On the way to school, I got a text from Cade asking me to meet him before first period. He wasn’t in Sammy’s car, and when Kendall wasn’t either, I didn’t know what to think. I met Cade at the side of the school, but we only had a few minutes before the tardy bell rang.
He pulled me into a doorway as if he didn’t want anyone to see us together.
“Hey,” Cade said sounding a bit out of breath.
“Hey, yourself.”
Cade looked around, confirming my suspicion that he didn’t want to be seen with me.
“Can we meet tonight? I need to see you,” he asked.
“What? Where?”
“Can you sneak out? I can meet you down the street, and we can get off of the estate for a bit.”
“What’s going on here, Cade?”
The bell rang, and we both needed to get to class. He took my hands into his and pleaded, “Just say you’ll meet me. I’ll text you. Just be ready at around eleven. And ignore everything you see today. I’m not with Kendall. I’ll explain everything tonight. I promise.”
And before I could respond, he kissed me. Hard on the lips, and then took off for the gym.
***
After completely avoiding all things furry for the rest of the school day, I counted down the hours until it would be time to make my grand escape. Aiden never went to bed before midnight, so I decided it would be best to take my chances with the tree outside my window.
Right past eleven, I received a cryptic message from Cade telling me where to meet him. I opened the window, said a prayer, and proceeded to make my way down, hoping that the wolf in me would somehow make me a pro at scaling my way down a tree. By the grace of God, I made it down in one piece and followed the dirt road not far from my house, as instructed. And just like he said, Cade was waiting for me next to a motorcycle.
I could hardly contain the butterflies swarming in my stomach as I said, “So, where to?”
Cade handed me his spare helmet and simply replied, “Hop on.”
I ignored my conscience, screaming that this wasn’t a good idea, and instead wrapped my arms around him. Before I could decide otherwise, we were off into the night.