My aunt woke me in the morning. I’ll never forget the blank look on her face when she said my mother had gone to heaven and wouldn’t be coming back for me.

  Safety, comfort, security all disappeared in an instant. I packed a few favorite toys and clothes to stay with Aunt Susan and her husband until they could “figure out something else.”

  Except for cousin Debbie, they were the only family I had left, so I wasn’t sure what there was to “figure out.” Where did they want me to go? Where did orphaned girls end up when no one wanted them?

  It was a short ride to my new home and I remember looking at the familiar house in an unfamiliar way as we pulled into the driveway.

  This was a new start to my life. In a way, the old Juliet died with her mother. New Juliet had to learn to accept a fresh start. I promised myself I’d behave so my aunt and uncle wouldn’t have a reason to send me away…

  “Juliet,” I breathed out when I finished, stunned by her words.

  “It’s bad, right? Too maudlin?”

  “I’m not sure what that means, but no. It’s very powerful. Raw.”

  “I think she was looking for a positive life-changing event.” She glanced down and flicked the pages in her notebook. “But I don’t have one of those. I haven’t decided how to finish the assignment yet.”

  “That’s because your story isn’t written. You still have a long road ahead of you.”

  “I hope so.”

  She tapped my pages on the table. “This is good. You’re really talented,” she said. I’m pretty sure it was the first time anyone said I was good at anything other than getting into trouble.

  The compliment sucked in a way because my piece was completely superficial and lacked any real emotion. I wrote about how learning martial arts changed my life. The dull, predictable type of essay the teacher probably had in mind. I hadn’t sliced open a vein and bled all over the pages the way Juliet had.

  “Is it true?” she asked.

  “Mostly. One of my foster homes, the dad taught martial arts, so I learned from him.”

  “Was it a good home?”

  She seemed so genuinely concerned, I actually wanted to talk about it, something I hadn’t done in a long time.

  “Yeah, they were nice people. Probably the best home I’ve been in.”

  “What happened?”

  “They had a baby.” I shrugged as if the memory didn’t sting. “My time was up.”

  “Do you still keep in touch—”

  I shook my head, cutting her off. “No, that’s discouraged.”

  “That’s so sad.”

  Her mouth turned down. She seemed so damn distressed by my story. Maybe I should’ve kept it to myself. I’d never thought of my situation as happy or sad.

  It was all I knew.

  Chapter Ten

  Roman

  The rest of the day wasn’t as exciting as my morning. I did manage to stay out of trouble. Doug and his friends avoided me.

  Actually, everyone except Juliet acted like I had a contagious disease. Maybe word had spread that I was one of the kids from the group home. I didn’t dwell on it because I didn’t care.

  Before our last class of the day, I found Juliet waiting for me, just as pretty as she’d been first thing this morning.

  “We have to stop meeting this way,” she teased, stepping aside so I could chuck my books in the locker before we headed to art class.

  I liked art. Maybe not as much as Pip enjoyed it, but I could draw a decent portrait if I had a worthy subject.

  Juliet would be worth drawing.

  Hell, my notebook already contained half a dozen doodles of her long hair, secret smile, and perfect profile.

  It was a small, advanced art class taught by a somewhat eccentric middle-aged guy—Mr. Broom. I’d joined the class right before they started a section on photography. A subject that interested me, but I’d never had the luxury of exploring. Hell, I wasn’t even allowed to have a flip phone. While all my peers were busy snapping selfies and fucking around on social media, I was busy with therapy sessions, learning house rules, protecting myself, and chores.

  There was an extra fee for this part of the class and I’d have to ask one of the counselors or my caseworker to approve it. I usually avoided asking for anything, but I didn’t want to drop out of the class.

  We sat two to four kids to a table and naturally I sat right next to Juliet. So close our legs touched from thigh to knee. A thrill ran through me at the contact, and she peeked up at me as if she sensed it too.

