CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
JAMES
ABANDONED SCHOOL
(ONE YEAR AGO)
I paced back and forth in the hallway outside the classrooms we’d turned into bedrooms. Keeping everyone close made it safer and made it easier to keep an eye on Sarah. Not that it mattered anymore. Ever since Michael found out about us, she’d barely left my room.
Those past few weeks had been heaven. Every time I touched her, kissed her, lost myself inside her—it felt like I was high on her, drunk on every kiss, every curve of her body.
But that day? I was in fucking hell.
Because she was gone.
She wasn’t in our bed. She wasn’t anywhere. Nobody had seen her all day. And to make it worse, she’d left her damn walkie-talkie on the floor next to the bed, as if she didn’t want me to find her.
Fuck. I was losing my goddamn mind.
The sun was down. It was full-on night, and still nothing. No sign of her.
Michael stood in the doorway, arms crossed, shaking his head for what had to be the hundredth time, while Nathan rattled off every place she might’ve gone.
“The bookstore’s right around the corner. Maybe—”
“First place I checked,” Michael cut in, his whole body tense.
“What about the flower shop?”
“Checked it.”
“The beer store?”
“Empty. We’ve checked every street. It’s a small town; there’s only so many places she could be.” He dragged a hand down his face. “Shit. Sarah always does this. She’s too curious for her own good.”
Nathan shifted on his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. “All right… maybe it’s time we admit something else.” He hesitated, his eyes flicking over to me. “Maybe she didn’t just wander off. Maybe someone took her.”
His words slammed into me like a freight train. My mouth went dry. My hands clenched into fists.
We were just getting started. I couldn’t lose her.
I was about to punch a wall when Nathan’s walkie-talkie crackled, snapping me out of it.
“Nathan, we found her. She’s on her way back to her room now,” his brother said through the walkie. “I just ran into her. Scared the hell outta me,” he added through the static, laughing. “She said she’s been in the cafeteria all day.”
I frowned, and so did Michael.
She’d been in the school this whole time?
I should’ve felt better. But I didn’t.
Nathan grabbed his walkie from his belt and pressed the button. “Impossible. Me and the Outsider already checked that place.”
Static hummed for a second before the voice came back. “She said the cafeteria’s got a basement… lots of closets and storage rooms. She found a trapdoor and…” There was a pause. “Well… you know how Sarah is. She likes to explore.”
Nathan laughed, shaking his head as he pressed the button again. “Yeah, we all know that by now. Thanks, brother.”
For a second, I hated how easy it was for them to smile just hearing her name.
She had this way of charming the hell out of Nathan and his brothers with that sweet smile, as if the trouble she caused today had never even happened.
Just poof, forgotten. And one of them had asked her on a date—I just didn’t know which one yet.
That alone made my blood pressure spike.
Couldn’t really blame them, though.
She wasn’t just beautiful. She was strawberry ice cream on the hottest day of summer, impossible to resist. And every guy who looked at her, talked to her, laughed with her? They knew it too.
Nathan clipped the walkie back onto his belt and looked at me. “She never left the school.”
Michael huffed a laugh, more disbelief than humor. “You’re telling me she was here the whole time?”
“At least she’s safe,” Nathan said, shooting me a look, probably noticing I still looked ready to break something.
All day. She vanished for an entire fucking day. This was worse than that night in the cave. At least back then, she ran because she was in danger. But this time, she ran because she thought the world was a goddamn playground.
I needed to remind her it wasn’t.
“So, when are you guys heading to Utah?” Michael asked, leaning back against the wall, arms still crossed. The way he held himself said he was still annoyed about Sarah disappearing without a word.
Nathan scratched his chin. “Next week.”
“You sure you don’t wanna stick around in Colorado?” I asked.
He exhaled deeply. “My family’s from there. I was born in Utah, but my brothers and sisters… they’ve never seen it. I want them to know where our family comes from.”
I nodded, my eyes drifting to the walkie-talkie clipped to his belt, then to mine. “Keep it. It’s got about a thirty-mile range. If you ever come back to Colorado and need anything, just call.”
Nathan met my eyes and reached out his hand. “Thanks for everything, Outsider. I wasn’t sure if you guys were the good ones… but now I know. Outsiders might just save this world someday.”
His words hit deeper than I expected.
I stepped forward and accepted his handshake. “Hill,” I said, finally giving him my name. “James Hill.”
Recognition flashed in his face. No doubt he’d heard of me.
