1 - Crew

I’m never surprised when I spot a bad guy. They always show up eventually. Seeing the man who died saving my life when I was a child? Well, that made me look twice. Literally.

I was on my way to second period at my new school, Sonoran Sunset High, when I noticed him from the corner of my eye. I did a double take, and my eyes locked onto him in disbelief.   

It felt like I was dreaming. My head turned to follow him in slow motion as I was transported into my very first memory—my boarding school being attacked, everyone inside killed, and the building burned to the ground. I only made it out alive because a teacher, Mr. Finn, shoved me out the door and told me to run while he stayed to fight. I assumed he was killed along with everyone else. Seeing him alive in the very hallway I was walking down was more than a shock. 

It took me a moment to snap out of my stupor. I needed answers about what had happened that day, about the monsters that attacked the school, where he had been all these years, who I was—the list of questions was too long. I needed answers about everything. 

First, I had to verify it was him. I turned to chase after Mr. Finn and ran right into a brick wall of muscle.

My school books went flying. I tumbled toward the floor. I braced for impact, but a strong arm caught around my waist and hoisted me up like I weighed nothing. Then it held me there, midair, my head dangling toward the floor.

“Whoa there. Are you okay?” the wall of muscle asked in a deep and smooth voice as I hung from his arm like a wet towel on a clothesline. 

“Put me down,” I said, legs and arms flailing as I struggled to right myself so I could find the man who should have been dead. 

My current rescuer took two steps to the side while maneuvering me to be vertical, tossing me around like I was a backpack. Before I had my bearings, he had me on my feet and pinned against the wall. 

“You want me to go down on you?” he asked, feigning surprise.

What the what? I didn’t have time for this.

“Nope,” I answered, pushing against his firm chest. He didn’t budge, but his rock-hard abs flexed against me. “Get off me.”

“Oh, you want me to get you off. You keep misspeaking.”

“I said what I said,” I gritted out with a clenched jaw, defying the direction this guy wanted to take things.

“You must be new here.” His voice rumbled in his chest, sending vibrations through mine, and I could feel him adjust his posture to get a better look at me. “What’s your name, dollface?” 

I gave him another useless shove, then finally looked up to glare at the meddlesome Good Samaritan. He was disarmingly attractive, with a chiseled, tan face framed by dirty blonde hair. I met his gaze, and suddenly, everything but him faded away. His bright, blue-hazel eyes seemed to peer into my soul, keeping me frozen in place. An invasive feeling overcame me like he was sensing my insides with his own. Then, suddenly, it stopped, like I had just been released from being trapped in stone, only to find myself floating in outer space with nothing to ground me. 

Unnerved, I grabbed the necklace I wore under my shirt. I felt the familiar weight of the ring that hung from it in my hand. I had worn the necklace for as long as I could remember. Didn’t even take it off to shower. I always wore shirts with high necks to make sure it didn’t fall out. I had to keep it hidden because it had weird, ancient-looking writing on it, and I assumed that it would incriminate me to anyone who came looking for me, but I couldn’t not wear it. It was the only thing I had from my past. I couldn’t risk needing to bug out and not having it.

“I…need to…to go,” I said, coming back to my senses. 

“I’m Crew Hanes,” he said like he was talking to a child. “Where do you need to go, doll face?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I struggled against him again. I needed to get out of his death grip. 

“What’s your next class?”

“Get off me.” I considered kicking him.

“I’m sure I’ll find your schedule in this mess of papers on the floor.”

“Room E-234,” I blurted. This guy was relentless.

“Advanced Calculus? Really?” he said, smiling. “This is E-234.” He tilted his head to the side, pointing to the door next to us. “Lucky for you, that’s where I’m heading.”

“Look, guy, I need to go.”

“My name is Crew, and you’re already here,” he said. 

A student trying to enter the room bumped into us, and Crew finally released me. He bent down and picked up the books I’d dropped, and I stood frozen, unable to act. The hallway was nearly empty, and the bell started ringing. Crew put his hand on my back to lead me into the classroom, and finally, the spell broke. 

“I have to go.” I swiveled away from him, clutching my necklace.

“Oh. You have to go. I’ll save you a seat,” he said, assuming I meant the restroom.

I didn’t respond. I didn’t even care that he had my books. I had to find the man who had saved my life ten years ago. I ran through the whole building, searching for him. The classrooms had windows, so I could see into the rooms, but he wasn’t in any of them. All the hallways were empty except for a couple of girls ducking into their classrooms. I had missed him, or maybe I had imagined him. Honestly, it wouldn’t be the first time. It just hadn’t happened in a long time. I ran back to E-234, my head spinning. 

I walked into the classroom, and the teacher waved me in. He was going down the aisles, writing students’ names on a seating chart. I looked around the room for a seat and saw Crew waving me over to the only empty one, right next to his. 

He had put my books on top of the vacant desk. I made my way over and sat down, out of breath. 

“I covered for you, don’t worry,” he whispered to me. “Mr. Wright doesn’t ask questions when it comes to girls and that time of the month.”

I glanced over with a scowl. I had never been so angry at someone. I wanted to smash his beautiful face into his desk. He had ruined my chance to find the one person in the world who could answer my questions about my past. If the person was, in fact, Mr. Finn, and he probably wasn’t. I mean, he wasn’t. Of course he wasn’t. He couldn’t be. But Crew had definitely stopped me from knowing for sure.

“How’d it go in there?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” I mumbled, facing forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look at me with a puzzled expression. He clearly didn’t get turned down a lot. 

“You’re feisty. I like that,” he said. 

“I think the word you’re looking for is repulsed,” I said, looking at my books. Most of them had shoeprints, so I started wiping them.

The teacher, Mr. Wright, arrived next to my desk.

“Name?” he asked me.

“Sera Frey.”

He scribbled on his seating chart and moved to the next student.

“Finally,” Crew said. “I know your name.”

“I can’t imagine you care much about girls’ names.” I had known guys like him. I steered clear of them. Nothing but trouble.

“Usually, I don’t have to work so hard to get them.”

“Well, you can forget mine.” I continued wiping.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Do it anyway,” I deadpanned. 

Mr. Wright called for everyone’s attention and began the class.

“You’re going to be fun,” Crew whispered with a predatory smile.