Violet's POV:

"He was a dangerous sin, wrapped in angelic eyes; it made my heart pound with distrust and my mind cloud with bewilderment."- A.L. Nash

From the moment I saw him in that grocery store, I could not stop thinking about him or those blue eyes. I hadn't been that taken with anyone since grade school but really not even then. It wasn't me, to be so attracted to someone that fast. I was attracted to personalities, not looks. Even attraction at all took some time. In the looks department he was so not my type. The dirty blonde hair, blue eye, happy, jock-looking thing was far from my type. And yet...There was something about him. Eyes I could get lost in. Something in those eye seemed familiar. It was like I'd seen them before but I couldn't place where.

It wasn't just that. It was also the way he seemed to have a kindness to him that made me feel drawn in. It was a ridiculously strong emotion to have from a few seconds of eye contact, which was why I bolted out of the coffee shop earlier today. I didn't think I'd see him again.

But there he was and he was just as beautiful as my mind kept replaying in my head. So way far out of my league it was ridiculous. Except he was staring at me again, that kind smile forming on his face.

"I remember you from the coffee shop," Lola said, nudging me and nodding to him.

It broke me of the spell and I tore my gaze away, shaking my head. What was wrong with me? Why was he here? My eyes widened at Lola's playful tone and I glanced over at her. "You invited him didn't you?" I whispered.

She shrugged and focused her attention on him and his friends. "I'm Lola. This is Violet," Lola introduced, gesturing back to me.

Our eyes met again and my heart started racing. He said hi to Lola then offered his hand to me but then quickly pulled it back, smiling sheepishly. Oh fucking hell, that was a cute smile.

"Kaden," he introduced.

Kaden. That was a nice name. He didn't stop looking at me and I couldn't look away from him.

"Ahem," Lola said, clearing her throat.

I glanced over and three people were looking at Kaden and I with amused expressions. Lola, and Kaden's two friends. Fuck, I hated people staring at me.

"Sorry, what?" I asked, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"This is Xander, Tess's other friend," Lola said, giving me a knowing smile.

I glanced over at him and he was more what my usual type was. Dark clothes, dark hair, not overly cheerful. Except for whatever reason, he was not the one I wanted to be looking at right now.

"Uh, hi. Nice to meet you," I said, sticking my hands in my back pockets.

"You too," Xander nodded.

"So... Video games?" Kaden asked, his eyes coming to me.

Dear God. Every time he looked at me, I felt way more emotions than I should. I didn't even know him. Fuck, I was absolutely not sitting down here with him. There was no way.

"Knock yourselves out," I said, inclining my head to the stairs. "I have to make an appearance at another party on campus."

"How is it possible that someone so antisocial has so many appearances to make?" Lola sighed. "What is it now?"

"Physics is having a thing," I shrugged. "It's no big deal, I just have to stop in."

"Well it's on campus, let's just go then come back," Lola said, linking her arm with mine.

"Honestly, this party isn't exactly my speed," Tess said. "Mind if we join?"

I almost said no, no fucking way, Kaden was making me nervous, but of course Lola spoke first. "Of course not! Come with us," she said, flashing them all a smile and tugging me forward. "They'll have higher quality shit over there. I mean, nothing compared to this," she said, patting her purse where she stowed away the whiskey I won. "But still, better."

"Are you completely out of your mind?" I hissed, keeping my voice low as we walked ahead so they wouldn't hear us.

"What?" Lola asked innocently.

"Newsflash, we don't know them," I whispered. "At all. They could be murderers, rapists, psychopaths."

"Oh my God," Lola muttered. "Tone down the paranoia for one evening. You just let Chase throw fucking knives at you and you're worried about them?"

"Chase wasn't going to hurt me," I said, rolling my eyes.

"He did hurt you," she said, sending me a glare.

"It was barely a scratch, Lo, for fuck's sake," I sighed, cautioning a glance back, swallowing when my eyes met Kaden. It didn't last, my gaze snapped forward and I decided looking back at him was extremely unwise.

"Yeah, but it could've been much worse because in case you've forgotten," she said, pausing and smiling at someone as we passed by, then lowering her voice again, "Chase is a fucking murderer."

"A murderer that if he wanted me dead, I'd be dead," I pointed out.

"Jesus, you're the reason for my ulcers," she sighed.

"I'm pretty sure the alcohol is the reason for your ulcers," I countered. "Don't push Kaden at me. I'm not interested."

