Sunlight beat down on me. It was a crisp ninety-six degrees today. I was guessing that was why Alec had set up a lake adventure. I enjoyed going to the lake regardless of the temperature, so I’d agreed to come along with him and his friends. It was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially one this close to a full moon. With only four nights left, I needed a distraction. Looming full moons always left me a little on edge.

Gran said becoming Moon Kissed wouldn’t hurt, but no matter what she said, I wouldn’t believe her. I had to experience it myself. She called me stubborn, but I said it was being smart. I didn’t think a person should ever base anything in life on the way someone else perceived it.

“My nose is already starting to feel tight,” Becca said, drawing my attention to her. She wrinkled her nose and reached for the bottle of sunblock beside her. We were sitting in the grassy area at the edge of the lake, soaking up some sun. “Am I getting red yet?”

“A little pink, but not red.”

“You’re so lucky. I wish I had skin that browned instead of burned. I think at this point, I’ve given up on ever having a good tan.” She opened the bottle of sunblock and squirted some into her palm.

“There’s always spray tans,” I offered. “I’ve seen some that look pretty realistic. They don’t look as orange as they used to.”

“Tried it once. Hated it. You can’t shower well while you have one. Plus, you have to leave it on your skin for like forever before you can shower the first time. It stained my sheets and made me look like an Oompa Loompa.”

An image of the short, orange guys shifted through my head, causing me to chuckle. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. I swear.”

“It’s fine,” Becca said as she held the bottle of sunblock out to me. “Think you could get my shoulders and back? Shane didn’t do a good job. He doesn’t understand that when I say I need a thick layer, I really mean it. One time last summer, I trusted him to put some on my back, and he did a really crappy job. I wound up with blisters. It was not fun.”

I winced as I took the bottle from her. “Yikes, I can imagine.”

I squeezed a dollop of sunblock into my hand and allowed my gaze to drift to where the guys were flopping around on inflatables in the water. I slathered the coconut-scented sunblock on Becca’s back and the tops of her shoulders while I zeroed in on Shane. He wore dark sunglasses that blocked his eyes from my view. I couldn’t be sure if he was looking at me now, but knew I’d felt his stare in the last few minutes. He was watching me. Dread pooled in my stomach.

Was he thinking of kidnapping me so his brother could sell me to whoever it was he’d been talking about the other night? Little did he know, I hadn’t been Moon Kissed. Even if I had been, I’d like to see him try doing something like that to me. I’d take him out in a heartbeat. At five foot two, I might be a tiny thing, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take care of myself. People always underestimated me because of my size.

Once I’d sucker punched a guy for slapping me on the ass when I walked past him at a party. He didn’t bother me again that night. In fact, no one did.

“Thanks.” Becca shifted around on her towel and reached into the bag beside her. She pulled out something square and handed it to me. “Here, for your hands.”

“Oh, thanks,” I said as I took the towelette from her.

A loud splash drew my attention to the boys. Benji had flipped the raft Shane was floating on over, sending him toppling into the water. My lips twisted into a smirk that was hard to dim. It was about time someone knocked him off his high horse.

Shane came up for air huffing and puffing. He was missing his sunglasses.

“Oh no. He’s going to be so pissed,” Becca said, shaking her head. “Those sunglasses cost him a hundred and forty dollars.”

“Jesus. Why did he spend so much on sunglasses?” I’d never understood why people did that. They were the number one thing people either lost or broke over the summer.

Then again, maybe that was me.

“To show off.” Becca rolled her eyes. I guess spending so much on sunglasses wasn’t her thing either.

“Where did he even get that kind of money to blow?” If I had a hundred and forty dollars lying around, sunglasses would be the last thing I’d buy. I’d spend it all on my car. My two front tires were so bald I was waiting for them to blowout while I drove down the street. “Does he even have a job?”

“Not really. He does stuff for his brothers.”

Bingo. This was the perfect opportunity to get more information out of Becca about Shane and his brothers. I couldn’t pass it up.

“What kind of stuff? A hundred and forty dollars is a lot of money,” I pressed.

Please bite. Please bite.

“I’m not sure. He doesn’t talk about it a lot. I think it has something to do with hunting, though. Honestly,” she said, her voice dipping to a whisper. “I think he’s part of an underground hunting scheme. I’m pretty sure they make money selling meat and skins to people, as gross as it sounds.”

My stomach churned. If she only knew how gross it actually did sound to me, considering what they’d been hunting lately.

“What the hell, man?” Shane shouted as he hoisted himself back onto his float.

I wanted to keep the conversation Becca and I were having rolling. It was important I got as much information out of her as I could while we were on the subject. “Is there really that much money to be made in…poaching?” It was a term I’d heard a time or two on one of the TV shows my dad watched.

Poaching. Was that what Shane and his brothers were doing with the members of the pack? It sounded like it.

“I guess. I know it’s how Shane makes all his money. I don’t know about his older brothers, though. His oldest brother, Peter, runs the vet clinic at the edge of town, but I’m not sure what Drew does to be honest.” Becca pulled the cooler beside her closer. She opened the top and pulled two cans of soda out. “Here. Oh, are you hungry yet? I made BLT wraps this time,” she said as she handed me a soda.

