I gave the tailgate a final wipe and grinned at her. “You’re the best.”

Tessa grinned. “I know. Now let’s get this done before I have to hurt some lookie-loos.”

“You’re so brutal,” I teased.

“I got your back, chica. Don’t you forget it.”

I never would.

I finished out my day of classes without seeing Brax. He’d sent me one text saying he’d meet me after work. He didn’t mention Kelsy, and I didn’t ask. I’d save it for later. I endured several stares as the day progressed, and when I slid into my desk in astronomy, Steven was there, waiting. His already-shaggy brown hair flipped over his ears, his head lowered to his notes. When he saw me, his head lifted and he leaned toward me.

“I just heard. Man, are you okay?” His brown eyes studied me, wide and concerned.

I eased his mind. “Yeah, I had some help washing it all off.”

“Pretty harsh words,” he said. “Do you know who did it?”

I shrugged. “I have an idea.” I dug in my bag for my comp book.

“Does it have anything to do with that guy you’re dating?” He regarded me closely.

“What do you mean?”

Steven busied himself shuffling papers. “I don’t know. He’s got a rep you know.” He gave me a hooded look. “A lot of girls like him. Maybe one’s jealous?”

I nodded. “Could be. But it’s over now, so I guess I won’t worry about it.”

He squeezed my shoulder. “Well, next time text me if something happens and I’ll come help you take care of it.”

I couldn’t help but smile at Steven then. “I sure will.”

The rest of the day passed pretty fast. I knew my truck pics—along with me scrubbing the words Gutter Fuck off of it—had gone viral via InstaGram. I thought the circulation had started and ended at Winston. Until my little brother Seth called me during my fifteen minute break at the observatory. I’d just finished setting up the mega-pieces of a celestial puzzle for the children’s exhibit when I stepped into the employee’s break room and checked for a message from Brax. Instead, a missed call from my brother. So I called him back.

“Hey, little bro. What’s up—”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

I sagged against the wooden window sill and closed my eyes. “Please tell me you kept quiet about it. It’s been handled.”

“Has it? Really? ’Cause I heard another little rumor. One that includes a certain douchebag attending the same college as you.”

Seth’s voice sounded years wiser than his ripe old age of sixteen. Usually a sweet guy, quick to horse around, his character did a complete rotation when it came to two women in particular: our mom, and me. He was that guy you did not breathe an indecent word to about his mother or sister. It simply didn’t work for him. “Does Mom and Jilly know? Kyle or Jace?”

“Not yet.” Seth sighed into the phone, and I could envision the dimple sink into his cheek as he frowned. “Who’s the guy with the ink?”

My heart leaped. “Just … a friend. He was helping me.”

“You’re a terrible liar, sis. Who is he?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “He’s … really nice, Seth. I trust him. Please don’t tell them yet.”

“Fine. Then tell me who he is.”

My gaze drifted to the space between my feet. “I met him my first day here. He’s a baseball player. From Boston.”

Seth was silent for a few seconds. “Are you guys dating?”

I let out a gusty sigh. “Yes.”

“Does he know?”

I knew he meant details about my senior year, and about what had happened with Kelsy. “No, he doesn’t—”

“Olivia, Jesus.”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Hey, my break’s over. I’ll call you back tonight.” I pushed off the sill and found my pack. “Please don’t mention it to Mom and the others. I swear he’s a good guy. Okay? Please?”

“Godalmighty, sis,” Seth breathed. “Okay. Call me back tonight.”

“I love you,” I said.

“Love you, too.”

As I stashed my phone in my pack, I ground my teeth. Great. There’s no telling how long it’d be before the rest of the Beaumonts would know about not only the vulgar words on my truck, and Kelsy at Winston, but about me dating Brax, too. In a normal life at least half of that wouldn’t really be a big deal. But my life stopped being normal about a year ago. Hopefully, Seth could hold his tongue for a little while longer. Truly, it was a big IF.

