“I Googled you. Your life in Gravestone makes some of the kids here look like peasants.”
“You don’t understand...”
“I know what I saw. You, your rich as fuck parents, and that house. Fuck, it makes James’ house look like a shack. And let’s not forget about Timothy Davenport.” The way he spews Tim’s name makes my stomach roil. “He your ex?”
He knows. Cole knows the truth, because he sees things. He watches and observes and makes connections other people might not make.
Fuck.
“Hadley, don’t push me.” The words vibrate in his chest as if he’s about to snap.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“He’s older, right? A junior at Gravestone University?”
I nod, because there’s no point in lying.
Cole knows.
He knows my real name, where I come from. He knows that I’m older than my senior classmates because my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to retake sophomore year.
He knows about Tim.
But he doesn’t know everything.
He can’t, I remind myself.
Because there’s no trace of it, my parents made damn sure of that.
“Did he hurt you?” Cole’s hand slides to my throat, stroking my skin as if I’m precious. But his tender touch doesn’t last long as he wraps his fingers around my neck.
“You really want to know all this?” I deflect, trying to scramble for a way out.
It’s too much.
Cole.
Tim.
Tim.
Cole.
They couldn’t be more different if they tried. Two guys never destined to meet somehow colliding right in front of me.
I close my eyes, wanting to escape this nightmare.
“Look at me, Little Dove.” Cole squeezes my throat until my eyes pop open. “What happened?”
“Why is this so important to you?”
He considers my words. A beat passes, and another. And then Cole gives me something I never thought he would.
The truth.
“Because I need to know what made you this way.”
Connection.