I shrug, picking at the grass. “We got a free period so we thought we’d come chill in the sun. What about you?” I look at the parking lot behind us where I think he just came from. “Did you just get back from somewhere?”

“Yeah, I did.” His gaze flickers in Maggie’s direction.

I get to my feet, reading his mind, because we’re in sync like that. “Hey Mags, I’m going to go talk with Ayden for a bit. Catch you later, okay?”

“Oh whatever.” She stands up, brushing the grass of her legs. “I know you two are going to go make out in the car.” She winks at me before strutting across the grass, giving her ass an extra shake as she walks by a group of football players.

“We need to talk, huh?” Ayden asks, his brow cocking.

“I could tell that you wanted to.” I gently tap the side of his head. “Remember, I can read everything going on in there.”

A soft laugh escapes his lips, but he quickly turns serious. “I do want to talk, actually.” He gives a quick scan of the campus yard. “But maybe somewhere where there aren’t so many people around.”

The air is stifling today and I’m roasting like a beast, even in my purple tank, denim shorts, and gladiator sandals. “I am in desperate need of some air conditioning.” I loop my arm through his. “How about we go sit in your car?”

He nods and we start across the grass, the sunlight flickering between the tree branches canopying above our heads. Neither of us speaks as we cross the parking lot and get into his car. I can tell something’s stressing him out, and that he’s stuck in his own little Ayden world of despair. I don’t push him to confide in me, though, figuring he’s been pushed too much already. If he wants to talk, then we’ll talk. If he wants to sit in the car with me and simply hold my hand, then that’s what I’ll do.

He turns on the engine to crank up the air, then sits back and cracks his knuckles while gazing out the window.

“I’m sorry Maggie’s a perv,” I say as I prop my feet against the dash.

He glances at me from the corner of his eye. “I’m used to Maggie and her mouth. In fact, my day would seem oddly incomplete without hearing at least one dirty remark from her.”

“Well, that’s a huge change for you. Usually, you get irritated when she opens her mouth.”

“I said I was used to her, not that I wanted to be used to her.” He’s smiling and it’s so beautiful and rare that I have to grin along with him.

“I think I might be with you on that,” I say. “Can you believe she tried to tell me everything that happened between Sage and her? And I’m talking everything. Could you imagine? I’d be scarred for life.”

“Sage would be so pissed if she did.” He rests his head back and stares at me for a heartbeat or two, his eyes smoldering so intensely I have to catch my breath.

I never thought it could be like this.

That love could be so raw and potent.

So intoxicated.

So mind erasing.

My breathing is fading.

My heart isn’t cooperating.

Anymore.

“I found out something . . . about the case,” Ayden says with a heavy sigh. “Lila actually pulled me out of class to tell me. Then she made me go talk to Dr. Gardingdale to make sure I was handling everything okay.”

I practically get whiplash going from joking about Sage and Maggie’s dirty rendezvous to talking about the case.

“What happened?” I sit up straight, my feet falling to the floor. “Did they find them? Did they find your sister?”

He reaches forward and gently places his hand on my arm. “Lyric, calm down. Nothing has happened yet. They just got a lead.”

“But that’s good news, right?” Please, please, let it be good news.

“I’m not sure.” He seems so calm, which is strange. “Maybe. The detective said he’d give me an update when he had one. It might take a few days, though.”

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” I ask him for the eleventh-hundred time since the amnesia session. “You’ve seemed sort of, I don’t know, sedated lately.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” he assures me with a forced smile. “It’s good to be calm, right?”

I nod, but I’m not buying it. I have a hunch Ayden’s cool-as-cookie-dough-ice-cream behavior is like a calm before the storm. I want to press him to talk, but worry I’ll only stress him out more.

What do I do?

To get through to you?