  After the opening lecture, Mr. Broom strolled through the room, passing out magazines that demonstrated different styles of photography.

  Mr. Broom stopped by my table and leaned down. My whole body tensed, afraid I was already in trouble.

  “Your fee has been taken care of, so you don’t need to worry about it, Mr. Hawkins,” he said quietly before straightening up and walking away.

  It was a relief, but it also bothered me. Who paid it? The school? Mr. Broom? He didn’t even know me. My social worker? She barely seemed to know where I was half the time.

  It was a mystery I couldn’t solve, but I was grateful that for once in my life something wouldn’t be a big deal. Grateful he went out of his way not to embarrass me, allowing me to avoid the shame of being the poor orphan begging for scraps.

  We took the magazines home, and I was supposed to decide what subjects moved me. People, nature, animals, objects?

  After class, I wanted to talk to Mr. Broom, but he was surrounded by students, so I followed Juliet into the hallway instead.

  “What did he say to you?” she asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Her face fell as if she expected to share things with me and I’d disappointed her. “I’ll tell you on the way home,” I added.

  The way home. On the way to her home. I didn’t have one.

  “Oh, I can’t wait until we get an actual camera. And we’re going to develop the film ourselves. That will be so much fun!” Juliet skipped ahead of me, hair flying behind her. I jogged to catch up to her, grabbing her hand to slow her down.

  Her enthusiasm was infectious and I found myself smiling.

  That smile didn’t fade until we got closer to her house and I spotted some guy crouched in front of an all matte-black Harley-Davidson motorcycle in her driveway. I pulled her back, stopping her in her tracks. “Who is that?”

  “Who? Where?” She glanced around and when her gaze landed on the leather-clad biker, she broke into a grin. “Uncle Dex!” She jerked out of my hold and ran toward the stranger.

  I sprinted after her, still unsure whether the guy was a danger. At the sound of her voice, he stood and turned. A grin broke out over his face. He held out his arms and she launched herself at him.

  Who the fuck was this dude?

  She laughed and chattered a mile a minute as he spun her in a quick circle, then set her on her feet. His gaze landed on me and he placed a protective arm around her. “Who’s your friend, Julez?”

  She grabbed his hand and tugged him in my direction. “Dex, this is my friend, Roman. He’s new in school and we share a locker and a bunch of classes,” she said in a rush.

  Dex was no fool. He took one look at me and knew I wanted to be a hell of a lot more than Juliet’s friend. I’d gotten similar looks from girls’ fathers in the past. This guy might not be her dad, but he had overprotective instincts like one. Not in a creepy-asshole way like the uncle I met yesterday. No, this guy’s demeanor was completely different. Stern, but curious. Something I respected.

  I nodded and held out my hand. “Roman Hawkins, sir. Moved to the area recently and Juliet’s been kind enough to show me around school.”

  He shook my hand and released Juliet. “Nice to meet you, Roman.” His shrewd gaze lingered, observing everything no doubt. I stood up straight under his scrutiny because anything else wouldn’t earn his respect.

  “Are you staying for dinner?” Juliet asked with a pleading note in her voice I hadn’t heard her use before.

  “Can’t, Julez. You know that. I did want to give you an early birthday present though.”

  “Really?” She squeezed her hands together and squealed a bunch of happy noises. Damn, she was fucking cute all excited. She grabbed each of our hands and dragged us toward the back porch. While we settled into chairs, she ran inside.

  “So where you from, Roman?”

  “All over.” I wasn’t trying to be evasive. That was the truth.

  “Where do you live?” he asked in a more specific, don’t-bullshit-me tone.

  I swallowed hard and met his stare head-on. “At the Pine Bluff Group Home, sir.”

  His eyes narrowed and he nodded. “How’d you end up there?”

  I knew what he was asking. Was I a delinquent who got tossed into the system by the criminal courts—someone who might hurt his niece—or was I an orphan?