"Liar," she said, elbowing my side then sticking her tongue out at me. "You're intimidated so you're running. That's not the same thing as not being interested."

"I'm not intimidated," I frowned.

"Then why can't you look at him for longer than a few seconds without blushing?"

"Shut up," I groaned, trudging up the stairs and heading outside, focusing on not looking back at Kaden.

Lola of course engaged them and I was forced to walk silently and awkwardly next to her while she did. My phone buzzed in my back pocket and I pulled it out, grimacing when I saw several texts from the same person. Several texts because she apparently didn't believe in only texting once on the rare occasions she did text. The fact she did bother to text me told me Chase wasn't exaggerating when he said she wasn't happy.

Jackie: Where you been, little flower?

Jackie: You have a lot of lost time to make up for

Jackie: Business lost momentum when you disappeared

Jackie: Hope you weren't planning on getting much sleep the next few weeks

Jackie: Do not let me down again.

"Violet!" Lola hissed, elbowing me in the side.

"What?" I asked, sending her a dirty look and rubbing the spot where she elbowed me. She always knew where to hit to make it hurt the most.

"There's a conversation happening not on your phone," she said, trying to snatch my phone. "Be present, babe."

"Sorry," I muttered, sliding my phone in my pocket and wrapping my arms around myself.

"Who is it anyway?" Lola asked. I shrugged but didn't answer. She'd never met Jackie and I intended to keep it that way.

Lola repeatedly try to pull me into the conversation but, despite her several disapproving stares, I dodged every topic. I knew nothing about them and the way I felt drawn to Kaden was disarming and had alarms going off in my head.

The physics building wasn't far and when we stepped inside, there were way more people than I expected. I made a face as everyone was already grouped in their usual cliques and wished beyond anything that Professor Tarken hadn't talked me into this bullshit.

"What's wrong?" Lola asked, nudging my shoulder with hers.

"I hate everyone here," I sighed, pausing and crossing my arms as I glanced around.

"What else is new?" Lola sighed, pulling the whiskey out of her purse. "I'm going to get cups to pour this whiskey in. "

"I'll come with you," Tess said, following after Lola.

"I gotta call my wife," Xander said, pulling out his phone. "Check on the baby."

Just like that, in a span of maybe five seconds, I was standing alone with Kaden. I glared after Lola before cautioning a side-glance over at Kaden who stood nearby, his eyes darting to me several times. I focused on staring ahead. It felt so strange to be around him and I wasn't sure why. It was almost like I knew him but I definitely didn't. It put me on edge, but another part of me felt comfort, a draw to him that made me want to smack myself and ask what the hell I was thinking. There was absolutely no reason I should trust or feel anything towards him. I didn't like feeling as confused as I did so I walked away but of course he walked alongside me.

"I told you not to stalk me," I reminded him.

"As I told your friend earlier, it's not stalking if I've been given permission," he said.

I sighed and paused, turning towards him. "What are you even doing here? Do you know anyone at all?" I asked, gesturing around.

"Well, I'm hoping to get to know someone," he said, with a grin, stuffing his hands in his pockets and staring right in my eyes. My heart thudded at the eye contact but it wasn't just that. I felt... Connected to him. More connected than I'd ever felt with anyone. It was fucking weird.

"Lucky for you, there's a whole room full of people to get to know," I said, turning and walking away.

"Really only interested in getting to know you," he said. "Who knows what kind of chips these people like? They could be the kind of people that only eat those healthy chips made out of sweet potatoes and shit. At least I know you have good taste."

"Chips? Really?" I sighed, looking over at him. "You're fixating on one random, insignificant moment."

"It's not insignificant if you believe in fate," he shrugged.

"Ugh, again with that," I said, stepping around a group of people talking.

"You don't believe in fate at all?" He asked. "Not even a little?"

"I believe if I can see it, touch it, and collect real, physical evidence for it, then it's real. If I can't, then it's not."

"Well, you can't see or touch the wind," he shrugged.

"You can measure the wind," I countered, giving him a side-glance. "You can see the effects it has. It has a physical presence."

"You can see the effects fate has if you're open to it."

"Is it measurable? Provable by science?" I asked, pausing and turning towards him.

"Well, I don't know, I'm not a scientist, but I'd bet someone somewhere would give it a try."

"It's not scientific, it's not real," I said, narrowing my eyes. "I bet you believed in Santa until you were in high school, huh?"

