Adam had had a long day. He and Macy usually cut through the parking lot after school and made their way to McDonald’s to split some fries. But Macy wanted to hit the mall with Kim, and Adam had homework to do. So he uncharacteristically decided to go his own way.

  It almost felt weird going home without her banter and that sweet vanilla smell. He had to shake off thinking about her, or he’d find himself at the mall and failing English.

  “Well, there’s the handsome man.”

  It was Sam, behind him. He turned. She stepped out from between two parked cars, smiling like she’d been waiting.

  “Your girlfriend abandon you for her girlfriend?” she asked.

  Adam said nothing and kept walking. He wasn’t the quick-witted type like Macy. Since his growth spurt over the summer, bullies mostly left him alone if he left them alone. It usually worked.

  Today it didn’t.

  “Oh, come on.” She fell into step beside him. “Would you like it better if I pressed my breasts into you occasionally?”

  Of course he would. But he didn’t say it out loud. She was so close he could smell her perfume. Usually she had a cabal of guys and girls trailing her. Today it was just her. He’d never say it to Macy, but Sam was sexy as hell. It wasn’t a crush. He didn’t even like her. But he was fifteen, she was pretty, and she liked tight clothes.

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  “Come on,” she said, voice low and suggestive. She took his hand and pulled it close, letting his arm rest along her body while her hand hovered just shy of his crotch. “Isn’t this how she does it?”

  Adam yanked his hand back. “Would you just get lost,” he managed, pushing past the hormone fog.

  “No.” She pressed even closer. “Come on, you really want to turn down your lucky night? You know Macy is never going to give it up.”

  Something about Sam was magnetic—an energy that drove guys wild. As she pushed him against a nearby tree, he couldn’t bring himself to push back.

  “There’s my little hornball,” she said, looking up at him with those big blue eyes that just sucked him in. She kissed him hard, tongue exploring, sharp teeth nicking his lip as she pulled away.

  “Does Macy put out like that?” she breathed, raspy and quiet.

  Adam tried to hold his ground, but it wasn’t going to work. “Just a quick hookup at my place. It’ll be fun.”

  Why did she want him—a lanky D&D kid, Macy’s best friend, the guy who got teased for rolling dice? All solid questions his brain screamed. But other parts screamed louder. Parts Macy dangled in front of daily. Parts that needed relief like a man in the desert needed water. She might not be the safest well to draw from, but what harm could taking a drink really do? Him and Macy weren’t dating.

  He wasn’t sure how he ended up at her door. But there they were.

  “You ready?” she asked, kissing him playfully one last time.

  “Yeah…” he managed as she slipped the key in.

  “Sarah, no!”

  A man’s voice snapped him out of it. A blur smashed into Sam, sending her rolling into the house, tangled with something—someone. The door slammed shut.

  A firm hand grabbed Adam’s arm. He looked up to see a middle-aged man in a trench coat staring back at him.

  “Smell this,” the man ordered, voice like someone used to being obeyed. He lifted an open bottle to Adam’s nose.

  The stench was so bad it brought tears to Adam’s eyes and burned his sinuses. A fog lifted from his mind.

  The man turned and kicked the door open.

  Adam didn’t need telling twice. I should’ve gone to the fucking mall, he cursed as he turned and ran in that direction.