For the rest of the evening my thoughts ran rampant, scurrying across my brain like five thousand beetles rattling around in my skull. My head hurt. One second I felt okay, like the whole incident that morning was over and didn’t really bother me. The next second brought thoughts of Kelsy and high school crashing down over me. Not having talked to Brax all day probably aided in that headache. I couldn’t wait to get off work and just … see him. The thought of it eased my mind, and I pushed through my tasks at the observatory. I’d just stepped out of the break room at the end of my shift when Noah Hicks stopped me in the hall. His expression was grave; I knew he knew. And he knew I knew he knew.

“You should’ve told me,” he said. His smile was warm, genuine, and it softened his eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I shifted the weight of my pack and smiled. “You know us geeks are targets for pranks like that,” I said. “I’m already over it. But thanks.”

“Olivia that was no typical prank,” Noah clarified. “But if you change your mind, I’m all ears.”

I returned the warm smile. He was nice, personable, and I could see it in his eyes. He sincerely meant it. “Thanks, Noah. I appreciate it.”

“I think you’re a lot tougher than you look,” he called after me.

I threw a grin over my shoulder. “I try to be anyway.”

As I made my way to the entrance, butterflies kicked up in my stomach in anticipation of seeing Brax. For a moment I wondered if he’d even be waiting on me; I hadn’t heard any more from him. Worry clawed at me; worry that maybe he’d heard something about me. Or that Kelsy had told him something I should’ve already told him myself. Maybe he’d decided I was too much drama, too high maintenance? The butterflies turned to ache as I pushed open the doors of the observatory and stepped outside into the night air. What if Brax had decided I just wasn’t worth all the trouble?

Beneath the street lamp next to my truck, I saw him, straddling his motorcycle, waiting for me, and my pent up breath and worry eased right out of me. He looked up and was off his bike, jogging toward me in that easy lope that I never tired of watching, and my eyes drank in the sight of his long muscular legs closing the space between us. My heart sped up as he grew close, and at the last second, just before he reached me, he flipped his ball cap around, bill to the back, and gathered me in his arms. His body enveloped mine, and his scruffy jaw buried against my neck. I sank into him, my arms slipping around his waist and marveling at the muscles bunched there. When his lips settled over the skin of my throat the erotic gesture sent a shiver down my spine, and I melted a little more. How had I come to crave this with him? To so vehemently crave Brax? What was even more astonishing was that he seemed to crave me, as well. In less than a month? Could it even be real?

“I thought I was going to have to come in and drag your ass out,” he said against my skin. His mouth moved to my jaw, then my chin, then grazed my mouth. Then, he pulled back and looked at me with those light, ethereal eyes. “Let’s get outta here.”

Sliding the pack off my shoulders, Brax led me to my truck. “We’ll take my bike,” he said, and waited for me to open the door.

“Where are we going?” He hadn’t mentioned the incident from this morning. Hadn’t mentioned Kelsy. And I hadn’t heard of any fights or trouble after Brax took off this morning, determined to get to the bottom of the vandalism on my truck. What had happened once he’d left me?

He tossed my pack onto the bench seat, then closed and locked the door. He grasped my hand and threaded our fingers together. His were long, warm, slightly calloused, and dwarfed mine, and I decided I more than liked the feelings he caused within me whenever he touched me. However slight the gesture, it stirred a physical response deep inside that I now longed for; hungered for. I knew he struggled at times; I could see desire in his eyes, feel it in the depth of his kiss, the desperation in his touch. I marveled at his control. I marveled at my own. As he pulled me toward his bike, the expression he threw over his shoulder at me nearly stopped me in my tracks. Mischievous. Sexy. Promising. “You’ll see.”

We rode through campus, my arms wrapped around his stomach and holding tightly. The warmth from his skin seeped through the tee shirt he wore and sank into me, and I loved that feeling, too. It reminded me of safety, protection, desire, all tightly bound within the tattoos and muscles of the most unlikely of scarred heroes. Dare I call him mine?