"No," he laughed. "Xander's parents didn't do that kind of thing."

That caught my attention. Xander's parents, not his parents. Underneath the smile that didn't seem to go away, I felt sadness. There was something there and I couldn't help but be curious, wondering if he lost his parents like I lost my mom. I shook my head to snap myself out of that train of thought. Getting to know him was not a good idea.

"Lola mentioned you like video games?" He asked.

"Uh... Yeah," I said, turning and continuing to weave through the people, standing on my toes to try to see Professor Tarken. She wasn't that tall, but her wild grey hair she always had in a messy bun on her hair was.

"You playing a game currently?" Kaden asked as I scanned the crowd.

Sighing, I let my eyes rest on him for just a moment with full intent to tell him to leave me alone, but I couldn't. A moment turned to be longer for reasons I couldn't explain, I just found it difficult to not look at him. How could anyone be that beautiful without the help of some editing software on a computer?

"Violet!"

I turned my head to the source of my name, seeing Professor Tarken waving at me frantically. There was no doubt she was tipsy and I internally groaned because that meant she'd be more talkative.

"Friend of yours?" Kaden asked.

"Something like that," I muttered, frowning at the number of people I would have to try to walk through to get to her. "I gotta..." I said, vaguely gesturing towards Professor Tarken before rushing away from him, carefully avoiding touching anyone on my way over to the professor.

"Hi Violet," Professor Tarken said with a wide smile, her long hippie-like red dress swaying along with her since she couldn't seem to stand still. All right, maybe she was more than tipsy.

"Professor," I nodded, giving her my best smile, my heart pounding as my eyes drifted to the group of older men around her. Fuck, why did I let her talk me into this?

"Gentleman, this is Violet Desmond," she said, setting her hand on my shoulder and ushering me forward. The second her hand landed on me, I couldn't help the small flinch before moving away from her hand. I hated being touched and she wasn't an exception. "This is the woman I've been telling you about."

"Violet, we've heard a lot about you. It's nice to finally meet you," one of the men said, offering his hand. "Charles Windrow, I started teaching at MIT right after you graduated. Loved the work you did there."

Staring at his hand, I recognized I was supposed to shake it but fuck. I hesitantly brought my hand to his and made it as short as I could, immediately pulling my hand back and wondering why the hell all of them were drunk already. I wasn't that late to the party.

The rest of them introduced themselves and I had to shake every single person's hand. By the end of it, I was already overwhelmed and we hadn't even had a fucking conversation yet. Charles was the drunkest, the one standing next to Professor Tarken clearly had a thing for her, and the other one I didn't even look at because I could tell he was a little too interested in me.

"Maggie tells me you're interested in our solar energy project," Charles said. "She said you had some ideas?"

Taking in a deep breath, I plastered on a smile and tried to be enthusiastic as I answered. It wasn't that I wasn't interested in the project, I just hated being in a room with that many people, standing that close to them, having my back to the door. I couldn't help but glance back several times to check the door, wishing I was on the other side of this circle so I could have my back to the wall. If I had it my way, we would email, not actually meet. But Professor Tarken insisted I needed to have face to face communication to strengthen these business relationships. It didn't take long to decide it wasn't worth it, I didn't need the money anyway. I just wanted the world to be less of a shitty place.

The energy drained from me the longer the conversation went on, and I subtly and carefully worked on a text to Lola to tell her to come save me anytime they looked away. It took a while since I couldn't do it when they were looking, but I finally got to send it and then waited, hoping she was paying attention to her phone.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I borrow Violet? She owes me a drink."

I looked over, seeing Kaden standing there instead of Lola. Knowing her, she sent him to try to push us together. Fuck you, Lola.

"Oh, of course not," Professor Tarken said, raising her eyebrows and inclining her head to Kaden, looking at me questioningly.

I sighed and gestured to Kaden. "Professor Tarken, this is Kaden. Kaden, Professor Maggie Tarken."

"Nice to meet you," Kaden said, offering his hand. I was pretty sure Professor Tarken was about to faint. Despite wanting to keep my distance from him, I couldn't blame her. He was breathtaking. Punk ass.

Kaden successfully got us out of there after charming the fuck out of my professor, and I glared at Lola from across the room as we headed that way.

"So... You have a wide variety of friends," he said, glancing back at the group we just left.

"Friends is a strong word," I said, wrinkling my nose. "I have people I know that I have to interact with."

