After class ends, I rush out of the room without saying a word. Not that I think I can avoid Blaise. No, I may need his help. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to allow my heart to get all fluttery over him. I need a time out so I can get my shit together.

“Hadley, wait up!” Blaise calls out as I hurry down the crowded hallway.

I don’t slow down, quickening my pace.

“Had,” Blaise says. “Wait a sec. I need to talk to you about something.”

Taking a deep breath, I slow down and let him catch up with me. “What’s up?” I ask, pretending to be chiller than I am.

But that’s what I’m good at. Being calm when I’m really not. It’s part of the reason why Axel let me off so easily. Well, easily in his eyes.

Blaise falls into stride beside me, worry creasing his brow. “I was going to ask you the same question.”

“Nothing’s up with me,” I reply, hugging my books to my chest.

He gives me a disbelieving look. “If that’s true then why did you run out of the classroom like it was on fire? And then ignore me when I called out your name?”

I lift a shoulder. “I don’t want to be tardy to my next class.”

He chews on his bottom lip, studying me, not paying attention to where he’s walking, yet the throng of people part a path for him. “Is this about what happened last night? About the…” He glances around and lowers his voice. “About the kiss? Because I know you have a no dating rule and everything. And I don’t think we’re dating, but—”

“It’s not about that,” I cut him off with a partial lie. But what else am I supposed to say?

Yeah, the fact that we kissed—twice—is messing with my heart and it’s scaring me? Like I could ever actually admit that aloud.

“Is it about the knee thing then?” he asks, leaning closer to me. “Because I promise I was just teasing you.” He rakes his fingers through his hair and lets out a loud exhale. “I really don’t think that you letting me press my knee against yours means you like me.”

He’s being nice and it makes me feel like I’m walking on a tightrope; my legs are all shaky and my brain is struggling to decide if I’m going to fall.

Blowing out a breath, I slam to a stop in the middle of the hallway. Someone behind me chews me out as they nearly run into me, but I ignore them.

“Look,” I say as Blaise slows to a stop beside me. “I know that we…” I internally cringe at what I’m about to say. “That we kissed last night and I fell asleep beside you… And I really appreciate that you helped me out and let me cry on you like a psycho.”

“You’re not a psycho,” he says then his lips tug into a half-smile. “And I didn’t mind letting you cry on me.”

“I doubt that’s true, but it’s beside the point. And I think… I mean, can we…” Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me? Since when did I turn into a sputtering mess around a guy? “We’re friends, right? I mean, kind of.”

He gives me a funny look. “Is that your way of asking me to be your friend?”

“No. I just want to make sure we’re friends… You know, because of the whole kissing thing.”

“What kissing thing?” he tries to tease, but misses the mark as a hint of nervousness creeps into his expression.

“You know, that would’ve been a good comeback had you not just mentioned the kiss like two seconds ago.”

He sighs. “Fair enough. I’ll give you that one.”

I can’t help but smile a little bit, but then realize I’m getting distracted by him again and mentally kick my ass back to reality. “But anyway, I want to make sure we’re friends.”

He stares at me for a beat or two before saying, “Yeah, we are.” He eyes me over, shifting his weight. “Are you acting weird because of the kiss? Because it really feels like… and I… I don’t…” He presses his lips together and shakes his head.

I’m not sure what he’s trying to say and honestly, I’m sure I’m being just as confusing.

“I’m just trying to make sure that we’re friends because sometimes kissing can complicate stuff. I have way too much to deal with right now and I don’t want to add any more.”

“I know,” he says and it’s the truth.

Blaise does know about the complications, which is a first for me—usually I keep stuff to myself.

As my insides start to feel a bit shaky, I decide to change the subject. “Totally off the subject, but did you find out anything about the bags?”

His apologetic expression says it all. “Unfortunately, my dad isn’t going to be any help with that.”

“Dammit,” I mutter. “Although, I’m not surprised.”

“I’m sorry. I wish he wasn’t such an asshole.” He starts to reach toward my face, but then pulls back and stuffs his hand into his pocket. “I’ve still got a couple of other ideas on how to find the bags. Do you want to have lunch with me and we’ll talk about it?” When I waver, he adds, “Friends can have lunch together, Hadley. I’m not asking you out on a date or anything like that.”

Relief washes over me. “Okay, yeah, let's meet up for lunch.”

He visibly relaxes, making me realize he was a bit stiff before. “Meet me at my car at lunch then?”

“Can we eat here?” Not that I prefer cafeteria food, but I’d like to check on my sisters at lunchtime.

“Have you had the cafeteria food yet?” he asks with his brow cocked.

I shake my head. “No.”

“Well, you should probably leave that answer how it is.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Every day is like meatloaf surprise. And by that, I mean, no one really knows what they’re eating so we just call it meatloaf surprise.”

I scrunch my nose. “Ew.”

“Yeah, definitely ew,” he agrees. “Although, you did refer to me playing football as ew too, and I’m thinking I might be a bit offended by the comparison.”

“I think it’s a pretty accurate comparison.” I grin when he aims a playful scowl at me. “But I guess if I have to pick between the two, I chose going to lunch with the ewy football player over eating the ewy cafeteria food.”

He rolls his tongue in his mouth to conceal his smile. “Sounds good. And I’ll try my best not to get my ewy football cooties all over you.”

I pat his arm. “Thanks, dude. I really appreciate that.”

He shakes his head as he backs away. “Hadley Harlyton, you are by far the most amusing girl I’ve ever met.”

Smiling, I wave to him and then turn toward my next class, but frown when I spot Austin.

“Hadley, Hadley, Hadley, what’s a pretty girl like you doing walking around with a frown on your face?” he says as I pass by him.

He’s leaning against his locker with a book tucked underneath his arm, and a cocky smile is plastered across his face.

