Chapter 3

The name I'd kept hidden in my heart resurfaced, dragging out all those girlish secrets I'd tried to bury.

Ryan Lane and I had been neighbors and classmates for six years, but our worlds rarely ever collided.

Back in school, he was the definition of a carefree rebel. He'd sleep through classes in the back row, and the minute the bell rang, he'd bolt off to shoot hoops.

Parents always saw him as the classic bad boy.

My parents forbade me from having any contact with him.

But I pretended to obey them, secretly nursing a crush on Ryan for…