"Why'd you have to interact with someone that would drink and throw knives at you?" He asked.

I paused and looked over at him, frowning. "Nosy much?"

"I mean... I was worried you were going to die, does that not warrant a little curiosity?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's none of your business," I said flatly, continuing towards Lola.

"I'm sorry."

I paused again. Unless I was insane, he apologized. I looked over at him suspiciously. "You're sorry?"

"Well yeah," he said, his brows furrowing together. "I wasn't trying to pry, I was just worried. But clearly it made you feel pushed, so I'm sorry."

I wanted to say something, I should've said something, but I couldn't think of anything. He was apologizing while I was arguably being kind of bitchy?

"You shouldn't do that, you know," I said, tearing my eyes away from him with way more effort than it should've taken and heading to Lola again.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Apologize when other people are being short with you," I said, wrapping my arms around myself, noticing another group of people walk in. It was starting to feel too stuffy, too full of people and their issues. Every new person that came in added to the anxiety and the weight that was draining my energy. "People will think you're a pushover and take advantage."

"I don't think being nice and self-aware equates to being a pushover," he said.

I scoffed and shook my head. "Yeah, okay."

"You think someone being nice is a pushover?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In this world?" I asked, looking over at him. "Yes. There's no room for anyone to be nice, there will always be someone that takes advantage of it. In a perfect world, everyone would be nice, but the world isn't perfect. It's a dumpster that was set on fire and loaded with lighter fluid."

"Man, you've had some really bad experiences with people, haven't you?" He asked.

Really bad experiences. That was a nice way to put it.

"I just don't look at the world through rose-colored glasses," I said. "I see it for what it is, and it is a dumpster fire."

"Or you've only seen the bad parts and none of the good ones," he countered.

I sighed but said nothing. I wondered what it would take to get him to stop being so optimistic. It was almost annoying.

"It could be worse," he continued. "There could be no video games."

"A life not worth living," I said, stepping back quickly to avoid someone who wasn't watching where they were going.

"So you do like video games," he said.

I nodded, not leaving room for the conversation to go anywhere. Then I started to feel bad because he was being nice, I just was in a shitty mood.

"You do too?" I tried, looking over at him.

"Yeah," he grinned. God, what a smile. "I'm replaying Horizon Zero Dawn for... I don't know, maybe the millionth time."

"What? Really?" I asked, looking over at him. His smile grew and he nodded. "That's one of my favorite games. The gameplay is so good and the graphics and the storyline and..." I paused, realizing I was talking way too much. I cleared my throat and wrapped my arms around myself again. "It's a good game."

Thankfully, we approached Lola and his friends where they were seated at a round couch before he could say more. There was something about him that made talking easy and it was freaking me out. What was worse, Lola seemed to really be hitting it off with Tess. Fuck. While I was antisocial, Lola was not. She was a social butterfly and I was certain she'd be inviting them to hang out with us again.

"Aw, look who's back from the rescue mission," Lola said with a sweet smile. I flipped her off when they weren't looking. She blew me a kiss then offered me a cup. "Mixer?"

"No, just whiskey," I said, snatching the cup and the bottle, pouring a decent amount in before plopping down and drinking the whole thing in one go.

"How'd it go?" Lola asked.

"Fine," I said, leaning forward and grabbing the whiskey, pouring more into the glass and sipping on it.

"I was just telling Tess and Xander about trivia tomor- oh fuck," Lola grumbled, narrowing her eyes at something behind me. "Douchebag alert."

I glanced back, spotting Tony Corvin. I sighed, rolling my eyes and downing the rest of the liquid in my cup before refilling it. Tony Corvin was a world-class dick who'd been trying and failing to outshine me for the last four years. He would be a nemesis if I felt threatened by him enough to consider him one.

"Fucking hell," I muttered, taking another big drink from my cup.

"Who's the douchebag?" Tess asked.

"A colleague that's super jealous of Vi's smarts and ideas so he likes to give her shit," Lola explained. "I think he secretly wants to tap that."

"Jesus, Lo, don't make it worse," I said, making a face. "And colleague is a generous word. We rarely work together. Our circles just cross."

"And he's headed this way," Lola informed me.

"Of course he is," I mumbled. Him, Chase, Jackie, apparently it was asshole night.

"I'll tell him to fuck off," Lola offered.

"I also volunteer for that," Kaden added.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I'll handle it," I said, looking up as Tony stepped into our seating area.

