Hopelessly Broken Read Free Page A

his butt as he strolled toward the door.
    It was hard.
    Too difficult.
    Impossible.
    He stopped at the entry, turned. His eyes locked on Jenn’s. Jenn’s lungs deflated. Her face warmed.
    He said, “Sorry about the intrusion.”
    “It’s okay.” She motioned to the leash. “I hope you find your dog.”
    His eyes, which were still locked on hers, narrowed slightly. “Do you go to Central High?”
    “No.”
    His eyebrows lifted.
    “I mean, I did. Last year. I’m out of school now.”
    He flashed a smile that made Jenn’s heart do a somersault. Oh, this guy was trouble. She could tell already. “Maybe that’s why you look familiar. Did you graduate last year?”
    “Um, no. Not exactly. I would have,” she lied. “But…” Feeling ashamed of being a drop out, Jenn jerked her gaze away. “I had to quit school last winter. After...” she didn’t finish the sentence. Why was she telling this guy, this stranger, any of this? Why?
    “I get it,” he said. “You did what you had to.”
    “Yeah.” Her gaze climbed up, up, up until it found his again.
    An awkward, thrilling, strange moment passed between them. “I’m Aeron.” Aeron extended a hand, and she stared down at it, undecided. This guy was breathtakingly gorgeous. He was mysterious. He claimed to recognize her, but she didn’t recognize him at all. Could she trust him?
    No. Most definitely not.
    And yet, she said, “Jennifer,” and placed her hand in his. The second his fingers curled around it, something burned her. Instantly, she jerked her hand away. “Ouch!”
    He looked confused. “What’s wrong?”
    “Did you burn me with something? One of those stupid zappers? Logan’s gotten me with them more than once.”
    He turned his hand over. “No. Why would I do that?”
    She inspected her hand. Her skin was a little pink where she’d felt the burn. “I…I don’t know.”
    He stuffed his hands, both of them , into his pockets. “I’d better get going if I’m going to have any hope of finding my dog.”
    “Good luck.” She watched him shuffle down the front porch steps. He glanced at his palm as he turned down the sidewalk.
    She checked hers again. The pink was gone.
    “He’s nice. I like him,” Logan said, behind her.
    “He’s a stranger. ” Furious, she whirled around to deliver a much-deserved angry glare at her brother. “I’ve told you over and over, Logan. You. Can’t. Trust. Strangers.”
    “But he’s nice and he lost--”
    “You think he’s nice . For all we know, he could be on parole for bank robbery. Or…or…I’m done talking about it. Let’s get your homework done.”
    Pouting, Logan dragged his backpack to the kitchen table. “He doesn’t look like a bank robber to me. He lost his dog. He just wants some help finding it.”
    Jenn sat next to her brother and unzipped his backpack. “He might’ve told you that, but it doesn’t mean it’s true. He might not even own a dog.”
    “Why would he lie?”
    “Lots of reasons. That’s one of the most common stories bad guys use to trap little kids--that they’ve lost their dog. Then they steal the kids and do all kinds of really bad things to them.”
    “But I know he has a dog. I saw him walking it this morning. He’s not a bad guy.”
    “ I don’t know.” Jenn glanced at the hallway, half expecting to see Aeron standing there, staring back at her. “Maybe he isn’t a bank robber. But there’s something about him. Something I don’t trust.”
    * * * * *
    Logan was alone. Good.
    Standing at the corner the next afternoon, Aeron started whistling, as if he were still searching for his supposedly missing dog. Very aware of the boy approaching, he shifted the stack of printed fliers in his hands.
    “There’s the little rat,” a boy behind Logan said, heading toward him, eyes locked on Logan’s back.
    Logan kept walking, acting as though he didn’t hear the bully approaching. Aaron could tell he’d heard.
    “You’d better run,” the punk shouted,