Chapter 3

That night, Mrs. Gibson asked me to drop off some medicine at the villa on the outskirts. When I got there, Nico, Arlo, and Rhett were all inside.

We figured it out pretty fast—our parents had set us up.

The car was gone too. No way back to the city that late.

Clara called and said she hoped we could spend some time in this place we'd grown up in, find our way back to each other.

Rhett snorted. "What a waste of time. Hope Daisy's okay alone."

That made Nico and Arlo frown.

I thought it was a waste too. But standing in that familiar living room, I couldn't help feeling a little strange.

I walked over to the piano. It'd been sitting there for over a decade.

I remembered when we were kids, all four of us would sit together playing eight-hand pieces. Rhett was always messing around, and we'd chase him around the room. The parents would sit on the couch watching and laughing, taking pictures—all of them around this piano.

"Daisy's been learning piano. Look what I recorded."

Rhett pulled out his phone and played a video. Nico and Arlo leaned in right away.

Choppy notes, mixed with her sweet little giggles. The three of them watched with soft smiles plastered across their faces.

I stepped outside. The pool lights were on.

A memory hit me. That year, the three of them were in the water, seeing who could hold their breath longest. I was too young to understand—I thought they were drowning. I jumped straight in to save them.

"Nico! Arlo! Rhett! Don't worry, I'm coming—"

I swallowed a mouthful of water the second I hit the pool.

They fished me out, laughing despite themselves.

"Freya's so cute and so dumb. We're gonna have to take care of her forever."

I could still hear those words. And they did. They'd always had my back through everything—taken me to eat, taken me to run wild, shielded me from every trouble that came my way.

My head was full of laughter and noise.

Then reality pulled me right back.

"Daisy, don't worry—we're coming!"

Nico hung up the phone, already panicked. "There's thunder in the city. Daisy's scared crying. We have to go be with her."

The other two jumped at that.

They all rushed outside and looked around.

"No car!"

"Forget it. I'm walking back." Rhett was already heading into the dark.

The other two followed.

"Wait."

They turned. Rhett glared at me. "Freya, Daisy's crying scared, and you're still jealous enough to hold us back?"

Nico and Arlo shot me annoyed looks too.

My face stayed blank. "You walk back? By the time you get there, the thunder'll be long gone and Daisy will have cried herself out."

"Then what? We can't just sit here!" Rhett started charging again. Arlo grabbed his arm. "Let's call someone to pick us up. And look around for anything else that runs."

The three of them swept through the villa with flashlights. We knew every corner of this place—we'd hidden in all of them during countless games of hide and seek.

"There's a tricycle over here. Still runs."

I shone my phone light into the corner.

They rushed over and wheeled it out. Nico took the handlebars. Arlo and Rhett jumped into the back. It was tight—three grown guys packed in, no room for a fourth.

They looked at me, hesitant.

I shrugged. "I wasn't planning to ride that thing back anyway. Go ahead."

"Freya—" Arlo started.

I cut him off flatly. "Keep stalling and Daisy's really going to be scared."

That did it. They snapped out of it.

"We'll send someone for you," Nico said.

Then he hit the gas and the tricycle rattled off into the night.

I stood there watching them bounce and wobble down the dark road, speeding toward the girl they actually cared about.

Twenty years with them—gone, riding off on that tricycle.

"Goodbye, Nico. Arlo. Rhett."

Headlights suddenly swept across the driveway. A car pulled up and stopped. The door opened and a man got out—just flown in, straight here.

I smiled and ran into his arms.

Zane Jordan. Heir to the Jordan family. My fiancé.