One of the officers turns to face the four concerned boys and he puffs up his chest, making a show of placing his hand on the gun that’s in the holster on his hip. “Stay back. Let’s not make this more difficult than it has to be.”
The biggest officer pulls Aiden off the wall with more force than necessary. Aiden does not resist in any way, his face giving nothing away.
“Aiden Parker, you are under arrest for the suspected murder of Greg Simms. You have the right—”
My ears tune out after that, white static replacing what should have been Aiden being read his Miranda warning. We all move onto the porch and watch helplessly as Aiden is dragged down the driveway.
“Pick up the twins from Tyler’s house, Julian! Keep them with you,” Aiden yells before he’s shoved into the back of a police cruiser.
The Boys spring into action, barking orders and making calls, but I can barely hear what they’re saying. The room’s spinning like it was when Noah’s head was cut open, but this time Aiden’s in serious trouble. There’s no way he could’ve done this—he wouldn’t risk losing the twins, especially so close to his birthday.
The police cars drift off into the distance, lights fading the farther away from my street they go, leaving us all stunned.
Aiden’s stepfather, Greg, is dead. And the police think that Aiden killed him?
To be continued . . .
Acknowledgments
This story would not exist if not for my readers, fans, friends, and Violets. You have and will always be my biggest motivator to get me to unlock my potential. So thank you. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate all the kind words, support, and encouragement that you’ve given me throughout the years. Thank you for following me on this journey and allowing me to follow my dreams.
Thank you to my mom, Carmela, who read to me every night before bed, for teaching me the beauty of words, and for showing me the power behind reading a good book. Thank you for being my biggest fan.
Of course, I’d like to thank my dad, Bruno, for supporting me unconditionally, and for always believing in me without even needing to hear details about the project I’m working on. You’re the greatest.
Thank you to my brother, Michael. He didn’t really do much, but he’s my brother and supports me, so into the acknowledgments he goes.
To the Wattpad community, Wattpad Stars, and Wattpad HQ, thank you for always being such a great support network, and always being so quick and willing to help a Wattpad Star in need. It’s an honor to be part of this community.
Thank you to Ashleigh Gardner and everyone at Wattpad Books—editors, publicists, marketing—involved in working so hard to make my book ready for publishing.
Also a huge thanks to Crissy Calhoun, Adam Wilson, Rebecca Mills, and Deanna McFadden for being extraordinary editors, helping me transform this story from a draft to an amazing book that I’m so incredibly proud of.
Thank you to my talent manager, I-Yana Tucker, for believing in me in the first place, for answering all my dumb questions immediately, for being my work mom and biggest cheerleader, for fighting for my stories, and for always having my back.
To all the aforementioned people, and especially the ones I probably forgot, I will always be immensely grateful for having been put in your paths.
Stay With Me
Exclusive Excerpt
1
Sometimes life likes to laugh at you.
I guess things get boring to watch every once in a while, so life goes, “Hey, why don’t we fuck around with her a bit? Don’t you think that’ll be funny?”
And then life’s friends, drama, pain, uncertainty, and unfortunate events, go: “Hell yeah, dude! We got your back. Watch the shitstorm we can cause.”
And then they all get to work, inserting themselves into your life, stirring up the pot, and then they sit around with a cold beer clutched in their hands and some boxes of pizza shared between them and they laugh and laugh and laugh at you.
At least, that’s how I think it happens, because sometimes it seems like my life is just one long fucking episode of let’s see how we can fuck with Amelia today.
There’s a man out there intent on murdering me. This man has hurt and killed other people in the name of getting revenge on me. And I have the world’s biggest crush on someone I know I can never be with, who just discovered that he was being lied to and deceived from the start, and who was just arrested.
Aiden was just arrested.
The police said he murdered his stepfather, Greg.