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Chapter One

Charity looked up in time to catch the rusty red metal door before it slammed into her face So a y

Gri at the near miss with a busted nose and public ridicule, she pushed out of the lecture hall and peeled off to the side Students poured out around her into the dark of night, half-asleep and happy to be done with the late class and on their way home

They had no idea how good they had it None of them did

She stilled in thethe crisp ocean air Santa Cruz was heaven The mild climate, the cool city buzz, and the thick nature in the surrounding hills That she attended college here was beyond fantastic—it was a dream come true One she feared she’d wake from

“Night,” Donnie le look at his perfectly styled hair, uber-trendy clothes, and perfect face quick-started her heart

“Nuuun” What the heck was that? Had she suddenly started speaking in Wookiee?

She shook her head, desperate to be cool at least once when speaking to this guy

“Nine—t Night!” she finally got out

He didn’t glance back as he walked away, his friend Mason falling in step Together they were like a shining beacon of prestige and designer clothes She would never earn a place in their super-trendy and wealthy social circle, but that didn’t hinder her fro their nice backsides

She grinned at the thought and swept her gaze out toward the trees, taking one s A soft itch between her shoulder blades invaded her thoughts So her

An unobtrusive figure caught her notice out of the corner of her eye She glanced that way

A dark-haired e redwood tree, ht that cut across his lips, showing a grin

He stepped forward, the ely blurred, too fast for the nonchalance of his poise His weight was perfectly balanced with a fighter’s grace, as though he were ready to spring forward

Tingles of apprehension worked up Charity’s spine Growing up in a low-incons of an attacker She knew that her five-foot-five frame, small demeanor, and dainty features practically screamed: I’m vulnerable, take hter’s confidence couldthink twice

This wasn’t a cracked-out thug This erous—she could read it in the loose readiness of his body, in the lean ained from violence, in the predatory stare meant just for her