Easy Sacrifice Read Free Page B

it still hurt that people, especially other girls, were so quick to judge me.
    Ty never came back. I didn’t see him after that day, and as far as anyone could tell, he’d vanished. My dad used what resources he had to find him, but since he was apparently in a group home at the time, it was easy for him to run away unnoticed.
    I think about him constantly. His beautiful eyes and the way he cradled me in his arms. How I never felt more happy and secure than in those few short minutes with him carrying me. God, I want more of it, too.
    Regardless of what happened that night and no matter what everyone called me, I know that he believed me. Ty believed me, and he saved me. If it weren’t for him, who knows what would have happened. I know I don’t want to think about it. I don’t want to play the what-if game. I just want to move on.
    Kat and I get into our cars, and she waves as she drives away. I put the key into the ignition and get nothing when I turn it. What the hell? I try again with the same result. I take out my cell to call Kat to come get me, but I have no reception here in the lot. Climbing out of my car, I move around trying to find service. As I’m almost to the sidewalk, a man jogging comes close.
    He’s tall, wearing gray sweats and a gray hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves ripped off to show off his large biceps. His head is down, but when he senses me, he looks up.
    “Ty,” I whisper, my heart stilling in my chest, and goose bumps cover my skin.
    He slows his jog and stops in front of me, his heaving chest inches from mine. He’s not a boy anymore. I knew he would grow up nice, but I didn’t expect him to still be so beautiful.
    His eyes trace over the features of my face, they glide lower to my breasts, which have grown since the last time I saw him, and then slide down to my shiny pink toenails before they come back up. I suck in a breath and rest a hand on my chest, willing my heart to beat again.
    He has to feel that. The connection. The spark. It’s undeniable, and it’s something that I don’t think will ever be comparable with anyone else. How can it when it’s stayed with me for years?
    “Why did you disappear?”
    “I’ve been around.”
    “Where?”
    “Why are you here?” he asks as an answer.
    “Stop being so mysterious, Ty. God. I just want to talk to you. You can’t tell me I’m the only one who knows there’s something here.” I motion between us.
    “Nah, you’re right.” He nods. “But a sweet, innocent little girl like you and a guy like me don’t belong together, babe.”
    “How do you know I’m sweet and innocent?”
    His tongue darts out and moistens his lips, and then he takes a couple of steps toward me. My breath hitches, and when he runs a finger down the side of my face, I close my eyes. He lowers his head and runs his nose along my ear before his lips replace it. “Damn, you smell good.”
    I swallow loudly, and he chuckles. “Nervous?”
    “No.”
    He sighs and steps back then runs his hands through his hair. “Why are you here?”
    “Why did you leave me that night and never come back? I missed you.”
    “I need you to trust that it’s better for you if we’re not together, okay? Hell, I missed your beautiful face so damn much, but fuck … Just, why are you here all alone?”
    I cross my arms over my chest and give in. I might be attracted to him, but he’s probably right. He screams naughty boy while I’m the naïve girl. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t want to get to know him. Something exists between us on a level I don’t understand quite yet. I need more time with him. “My car won’t start, and I don’t have reception in there.”
    He nods and walks to my car, leans in, and then pops the hood. “Try to start it again.”
    I don’t question him, since he seems to know what he’s doing, and I turn the key with the same result.
    “It’s your spark plugs. I can change them. Just gotta go to the shop and get