The stillness after their kiss was almost louder than the kiss itself.
Averie stood with her back against the tree, lips tingling, her breath trying to steady itself. Wes was close - so close - and every part of her wanted to stay pressed against him until the world disappeared.
But then -
A sharp snap of a branch echoed just beyond the willow.
They froze.
Wes's body went rigid as he turned his head toward the sound. Averie's heart leapt into her throat.
Someone was out there.
He stepped forward slightly, one hand stretched protectively in front of her, his eyes scanning the tall grass at the edge of the field.
Another rustle. Closer.
Averie whispered, "What if it's - "
"Shhh," Wes muttered, his jaw clenched.
She could feel her pulse pounding in her ears. Another crack. Then silence.
Wes moved fast. He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind the tree, crouching low just as a figure appeared at the field's edge - too far to make out clearly, but close enough to be dangerous.
Averie held her breath.
The figure lingered for a moment, shifting their weight. Then, as quickly as they had come, they turned and walked back into the trees.
Only once the crunch of their footsteps faded into nothing did either of them breathe.
Wes exhaled, his hand still clutching hers. "We need to go."
Averie nodded, her voice shaky. "Do you think they saw?"
"I don't know," he said, standing slowly. "But if they did - we won't be the only ones who know about this."
The ride back was silent, but the air between them was anything but calm. Every time his hand brushed the gear shift, she remembered the heat of his touch. Every time she caught his profile in the fading light, she felt the kiss again - the fire of it, the way her
body had screamed to stay in it.
But she also remembered the sound in the grass.
The figure.
And what would happen if they were seen.
The next morning, Averie woke with her stomach in knots. She checked her phone - six missed messages from her father. One from her mother. None from Wes.
She should have felt guilty. She should have panicked.
Instead, she dressed faster than she ever had and headed to the garage.
When she arrived, the doors were shut. The lights off.
No sign of Wes.
She stepped out of her car, heart pounding again - but this time for a different reason. She knocked. No answer.
"Wes?" she called.
Still nothing.
Then she noticed it - something tucked into the corner of the door.
A note.
She pulled it free, unfolding the smudged scrap of paper.
"Stay away today. Someone knows."
Her chest tightened. She looked around quickly, as if the trees were hiding someone with a camera or worse.
She drove away fast, heart in her throat.
That evening, after dinner with her parents - silent, stiff, with her father rambling about his re-election - Averie slipped away and pulled out her phone. Still nothing
from Wes.
She opened the note again, reading it over and over, as if it would change.
Someone knows.
Who?
How?
And what would they do with it?
She sat on her bedroom floor, staring at the wall when her phone finally lit up.
A text.
Unknown number.
You think no one's watching, but they are. Tell your pretty mechanic goodbye.
Her fingers trembled.
Then another text, seconds later.
Or we'll do it for you.