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Chapter One

My mom always told me not to fall into the “bad boy” trap

After watching theht’ve learned As I slipat the squeal it makes when I try to ease it open—to call Jace Bradford, the friendly neighborhood bad boy who’s been flirting with ood

Even as I crouch down beside the stone steps, pulling ust of hips my mess of dirty blonde hair around my face, I try to talk myself out of it He’s barely off a teek bender with Debbie Reyes, after all Beautiful, beautiful Debbie Reyes A chain-s, badass bombshell whose facial expressions are limited to bitchy variations of boredom and murderous

Probably o after her sloppy seconds

But he has such great eyes And the way he looks when he smiles at me…

“Screw it,” Ia couple steps forward, looking back at the house, up at the darkenedof my mother’s bedroom The house has such thin walls you can hear a stream of piss as it uy ht inside those walls No way

I practiced e ers scroll through for his contact na” in case ine the gravelly “what’s up” he will likely ansith

A flicker of light in theof the house next door catchespeople over late at night, so I shouldn’t be so startled Even at eighteen, I’m a little afraid of the dark

All thoughts of e illu up the curtain, and ht, but flames

Fire