  Instead of giving him my whole sad history, I answered the question he really wanted to know. “Been bouncing around the foster care system since I was seven years old. Never found the right family to adopt me, sir.”

  That seemed to relieve some of his tension about me and he settled back in his chair just as Juliet burst out of the house carrying a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and several glasses. I jumped up to help her, taking the tray and setting it on the low table in front of her uncle.

  “Thank you,” Juliet said breathlessly. “I was worried I would drop it for a minute.”

  I caught Dex watching me again as I sat back in my chair and looked away. My grandmother had been strict when I lived with her. She firmly believed that being polite never went out of style. That meant holding doors open, carrying heavy things, and generally helping ladies instead of standing by and watching. It was probably childish, but I liked to think if Grandma was somewhere watching over me, she’d be proud I hadn’t let the system beat her lessons out of me.

  Juliet sat facing her uncle and gave him her full attention while he handed over a package tightly wrapped with dazzling silver paper. I’ll admit I was a little jealous. First, I didn’t realize Juliet had a birthday coming up. Second, even if I did know about her birthday, I didn’t have a penny to buy her anything.

  She gasped and squealed when she pulled out the dark green leather jacket.

  “Oh my God, it’s beautiful. So perfect!” She jumped up and slipped it on, zipping it up to her chin. “Am I ready to ride with you now?” she asked her uncle.

  He stood and fixed the collar for her. “Gotta get you a helmet and Aunt Suzy’s permission first.”

  Juliet rolled her eyes. “Never gonna happen.”

  “If not, I promise I’ll take you out for your eighteenth birthday, okay?”

  “I’m holding you to it.”

  He laughed. “Expect nothing less from you, Julez.”

  She sat down and peppered him with questions about his travels, and I gathered she hadn’t seen him in a long time.

  “What do you do that keeps you on the road so much?” I blurted out, genuinely curious. Having never been outside of New York State—except for a miserable six weeks at a “youth wilderness camp” in Massachusetts—I was dying to travel and it sounded like Dex did a lot of it.

  “Different things,” he answered with practiced evasiveness.

  “He does a lot of charity runs with his motorcycle club too, right Uncle Dex?”

  His lips twisted into a half-smile. “That’s right.”

  My gaze traveled over his black leather vest again, this time taking in some of the patches decorating the front.

  Loyal Brother. Lost Kings MC. On the left side. Brother’s Keeper. Respect Few, Fear None. On the right.

  Huh. That last one I could definitely relate to.

  “You ride, Roman?” Dex asked.

  “No, sir. Don’t have a license.” Motorcycles had always interested me. But since the probability of ever being able to afford one seemed about the same as sprouting wings and learning to fly, I didn’t give them much thought on a daily basis. I liked the look of Harleys over crotch-rockets and that was about the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

  Since Juliet seemed safe with this guy, I decided I should take off and let them visit.

  I stood and picked up my bag. “I should head out. Nice to meet you, sir.”

  “You need a ride?” he asked.

  “Nah, I’m only a few streets over. Thank you, though.”

  Juliet stood, her mouth turning down with unhappiness. “You don’t have to go—”

  “No, it’s fine.” I reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. “I really do need to get home before someone comes looking for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Early?” She batted her lashes and smiled.

  Damn did I want to kiss her, but not in front of Dex, who was watching us like a damn cobra about to strike.

  “Early,” I promised.

  Chapter Eleven

  Juliet

  I watched Roman go with a mixture of sadness and guilt. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might need to be back at the home by a particular time. I didn’t want to be responsible for getting him in trouble.

  “So, he your boyfriend?” Dex asked as soon as Roman was out of sight.

  The stern note in his voice made me proceed with caution. “Just a friend.”

  “Seems to like you a whole lot more than just a friend.”

  “You think so?” I gushed. Caution be damned.

  Dex groaned and sat back. “You’re making me feel old, Julez. Weren’t you eleven last week?”