So, Peter was a vet? Or at least, he worked for one. What could he possibly want with someone from the pack? As for Drew, well I already knew how he made his money.

“Uh, yeah. I’ll have one,” I said. I opened my mouth to ask another question, but the sight of food being passed out had garnered the guys’ attention.

They splashed to shore as the information Becca had given me looped through my mind on repeat. It stopped only when one question formed: If Peter was a vet, then why did he allow his younger brothers to shoot Glenn? Wouldn’t it have been easier and less messy to use a tranquilizer instead? As a vet, or even just working in the office, he should have access to those.

“What do you have for us this time?” Alec asked Becca as he squeezed out his swimming trunks while walking toward us. Sunlight glistened off his tanned chest as water droplets trickled to the ground around him.

“BLT wraps.” Becca beamed as she held up the one she was eating. “There’s soda and chips, too.”

“Shane you’re one lucky man,” Benji said as he smacked him on the back in passing. “I wish I could find a girl who cooked for me all the time.”

“Why? So you could sit around on your fat ass and eat all day?” Shane asked.

Why did anyone hang around this guy? He was a complete jerk.

“Whatever. I ain’t fat; I’m healthy,” Benji said as he slapped his stomach.

“Says your mama.” Shane laughed.

“Do you need anything?” Alec asked, nudging my leg.

“Um, sure. I’ll take a bag of chips.”

Alec grabbed two bags of chips, a wrap, and a soda. He situated himself on the corner of my towel, and I folded my legs beneath me to give him more room.

“I’m glad you came,” Alec said with a wide smile as he opened my chips for me before handing them over. The sweet gesture didn’t go unnoticed by me.

“Me too.” I was. It felt like forever since I’d hung out with him. I’d missed him.

Our fingers brushed when I took my chips from him, causing tiny sparks of want to shimmer through me. My gaze trailed over him, taking in his rock-hard abs and toned arms.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked, making my eyes snap to his.

“I’m supposed to babysit again. Felicia, the lady I babysat the twins for a couple days ago, is working another double. Sundays are good days for tips at the diner, apparently.”

“Of course, everybody is starved by the time they get out of church,” Benji said around a mouthful of food. “The last thing I want to do is go home and make myself somethin’ to eat. You know food always tastes better when someone else cooks for you.”

“You’re welcome,” Becca said, surprising me. I’d never heard her say something in such a teasing tone before.

“Thank you, Becca. These wraps are the shit.” Benji grinned.

“Like I said, you’re welcome,” Becca said at the same time Alec asked me when I had to babysit till.

“I’m not sure. Most of the time her mom comes halfway through and picks the twins up when Felicia works a double.” I popped one of the salty potato chips in my mouth. “It could be between four and five or a little later before I get off.”

“Oh. I was thinking of heading to the track tomorrow afternoon once I get out of church.”

“I’m down for that,” Benji said.

Shane nodded. “Me too.”

“If you get off at like four, you should come out to the track for a minute,” Alec insisted.

“Okay, sure.” Racing around the track a few times sounded fun.

“Oh, man. It’s almost six already,” Benji said as he glanced at his phone. “I need to scoot. I promised my dad I’d help him with some yard work.”

“Yard work at six o’clock at night?” Shane asked. His skeptical tone was amusing, considering he was someone I’d found skeptical from the beginning.

“Not exactly. Dinner first. Then yard work.” Benji downed the remainder of his soda.

“You just ate,” Alec said.

“And?” Benji grinned. “I’ve never turned down one of my mom’s meals. I don’t plan on it either.”

I waited for Shane to spout another fat joke, but he didn’t.

Instead everyone tossed their trash in the cooler before gathering the floats they’d brought. I heard Shane say something to Benji about him owing him a pair of sunglasses, but I couldn’t hear Benji’s reply. I hoped it was something smart-ass. Shane deserved it.

“I should get going too,” I said, slipping on my sandals. “I promised my grandma I’d help her in the garden. My sister was supposed to, but she’s been preoccupied with a neighborhood boy lately.” I rolled my eyes, still unable to get over Gracie and Cooper being an item.

“How old is your sister again?” Becca asked.

“Thirteen.”

“Aw, how sweet.”

“I guess.” I sighed. Why didn’t people understand this was my baby sister? The last thing I wanted her to do was date. Dating boys only lead to heartache. It would cause her pain, which was something I didn’t want her to experience any more than she already had in her life.

“Wait. Is the guy older or something?” Becca asked. “You don’t seem too happy about her dating him.”

“No. He’s thirteen, too.”

“What’s the problem, then? You don’t like him?”

“It’s not that I don’t like him. I guess I just don’t like the idea of her dating.” I waited for her to tell me I was being too overprotective, but she didn’t.

“Got ya,” Becca surprised me by saying. “I felt the same way about my little sister. She’s fifteen, though. Lots of drama and heartache I wish she didn’t have to deal with. Doesn’t work that way, though. We all have to experience things for ourselves, you know?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

The more I hung around Becca, the more I liked her. I’d never had a girlfriend before. I’d always pretty much been friendless. I was content hanging out with myself. Plus, I had Gran and Gracie. There was never any need to make friends beyond my family. Besides, I’d known from an early age things in the trailer park were different from beyond it. Making friends outside the park seemed like a waste of time because of it. Being Moon Kissed was sort of a friend deterrent.

