eyes are rimmed with dark circles, proof he hasn’t slept, and his body sags with the weight of the world, but he doesn’t let anyone into his.

As far as I can tell, he’s held it all in so far.

Captain reaches out, and I force myself not to frown as his knuckles bypass my jaw when they normally glide along it, but instead slide into my hair.

My blonde hair.

He kisses along my jaw, down my chest until his lips are settled on my breastbone. When my legs fall open for him, he climbs between them.

I run my hands along his skin, letting him take what he needs, feel what he wants and kiss wherever he chooses, wishing he’d finally kiss my lips.

His fingers slip beyond my shorts and underwear, slowly sliding into my pussy with no hesitation. He pumps torturously slow, nipping at my chest as he pants against it.

I reach for him, but he presses his upper body into mine more, locking my hands against the mattress, his fingers interlacing and squeezing me tight as my walls clench around him.

He groans, whispering words I can’t make out into my skin, and I break out in goosebumps.

His fingers hook inside me, and he drags his lips to my ear. Suddenly his thumb is swirling along my clit and my back arches right as he whispers, “Come.”

I do.

My body quakes against his, my fingers trying to suck him in farther.

He waits for me to ride it out, for my breathing to settle and then he sighs, shifting us both so once again we’re on our sides.

Within minutes his eyes begin to close, and only then do I realize his hold on my hair never wavered, never loosened or let go, instead burying deeper as he falls asleep at my side.

I try not to wonder what it means, but sleep becomes the enemy.

And in the back of my mind, I know it won’t be the only one.

Chapter 24

Captain

We needed a day away after how last weekend played out. My mind has been so heavy I could hardly focus in school, let alone at night when all I had was time to think.

This morning was the first I felt calm, and I knew instantly what I wanted to do.

I needed another chance at a first with my daughter, since our first Easter, unbeknownst to her, was tainted.

So, we ditched school and loaded up in my SUV and came to our family cabin in the woods.

It’s decades old but has been kept fresh and refurbished on the inside.

It sits high in the mountains, other mounds of rock and hillside surrounding it with a creek running through.

There are several others surrounding it, all owned by other students at Brayshaw High, and even a few from Graven from back when they weren’t the enemy, way before our time.

It’s a fun party spot for all the teenagers to come and get away from the city, but on weekends like this, when no one else is around, it’s peaceful, nothing but the sound of birds and water against rocks to be heard.

That and the echoes of Zoey’s laughter as Maddoc helps her try and climb a tree.

“Daddy look at me!” She smiles, waving. “I’m waaaay up!”

Maddoc is holding her up completely, she only has a foot and single hand touching the oak but to her, she’s climbed a tree.