He gave my hand a solid shake, and right then, the door at the end of the hallway swung open. Sarah walked in with that proud fucking smile, like she didn’t have me losing my mind all day thinking she was gone.
My eyes narrowed as I zeroed in on her, and she stopped mid-step, seeing just how pissed I was.
Nathan walked past me toward her, stopping at her side. “Did a little exploring today, huh?”
She spun to face him, deliberately ignoring the fire in my eyes. “A big one.”
Nathan chuckled. “Oh, Sarah, I’m gonna miss you the most.”
“So you guys are really abandoning me, huh?” She huffed, jabbing him in the stomach.
“Next week. Utah. Keep your walkie on. We’ll still be in range the first few nights if you wanna talk.”
Sarah’s eyes flicked to mine, then she flashed an evil grin. “So you can ask me on a date again?”
My jaw clenched.
The fuck?
It was Nathan who asked her on a date?
Fucking Nathan? Not one of his brothers?
I never thought it was him.
He was the only one who didn’t stare at her body. His brothers? Different story.
I wanted to cover every inch of those perfect legs showing beneath her tiny shorts. But if I did that, she’d throw on that skirt covered in little butterflies. And that thing was a goddamn weapon that made me sweat just looking at it.
Nathan stiffened the moment he saw my expression, his shoulders locking up.
“Jesus, Sarah, don’t get me killed before I leave.
” He laughed nervously, scrubbing a hand through his hair.
“Look, in my defense, James liked you. Everyone could see it. And outta respect for Michael, he stayed away as long as he could.” He shot Michael a crooked smile.
“Nice punch, by the way. I still owe you two punches for sleeping with both of my sisters.”
If I hadn’t been so pissed, I would’ve laughed. Sarah did, though, especially when Michael’s face went pale.
Nathan kept talking like he wasn’t digging his own grave.
“Besides, Sarah, you wanted to make him jealous. God knows why. That was the best plan I could come up with. And the fact you didn’t even know what a date means these days…” He gave a short laugh. “Honestly? That helped.” He turned to me then, fully aware he was pushing his luck. “A lot.”
Sarah laughed. “Well, jealousy looks good on him.”
Nathan winked at her, barely hiding his smirk.
I was two seconds away from snapping; every nerve felt raw. Nathan must’ve felt it, because he suddenly backed off and walked down the hallway until he was out of sight.
A headache was already pounding in my skull. I pinched the bridge of my nose and shut my eyes for a second. When I opened them again, Sarah was staring at me. The amusement was gone from her face.
“James, I—”
I held up a hand, cutting her off. “If I were you, I’d think real carefully about the next words that come out of your mouth.”
“Why are you so mad? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
I shook my head, heat rising in my chest. “What the hell were you thinking, Sarah? I woke up this afternoon and you were gone.”
“I never left the school.”
Like that made any fucking difference.
“Do you have any idea how many risks you just took?” Michael growled, his voice as sharp as mine. “What if someone was hiding down there?”
“I was alone, okay? No one was there.”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to hang on to what little patience I had left, but the anger was burning through me.
“Why the fuck did you leave your walkie-talkie behind?” I bit out.
My eyes raked over her, searching for any signs of injury—a fresh wound, a bruise, anything that said she wasn’t fine. But she was. She was perfectly fucking fine.
She didn’t answer. And in that silence, something felt off. Not loud, just… wrong. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“Sarah!” I snapped. “Answer the damn question.”
She crossed her arms and stared me down.
“Do either of you even realize what day it is?”
Jesus. What now?
“The day you lost your goddamn mind?” Michael shot back.
She gave him a dry laugh. “Funny. When it’s your birthday, I never forget.”
Michael and I went still. His arms dropped to his sides, his expression shifting. We glanced at each other.
Shit.
We forgot her birthday.
I forgot her birthday.
She’d even told me the day we had our first kiss.
I ran a hand over my face, feeling like the biggest asshole on the planet. But I was mad for the right reasons… right?
Michael rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. “Shit, Sarah. I didn’t… I didn’t even think.”
She shook her head, frustration written all over her face. “You two stay up all night on watch, then crash so hard you forget what day it is. I even ate lunch alone.” She looked away, blinking fast. “It’s not like I expected a cake. Just… anything.”
If I were already an asshole, I was about to be a bigger one.
Fuck all that. She disappeared and left her walkie-talkie behind on purpose. She wasn’t getting a free pass. She knew exactly what she was doing, knew how I’d react. And she still did it anyway.