Now that I wasn’t sure it would ever happen, I guess I was open to new things. Dating Alec had been one of them. Becoming fast friends with Becca seemed like another.

“If you need any help tomorrow babysitting, let me know.” Becca tossed a few pieces of trash the guys had missed into the cooler and closed the lid.

“Thanks,” I said. “What’s your number?”

She laughed as she reached for the edge of her towel. “Might be hard to get a hold of me if you don’t have my number. Sorry, sometimes I get scatterbrained.”

“It’s fine.” I pulled out my cell to input her number in my contacts. She rattled it off, and I called her so she’d have my number, too. “There. Now you can call me whenever.”

“Cool.”

I set my cell down and shook my towel out to get any dirt or bugs I might have been sitting on off before folding it up. The guys came back carrying all the floats. Benji flicked his in the air, spraying Becca and me with cold droplets of water. I laughed as I wiped myself dry.

“Want me to give you a ride to your place?” Alec asked after he tossed a few floats in the back of his truck.

“Nah, I’ll just walk.”

“You sure? I don’t mind.”

“It’s not far. I’m good to walk.” I’d walked here to begin with anyway. There was no point in having him drive me.

“You should let him give you a ride,” Shane insisted. He was closer to me than I’d known. I hadn’t heard him walk up. “Never know what might be waiting for you in those woods.”

I swore something evil glistened in his eyes.

“Shut it,” Becca said as she playfully slapped him on the back. “There’s nothing in those woods during the day besides squirrels, rabbits, and possibly a deer or two.”

“Never know,” Shane muttered.

My stomach flip-flopped. Was there something in the woods? One of his brothers waiting for me maybe?

Even as anxiety prickled across my skin, I straightened my back and looked Shane square in the eye. There was no way I’d let him think he had frightened me. “Nothing has ever gotten me before.”

“Always a first time for everything.” He smirked.

I hated him. Once I found out where he was keeping Glenn and what the hell was going on with the abductions and money being paid situation, I was going to do bad things to him.

“I don’t mind giving you a ride,” Alec insisted, obviously feeling a need to insert himself into whatever was going on between Shane and me.

“I’m fine. I’ll call you later.” I stood on the tips of my toes and pecked Alec on the lips. When I broke the kiss and started to walk away, he grabbed my waist.

Alec spun me around until I faced him again and crushed his lips against mine. The slight brush of his tongue against my closed lips had my knees growing weak. His grip on me tightened as he pulled me closer. I melted against him. Something possessive about the kiss caught me off guard. Alec had always been sweet. I’d never seen this side of him before. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it. It spoke to a piece of me Alec hadn’t reached before. A piece that reminded me of Eli.

Guilt hit me, stinging my chest. How was it possible to be kissing Alec and thinking of Eli?

“Get a room,” Benji grumbled as he smacked us on the head with one of the noodle floats.

We pulled apart. Alec chuckled while I tried to force away the sudden onslaught of guilt I felt building, but I found it difficult. Something inside of me was changing. I knew it had everything to do with the approaching full moon.

“Call me later,” Alec said. “Or text, whatever.”

“Okay.”

“Have a good night.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine once more.

It made me wish we were alone. Never had I wanted to make out with him more than right now. The taste of him on my tongue, the feel of him pressed against me, had my insides tingling.

“You too.” I licked my lips, tasting the remnants of him across them as I spun around to face the others. I waved pointedly to Becca and Benji, choosing to flat-out ignore Shane. He had to expect it. Everyone else did. I think it was becoming clear the two of us didn’t get along. “See you guys later. Thanks for letting me hang out today. Oh, and call me sometime, Becca. Maybe we can do something together.”

That got Shane’s attention. I could feel his dark gaze on me. I guess he hadn’t thought we’d gotten that close over the couple of times we’d hung out.

“I will, and remember what I said,” Becca insisted. “Give me a call tomorrow if you need any help with the twins. I love babies.”

“I will. Thanks.” I started toward the edge of the woods. Movement captured my attention and I felt my adrenaline spike. All I could think about was Shane’s brothers. His fake concern about me walking home might have been a tip. One I’d foolishly ignored.

When Tate and Cooper stepped from the woods with fishing poles and tackle boxes in hand, I relaxed. How long had they been standing there? Had they been watching me the entire time? Did they see me kissing Alec?

“Good luck fishing,” Shane shouted to the Vargas boys over the rumble of his truck. “Pretty sure we scared all the fish away for you.” He revved his engine and sped away, kicking up bits of dirt and grass in the process.

Tate flipped him off. The sight of his middle finger high in the air made me laugh. It was totally something Eli would have done.

I slinked through the woods. Why was Eli all I could think about? We were just friends. Friends who dealt with pack business together. We also painted living room walls and ate macaroni. We drank moonshine, got each other, and had nearly kissed.

No.

Friends.

That was all we were, at least that was what I kept telling myself.