“I was smiling until I saw you,” I say as I push through a crowd of people blocking my way.

He strolls after me, his shiny ass shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor. “You know, I’d be offended if I didn’t find it so hot when you smarted off to me.”

I roll my eyes so damn hard they nearly get stuck in my head. “I’m seriously not in the mood for your preppy, hairy chested presence right now.”

“My chest isn’t hairy,” he argues. “I thought we already established that yesterday.”

“No, you try to convince me it wasn’t. But I have eyes and your chest is like one step away from looking like a fur coat.” I throw him a snarky grin. “Makes me wonder how hairy your back is.”

“Why don’t we skip class and go back to my place so I can show you?” He grins, leaning closer to me. “Because I assure you it’s not hairy. Just like my chest isn’t. I just think you’ve never been around a real man before.”

“You said that yesterday too,” I remind him, inching away as his arm brushes mine. “You need to start coming up with better comebacks.”

“I’m trying.” He sweeps strands of his hair out of his eyes. “But you’re really hard to go up against. Give me some time, though, and I’ll be able to hold my own.”

I elevate my brow. “Is that your way of trying to compliment me?”

A smile curls at his lips. “That all depends?”

“On what?”

“On if you see it as a compliment.”

I want to say no, but truthfully, I kind of like the idea of being hard to go up against.

Badass Hadley. I’ve worked really hard to be her.

I lift a shoulder. “Not really.”

“Liar,” he says, his gaze scanning my face. “What’s up with you today? You seem stressed out.”

I give him an insinuating look. “Like you don’t know why I would be?”

“I really don’t. My dad let you off the hook, so I figure everything’s all good in Hadley Land.”

“He didn’t let me off the hook.” I come to a stop in front of the classroom of my next class. “I still have to find those bags that my dad took, and since I have no clue where the hell my dad is and where the hell he’s hid the bags, I’m pretty sure I’m screwed.” I give him a half-ass wave then step toward the classroom.

But his fingers wrap around my arm, stopping me.

“Careful,” I warn. “I don’t like being grabbed.”

He releases his hold on me and holds up his hands in front of him. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to tell you something.” He slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Something that might be able to help you with the bag situation.”

Considering how Austin was the one to make me go see his father, I’m not sure I trust him. And he doesn’t seem that trustworthy. However, I’m also pretty damn desperate at this point so I decide to hear him out.

I cross my arms. “All right, I’m listening.”

His lips quirk. “I think I might know a guy who can help you find the bags your dad stole.”

I assess him, trying to decipher if he’s full of crap. “Who’s this guy? And how would he know where the bags are?”

“He’s someone who works in surveillance for my dad, and he could know where your dad put the bags if he was doing surveillance on him at the time he hid them.”

“If he knows where the bags are, wouldn’t he have told your dad already?”

“Not necessarily.” His gaze dissects me in a way that makes my guard go up. “I’m going to let you in on a little secret about how things work in my dad’s world. And also in Blaise’s dad’s world.”

“Why would I care about anything that has to do with Blaise’s dad?” I feign dumb.

His gaze drops to the bandage on my wrist before sliding back to me. “Hmmm… I’m not sure, but I just thought I’d throw it out there. You know, in case you ever find yourself in some sort of predicament with Blaise’s father.”

Shit. Does he know about the deal I made with Blaise’s dad? I guess he probably does since Axel seemed to know.

Awesome. Blaise’s father stressed that no one, even his sons, were supposed to be aware that I work for him now. Hopefully, he doesn’t blame this on me because if he does…

My stomach twists in knots. He’ll probably come after my sisters.

Crap. I really need to let my sisters know what’s going on. Not all of it, but enough that they’ll be on guard.

“Are you going to tell me this little secret or what?” I change the subject, glancing at the time on my phone. “Because the bell’s about to ring.”

He drags out the silence for a bit longer before leaning in and lowering his voice. “The kind of people that work for guys like my dad and Blaise’s father will stab anyone in the back if it has enough of a benefit for themselves. They’ll even stab their bosses in the back for the right price. And sometimes, when they have some valuable information, they like to hold onto it until they can get something out of it.”

“So you’re saying this surveillance guy might know where my father hid these bags, but he’s not telling anyone because he wants to see if he can get something out of it first?” I ask, making sure I’m understanding him correctly.

Austin shrugs, the mischievous sparkle in his eyes making me really wary. “There’s only one way to find out.” He tugs on a strand of my hair then steps back, backing away from me and down the now fairly empty hallway. “I’ll ask him for you and let you know.”

“What’s in it for you?” I call out as the bell rings.

Dammit. Late again.

He stuffs his hands into his pockets, his lips twitching. “Just a favor from you.”

I shake my head. “I already owe too many people favors at the moment.”

“Just think about it while I talk to this guy,” he says. “You might change your mind, depending on what I find out.”

Why do I get the feeling he’s toying with me?

I could ask him, but I doubt he’ll tell me, so instead, I turn away from him and enter the classroom late, something almost everyone notices. Which would be fine, except the teacher notices too and gives me after-school detention.

Great. What a lovely day this is turning out to be.

Then again, all of my days in Honeyton haven’t been that great.

Hopefully, though, one day, I can live a stress-free life with my sisters. But deep down, I worry that might be wishful thinking. After all, Blaise’s dad owns my ass for the next five years and who knows what working for him will do to me.

Will it corrupt me? Turn me into a bad person like my father?

No, I’ll never be him, I vow to myself. I never could be him.

But the truth is I’m not really sure who I am anymore. The girl who makes deals with mobsters? The girl who’s branded for the mistakes made by her dad? The girl who has so much on her plate right now she feels like she’s going to crack apart at any moment?

I’m not sure.

I’m not sure of anything anymore.