“Come here, you f*cker!” Leo gets me in a headlock, but I wiggle free and sprint toward the truck. We always ride to school together, getting ready at the pack house. Even though we all live nearby, it’s a habit at this point. We’ve been doing it for so long that we joke with Luna Ava about building an extension onto the twins’ floor and just letting us move in. We practically live there anyway.

Today, I noticed something strange—Kylie stuck to Selene like glue. Even when they didn’t have the same classes, they stayed close. And here’s the kicker: Selene’s in a bunch of our classes. How have I not noticed that? She’s a year younger than us, so I guess I just... didn’t look for her. But still, it’s weird I missed her entirely.

“How long has Selene been taking advanced classes?” I ask Leo as we head into the lunchroom. It’s hard to walk through here without being stopped or flagged down. Most kids just want something from us.

It gets old fast. People think hanging out with us will somehow boost their own status. That’s why the five of us keep to ourselves. As we got older, we learned the hard way that people eavesdrop, spread rumors, and lie about being with us. It’s exhausting. Here at school, we’re always on guard. We can’t even be ourselves.

Leo shrugs. “Not sure. Why?”

“She’s in half our classes, and I didn’t notice until today. How did I miss that? We’ve been back for a week.”

“Seriously? Which classes?”

“Math, English, the usual. She’s not in Leadership or Battle Strategies, but once I noticed her in Math with Kylie, I saw her everywhere. It was... unsettling.”

Leo groans. “Please tell me you’re not switching your focus to my sister. I can’t handle that. She’s too innocent.”

“Relax.” I laugh. “But I’m just saying—she’s hot. She does a good job of hiding it, though.”

Leo shakes his head with another groan as we grab our lunches and head to the patio. It’s still nice out, and we take every opportunity to eat outside.

Ryan smirks, shoving food into his mouth. “What’s the plan with Kylie? Clock’s ticking, bro. Bonfire’s tonight.”

“Don’t worry about me,” I say with a grin. “Worry about the fact that none of us noticed Selene is in most of our classes—and her overprotective brother didn’t notice either.”

We spend the rest of lunch trying to figure out how Selene flew under the radar. I tried to get her attention in Science and History, but she was either deep into her notes or deliberately avoiding us. I was hoping to get Kylie involved, but I’ll need a new strategy to figure Selene out.

Then, as if fate’s handing me an opportunity, we spot Selene and Kylie talking to the three people we hate most—Stacey and her entourage. All five of us groan in unison.

“This might be my last shot to invite Kylie,” I say with a sigh. “Might as well get it over with.”

The guys fall in behind me as backup, ready to deal with Stacey if needed.

“Hey, guys!” Stacey’s shrill voice cuts through the noise the second she sees us. She must have some kind of tracking device on us. We each groan quietly as we approach.

Selene looks flustered, and Kylie is doing her best to hide her irritation. I can’t tell if she’s annoyed with Stacey or us, but I choose to ignore the drama queen and focus on Kylie.

“You’re a hard girl to keep track of,” I say with a grin. “Nice to finally meet you, Kylie. I’m Devin. These are Aaron, Ryan, Mateo, and Ethan.” I nod toward the guys as I introduce them.

Kylie’s golden eyes light up. “Wait—are you Delta Kyle’s Devin? The one with the record Selene broke?”

Her smile hits me like a punch to the chest, and I’m gone. She could’ve asked me to kiss Ethan right then and I probably would’ve done it.

“The one and only,” I reply, trying not to look too starstruck. “You two had some nice moves this morning. Selene, I didn’t know you were such a good fighter. Where’ve you been hiding all those skills?”

Selene glances between us, looking more confused than nervous. Kylie gives her a playful nudge in the ribs.

“Huh? What?” Selene blinks at me, her cheeks turning the cutest shade of pink.

Oh man. I’m going to spend the rest of my life finding ways to make her blush.

Aaron steps in with a grin. “I was just saying, great moves at training today. Hopefully we’ll get to work on those again at advanced training—and maybe Selene can give us some tips. Devin’s going to need help redeeming his top takedown time.”

Ryan slaps me on the back, laughing. “Yeah, we might have to send him to train with the pups for a while.”

Selene smiles shyly and nods. She’s so quiet around us—it’s strange. She’s known us forever, yet she acts like she’s meeting us for the first time.

A weird, high-pitched giggle draws my attention. I glance over to find Stacey still hovering next to us, her hand on Aaron’s chest.

“You’re so funny, babe,” Stacey coos. “Devin’s one of the best warriors we have—I bet he could do that move with one hand tied behind his back.” She gives an overly sweet smile. “His dad was just being nice to Kylie and Selene.”

Aaron subtly steps back, out of her reach. Stacey’s habit of touching him at every opportunity is getting old.

“Nope,” Ryan says with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure Devin sucks and needs to start over from the basics. Maybe we should send him to the pup classes for a week.”

Leo chuckles, and Kylie joins in. Then, Selene lets out the sweetest little giggle, soft and unexpected.

I glance at Ethan out of the corner of my eye and catch the faintest hint of a smile. Well, well. Looks like Selene found a crack in Ethan’s stoic armor.

“As much as I enjoy roasting your boy Devin,” Kylie says with a smirk, patting my arm, “Selene promised me food, and we were just heading out. If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen.”

With that, she steers Selene through our group like she’s parting the Red Sea, and I watch helplessly as they walk away. My brain is stuck on stupid, and my eyes are glued to Kylie’s retreating figure.

Ryan slaps my shoulder, grinning. “Glad to see you made the most of that opportunity, champ.”

“Huh?” I mutter, still dazed.

Ethan leans in with a smirk. “She’s getting away without your invitation, genius.”

“What? Oh sh*t!” I jog after them, my friends’ laughter echoing behind me.

“Hey!” I call out, trying to sound casual as I catch up. “I almost forgot—are you guys coming to the bonfire tonight?”

I slow my jog, hoping it looks more casual than frantic. Please say yes, Kylie.