Reclaim - Aly Martinez Page 0,21

have walked through lava on two bloody stumps to make Thea happy.

“Ugh, fine.” He took the leash and gave it a tug, trotting off across the grassy field with Hairy in tow.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Thea pounced. “So, who is he?”

“Who’s who?”

“The boy at the creek who you’ve been hanging out with and hiding from your brother?”

I suddenly froze.

So, yeah… I’d, um, kinda, sorta decided not to mention Camden to Ramsey. Part of that was because he was overprotective and no doubt would have shown up at the creek and given Camden the third degree. Trust me—it was for the best. I’d seen my brother in action and he could be a hell of a lot scarier than a frog.

The other part was because I liked having someone of my own.

Ramsey and Thea had been best friends for years, and I’d always been a tad jealous of what they had. I mean, I could have lived without all the kissy crap they’d been doing recently, but before that, they’d been a team who had each other’s back no matter what.

Sure, Ramsey was on my team too, but he was my brother. He was born into that position and took his duties very seriously.

Camden was different. Every day, when he showed up at that creek with a giant grin on his face and sweat beading on his forehead all because he’d been so excited to get there that he’d run the entire way, Camden chose me.

I wasn’t one of the popular kids.

I wasn’t rich.

I wasn’t even one of the pretty girls.

To everyone else, I was just Nora—Ramsey’s little sister—Stewart.

But to Camden, I was just Nora—ham-pickle-and-mustard-sandwich-making, ten-dollar-bill-hiding, hero frog wrangler, free to be whoever the hell I wanted to be—Stewart.

And I would have done absolutely anything, including lying to my brother and Thea about him, to keep it that way.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I replied, praying my newfound ability to lie also worked on her.

“Oh, really? So, when I went by there yesterday and I saw you laughing your head off with a boy who has curly, light-brown hair and chicken legs, you’re telling me it was just my eyes playing tricks on me?”

I clamped my mouth shut and swallowed hard. There would be no lying my way out of this one. Unexplained anger seemed like the next logical response. “Why the heck were you at the creek?”

“Uh…because Ramsey is currently doing what Ramsey does best and freaking the freak out because you’re still sick and hiding it from him. So he made me promise to go check up on you. I would have said hey, but I didn’t want to interrupt.” She smiled and it reminded me so much of my brother, it was as if they were starting to meld into one person. “So spill it. I want to hear all about this new boyfriend of yours.”

A wave of panic struck me so hard I shot to my feet, ready to bolt. “Camden is not my boyfriend!”

A slow grin crept up her face. “Oh, his name is Camden, huh?”

“Just drop it.” I stole a quick glance over my shoulder. Unless Ramsey had taken Hairy on a walk to Hawaii, he was entirely too close for this conversation. “Look, I need to go. Did you tell Ramsey about him?”

“Best friend law doesn’t allow me to keep secrets from him, but no. I haven’t mentioned it yet. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Good. Then don’t. I’m allowed to have a life, you know. I don’t need permission from my brother to have a friend.”

“What are you talking about? We don’t care if you have friends. Ramsey would probably throw this Camden kid a party if he knew there was someone you finally liked.”

“I don’t like him!” I yelled so loudly that it felt as though it ripped from my soul. And based on the sharp pain it left behind in my stomach, it was definitely torn from somewhere vital.

Thea stood up and took a step toward me, lowering her voice. “Then why are you acting so weird? I just asked who he was.”

I had to go. There was still a little while before I expected Camden back at the creek, but sitting there alone had to have been better than this.

My stomach rolled again, and I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. “He’s nobody.”

She planted her hands on her hips and arched an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

I had no idea