"Desmond, I thought you'd be home studying for the big research presentation tomorrow," he said, taking the seat across from me, next to Lola. She made a gun with her fingers and pretended to shoot him. It took a lot of self-control not to laugh.

"Studying is for people who don't already know their material, Corvin," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't help you anyway. We all know who the favorites are. I'm surprised you even bother trying. Our project is right up Callaghan Technologies alley. They have no use for the child's play you bring to the table," he said smugly, sipping on a drink.

Lola was about to blow a fuse and I held up my hand, shaking my head. I sat back in my seat and crossed my legs, meeting his gaze.

"Nothing to say?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"No," I sighed. "Afraid not. Unless you would like some interesting psychological information."

"The project has nothing to do with psychology," he said, frowning.

"No, I meant your psychological process," I explained, leaning forward.

He narrowed his beady eyes suspiciously. "Nice try, Desmond. You can't get in my head."

"I'm not trying to get in your head, Corvin. The whole psychology behind shit talking is that people do it when they feel threatened, to try to make their opponent seem weak, to try to get in their head so the competition isn't so intense. I see no threat," I said, looking him up and down. "So I have no need to shit talk. But I do appreciate the flattery you've given me by showing how much you feel threatened by me. Since you've joined us without an invitation, I can only assume you need to get all that intimidation you feel out of your system before tomorrow so you don't embarrass yourself like you did last time. I do feel sorry for your insecurity, even if it does make sense. So go ahead," I said, lifting my glass to him. "I feel sorry enough for you I'll allow it."

Tony was pissed. Lola laughed and Kaden snorted, Tess and Xander both smiled and stayed silent.

"You're talking big game for someone who hasn't had much time recently to work on the project," he said, the smirk returning.

"I didn't need the time. I finished the project weeks ago," I said, watching him carefully.

He obviously had something else up his sleeve. I could feel it.

"I'm glad to hear it considering a little birdy told me you just got out of the hospital not even a week ago," he baited, sipping his drink.

Lola's eyes widened and she sat up but I held my hand up again to keep her from saying anything.

"Rumors are dangerous, Corvin. You don't really want to get caught up in those, do you?" I said, giving him a chance to back down and keeping down the panic that he knew about the hospital.

"Rumors are quite dangerous," he agreed. "The wrong one can ruin your entire career."

His smug smile told me he thought he had me. I smiled lightly and his smirk faltered.

"That's true. I mean, the wrong one can even ruin your marriage and your career in one fell swoop," I said, sipping my whiskey. "Quite possibly even make you lose the respect of peers, too."

His eyes bugged just a little and he stayed silent.

"What are you playing at?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm playing your game. The one you started," I said, tilting my head to the side. "Why? Is there a reason you should be worried?"

He said nothing at first but he was getting pissed off, his grip on his glass growing tighter.

"I have nothing to be worried about," he said, trying to play off confidence.

"Really? Good for you, not letting the rumors affect your confidence. I mean, I'd be pretty concerned if word I was fucking my boss's wife while my own wife was recovering from a c-section got around. It's not a good look. But," I shrugged, taking a sip. "That's just me."

Now he was pissed. He shifted in his seat, glaring at me.

"Oh wait, that rumor hasn't started yet. God, I hope it doesn't," I said with mock sympathy. "That could be very bad for you. I hope they'll be fair to you if it does. After all, a rumor is just a rumor. Right?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"Right," he said, narrowing his eyes. "Unless there's proof. Documentation, paperwork," he baited again.

"What, like a video? Or emails? Text messages maybe?" I baited. "I mean, a video would be really bad."

He was less pissed and more scared now.

"I'm sure there wouldn't be a video though. I mean, you're much too smart to do something where there might be security cameras," I said, waving my hand dismissively. "No chance you'd do something in a parking structure that's full of cameras and you're too smart to leave a trail as easy as emails and texts. You would've thought of that, I'm sure."

Finally, I got him to stop talking. He just gaped at me.

"Of course we are just speaking in hypotheticals, right? Perhaps we should just let our projects speak for themselves," I suggested.

Pissed off returned and he stood abruptly. He stalked past me and I turned in my seat to address him one last time. "Oh, Corvin? From one engineer to another, you have an error in your calculations. Page seven. Might want to check that out before your presentation tomorrow."

"My calculations are accurate," he snapped, glaring at me.

"They are?" I asked. "All right," I shrugged, sitting back in my seat. "They are." They weren't.