Brax changed gears and slowed the bike as we pulled into a darkened sports complex, winding through to the baseball diamond’s parking lot. At this time of night all the lights were off, and Brax came to a stop close to the dugout entrance. He braced the bike as I climbed off, then with his heel he kicked the stand and swung his leg over. Immediately, he turned to me and unclasped the straps to my helmet.

“It’s so dark,” I said quietly. “What are we doing here?”

He set both our helmets on the seat of the bike then grasped my hand and looked down at me. The full moon had already come and gone, so the celestial illumination was next to nothing. Brax’s face was swallowed in shadow. His voice washed over me; raspy and familiar. But when he smiled, his teeth slashed across his face. “You’re about to break the law, Sunshine. Now come on.”

“We’re breaking into the ball field?” I whispered, and pulled back on his hand. “Brax, we’ll get into trouble.”

His body brushed mine. “Only if we get caught.” Humor laced his voice, and he pulled me gently. “Come on, Gracie. Let loose a little.” We got to the dugout gate, which was chained and about seven feet high. Brax pulled me close, lowered his head and brushed my lips. “Trust me, sweetheart. Can you climb a fence?”

“Oh lord,” I whispered, looking around nervously. “Of course I can.”

His hands moved to my hips. “Well, get your skinny little ass over the gate then, will ya?”

“Brax, I swear,” I murmured. Then I heaved a gusty sigh, stuck my fingers through the links and shimmed up and over the chained gate. Brax followed behind me with grace and very little effort, and dropped to the ground. His hand found mine and pulled.

“Your reluctance is too f**king cute, Gracie. Besides, adrenaline is good for the heart,” he whispered. “Now quit your bitching and follow me.”

“I’m not bitching,” I insisted in a hushed voice. “I’m voicing my concern over your delinquent decision, is all.”

Suddenly and in the darkened dugout Brax jerked to a halt and scooped me up in his arms. I stifled a squeal, and he chuckled. “Keep it down, keep it down,” he warned. He bent and grabbed something as we passed the benches, and then rounded a corner and started walking.

“I can walk, you know,” I insisted. It only made him chuckle again.

“Yeah, but I like you right where I got you.” He pulled me close against him, and I tucked my head in the crook of his neck. He walked for a few seconds more, then stopped. His warm breath brushed my temple. “All right, keep your eyes closed. No looking.” He set me down.

Not that I could see a solitary thing anyway, but I still let my lids fall. “Yes, sir.”

Brax busied himself close to where I stood, laughing softly to himself. I wanted to peek, but I refrained, just on the off-hand he’d catch me. Then, he was there, his body crowding mine in a way I felt positive only Brax could do. Even blinded, I felt him swoop in, melding us together as he enveloped me, one arm around my waist pulling me snugly against him, the other cupping the back of my head as he steered his mouth over mine. My hands found their way to his hair and entwined my fingers through the soft flips and curls I found so appealing. His lips, so expert and full and firm and pliable moved over my jaw, my lips, and his tongue tasted me in such an erotic way that I couldn’t help the groan that he coaxed from deep within me. He pulled back and whispered in my ear.

“Christ, girl, you’re killing me.” He kissed my nose, then my body went airborne once more as he lifted me, his arms catching me behind my knees. “Keep those beautiful eyes closed, you hear me?”

“I will,” I whispered. Then, my body began to drift downward as Brax lowered me to my back on the ground. My fingers flexed and I encountered a blanket beneath me.

“Be still,” he ordered. I did, and he straightened my legs, my arms at my side. I felt him lay beside me then—not directly side-by-side, but just his head. With my eyes closed it seemed a strange feeling, his roughened jaw against my temple. But I waited in silence. I didn’t have to wait long.

“Open your eyes.”

I blinked several times as I focused straight up above me into the vast, pitch-black blanket of Texas sky littered with a million blinking stars. The night sky was cloudless and perfect, and my face broke into an unstoppable smile. “Brax,” I muttered. Even I could hear the awe in my voice.

“Impressive, yeah? Even though you’ve seen it a hundred times?” he asked.