  “Uh, no. Try five years ago.” I thought for a minute about how to express myself. “I like Roman a lot. He’s really kind and thoughtful.”

  Dex nodded to my backpack on the floor in front of me. “Noticed that,” he said. I liked the approval in his voice. It was good timing that he saw Roman walking me home. I wanted Dex to like Roman as much as I did.

  Even though my cousin Debbie was a lot older than me, she’d been like the big sister I never had. I’d tagged along with her and Dex frequently when I was little. His approval meant something to me.

  “Just be careful. Boys his age can’t be trusted.” Dex laughed. “I was one. I remember.”

  I rolled my eyes. “He’s really not like that.” I leaned in and lowered my voice. “He tried to kiss me yesterday, but when I said I wasn’t ready, he backed off. He told me today he won’t try again unless I want him to.”

  Dex shifted, his gaze darting around the porch. “Why you gotta tell me stuff like this?”

  I suppose I could’ve talked about it with Vienna, but I didn’t feel comfortable sharing this with her for some reason. She’d tell me I was silly for turning Roman down or make a joke about how he needs a “real woman.” Both would fire up my temper.

  “What should I do?”

  “Revisit when you’re twenty-one?” Dex suggested.

  “I’m serious.”

  He blew out a breath and stared straight ahead as if he was searching for someone out of sight to provide the right words. “What do you want?”

  “I want to get to know him more. I like being around him. Talking to him. He really listens. And he’s smart. And he doesn’t mind that I’m smart.” I stopped myself before I crazy-babbled any more silly high school girl stuff.

  “Then get to know him more. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “But how do I tell him I want him to kiss me?” I whispered, then quickly added, “When I do.”

  I couldn’t confide the real reason why being so close to a boy scared me the way it did. Not to Dex. Not to anyone ever. But I fell asleep last night wondering what it would feel like to have a boy I liked kiss me. To want to be close to him more than my next breath.

  Dex groaned and looked away. “When the time’s right, you’ll both know.” He shook his head. “Can’t you talk to Suzy about any of this?”

  “Heck no. She’d probably scream at me about getting knocked up in high school like her sister did.”

  He winced at the mention of Debbie’s mom, my aunt Sharon. “She scream at you often?”

  I shrugged it off like it was no big deal.

  He reached over and patted my leg. “I’m sorry, peanut. I wish…well, what I wish doesn’t matter. You don’t have long until you’re out on your own.”

  And doesn’t that terrify me almost as much as being trapped here forever.

  My fear must have shown on my face, because Dex looked even more troubled. “You still want to be a nurse?”

  “Don’t know how I’ll pay for it, but yes.”

  “It will work itself out, Juliet. Somehow.”

  I doubted that. “I miss them. Mom and Debbie. She was like the big sister I never had. I could’ve told her this.”

  Sadness clouded his eyes and I wished I’d kept my mouth shut. “She loved you,” he rasped. “Her little peanut.”

  In the driveway, a truck door slammed and someone shouted, “Why is this piece of shit in my driveway!”

  Dex clenched his jaw. “I planned to be out of here before he came home.”

  “He works second shift now,” I whispered.

  “When’s Suzy get home? She still working nights?”

  “No, she should be here soon.”

  He sat back as if he had no plans to leave, even with Uncle Jared muttering and cursing his way around the house.

  One heavy boot thudded against the porch steps and I shuddered. Dex glanced at me and frowned.

  “That your bike in my driveway?” Jared asked.

  “Who else’s would it be, old man?” Dex stood and shook my uncle’s hand, even though Jared seemed pretty cranky. Dex always ignored my uncle’s moodiness but never backed down because of it. Something I admired and respected. If I was Dex’s size, I could probably get away with it too.

  “What’re you doing here, Dex?”

  “Wanted to stop by and give Juliet an early birthday present,” he said, as if he was trying to remind my uncle that I had a birthday coming up.

  Good luck with that.