He muttered angrily under his breath, walking away. Lola leaned forward with a smile on her face.

"That was awesome," Tess laughed.

"You're my favorite person. Is he seriously fucking your boss's wife?" She asked, her eyes wide.

"For the last seven months," I nodded. "Piece of shit."

"How'd you find out?" Lola asked.

"I have my ways," I said, sipping my whiskey.

"I wonder how he knew," she said, her smile faltering.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out," I said, tapping my glass.

It was bothering me a lot, actually. I would have to figure out who helped him, there was no way he found that out on his own.

"I have no doubt about that," Lola giggled.

"Is he always an asshole to you?" Kaden asked, looking back at Tony with much more hatred than I expected. Damn, why was he attractive even when he was pissed off? Why was I even attracted to him? I hadn't felt attraction like that ever in my life.

"He's like that to anyone he feels threatened by. It's not a big deal. It's just annoying. He's not difficult to shut up, obviously," I said, finishing off my drink and setting it on the table.

"You handled it well," Kaden said, his expression softening and a smile forming as he looked back at me.

"I'm a woman in math and science. I have years of practice dealing with assholes like him," I shrugged.

I couldn't identify the smile Kaden gave me, all I knew was it made me feel way too much. I was stuck in his blue eyes again. Every time I got stuck, it took a ridiculous amount of effort to tear my eyes away from his.

When I was able to look away from him my eyes caught someone else. I wasn't expecting to see him here. I was hoping he'd stay at the other party but after disappearing for a few weeks, I really should've known better. I kept my expression as emotionless as possible but made eye contact with Chase. He inclined his head to the door and I gave a subtle nod. I brought my attention back to the group as Lola was inviting them to the bar tomorrow night for trivia.

"I'm good with pop culture and Vi's stupid good at math and science so we have that covered," Lola said, gesturing to me.

I forced the smile. Of course she was inviting them. Of course she was. I wasn't surprised and I also knew I wasn't getting out of it. I just wasn't. I knew my best friend, and she was a persistent bitch. It didn't matter, right now I had to focus on not pissing Jackie off anymore than I already had.

"Speaking of which, I should get to bed," I said, downing the rest of my drink and standing. "I have that presentation tomorrow."

"Okay," Lola nodded, sipping the last of her drink. "What do you guys think about trivia?"

"Sounds like fun," Tess smiled.

"You'll be back for trivia, right?" Lola asked me.

"For sure," I nodded, rising from my seat. "Maybe a little late. The presentation is a bit of a drive away."

"We can live with that," Lola shrugged. "So tomorrow at seven, you got the location right?" Lola asked Tess and she nodded.

"We'll be there," Xander said.

"Cool," Lola smiled.

"We'll walk out with you," Kaden said as he stood. "We better get going too."

It was almost like I could feel him looking at me. I had to actively stop myself from looking at him. What the hell was my problem? I had other things to worry about.

We started to the door and I knew Chase would be making his move. We were almost to the exit when Chase purposely bumped into me. "Shit, my bad," he said.

He set his hand on my arm during the apology and pretended to lose balance, leaning in close to me. Even though I was used to this I still hated it. I hated him touching me. I hated the feeling it gave me. It took every ounce of me to not shrink away from him.

"One-thirty. Highland warehouse," he whispered lowly under the loud music. I gave him an awkward smile and moved away from him, accidentally bumping into Kaden.

The brief contact sent electricity through me like I'd never felt before, sending my body into an awareness I hadn't felt since I started trying to numb everything. Another weird thing with Kaden that had me feeling on alert, why were there so many weird things with him?

"Sorry," I said, not daring to look at him.

"No worries," he said. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," I nodded, offering a smile and looking over at him. God, he was beautiful.

There was something off about his smile and that put me even more on edge. He couldn't have noticed that exchange, there was no way. Chase and I'd done that exchange many times before and no one ever noticed. It was too loud for him to have heard anything and yet there was something weird about the way he looked at me. Like he knew.

Maybe I was finally actually going insane.

A/N:

Heyy loves, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

This book is complete on Patreon and we're onto the next, Claimed, as well as "Never" a spin-off for Thaddeus. Link in my bio ❤️

Oof, Violet has some issues being around people, why do you think she's so on edge?

Hey, they had a couple little moments even if she's withdrawn 

Hmm, what do you think she's doing with Chase?

Take care, loves ❤️