A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you're excited for the newest chapter. I am because I think this is where Star and Julian both start to really crack. Hope you enjoy it!

***

Halloween gets real crazy around here and I was told by the other Uni-Save staff to brace myself.

First of all, today was the day for all Halloween merchandise to go. We slashed prices like there was no tomorrow to get rid of the items before they used up more valuable shelf space when we'd have to sell them at a loss pretty soon anyway. Since the doors opened at six in the morning, tons of people had come in to buy candy, party snacks, decorations, and what small stock of costumes and related items we'd brought in.

The cosmetics counter was busy, even with both me and Jessica there.

Lots of girls came in asking to be made over with more creative styles that went with whatever Halloween-themed look they were going for that day. The line had cleared up a little after four in the afternoon. I was just finishing a heavy Cleopatra eye make-up on a customer who'd begged me to show her some tricks when the door swung open and a nearly palpable shift of energy was felt at the cosmetics counter. A bunch of girls had been clustered there, chatting away with each other, arms already loaded with bags of beauty products as they waited for me to finish working on their friend.

I was darkening the cat-eye with some black liquid liner when I heard a couple of the girls to my side whisper urgently to each other.

"I think that's him."

"Are you sure? I mean, he's hot but—"

"I'm positive. I saw him at that beach party a month ago. I would never forget that face."

"Don't look. He's coming this way."

"You should look. It's all in the eye contact."

"Star!"

I sucked in a breath as I narrowly avoided stabbing my customer's eye when she suddenly teetered forward like she was about to faint.

The little smear on the wing tip of the cat-eye was annoying but I was more irritated by the fact that my heart started a nervous rhythm the moment I recognized his voice.

I've only known him three weeks and he shouldn't feel this familiar.

Well, you do live with the guy. You've also been replaying the things he said in your head until they're permanently stuck there.

"Star!"

I decided that there was no point in hoping he would go away if I simply ignored him because Julian didn't let those kinds of things get in his way when he had a plan. And he didn't come to Uni-Save without one so I might as well hear it.

I finally turned and saw him sauntering toward the counter, smiling and politely nodding at the girls who were staring up at him with such dreamy eyes. I couldn't blame them really because he was a heart-stopping sight with the mussed up hair, the big grin stretched across his face, and those dark, mossy green eyes all lit up and crinkling at the corners. And that was all they could appreciate so far. They haven't eaten food he'd made or had him wash the puke off their sheets or read his short but sweet little notes.

"I'm working," was my clipped greeting as I briefly glanced at Jessica who'd paused from ringing in a purchase at the till to turn wide eyes to me. She looked surprised but impressed. She and I got along well enough since we started working together and she was always trying to convince me to let her set me up with some cute boy she knew, insisting I should enjoy the full college experience. I knew the experience I came to get and neither friends nor boys were part of it. It was easier that way for everyone.

Julian glanced at his watch and shrugged. "I thought you were done fifteen minutes ago. It's fine. I can wait."

If I thought that meant he was going to wait outside all by himself, I was wrong.

He turned to the girls waiting and watching us with fascinated curiosity and said hi, starting an mini-explosion of flirty small talk and endless questions.

I forgot. This was Julian Wilde, after all—a predator at large surrounded by preys doing their mighty best to be caught.

I turned back to my customer and resisted the urge to yank her face back toward me and away from Julian so I could fix her eye make up and go home.

"Are you going to Hallows Eve later?" one of the girls ventured to ask with a breathy giggle.

"Yeah, of course," he answered. "I go every year."

"Are you going to dress up?"

"I always do."

"What will you be this year?"

"A pirate."

How original.

A pirate was perfect was for him—a charming, unapologetic rogue of questionable moral compass.

And I'm a hypocrite.

"I'm going as a sexy nurse."

"And I'll be a mermaid."

I snorted before I could stop myself and three or four heads swivelled in my direction including my customer. I quickly grabbed on to her head and covered the light black smear with another layer of liner before she could get away. With that quick fix done, I moved on to her other eye to match the look.

"And who will you be, Starlight?" Julian asked, daring me with an arched brow and a lazy smile.

I capped the liquid liner, finally done with my customer, and started to collect my tools. "I'll be the boring teenager sitting at home in her pjs, watching a horror movie marathon and screaming her lungs out because no one else is home."

His smile broadened. "We can stay home and do that too, you know?"

There was such a telling pause as our captive audience picked up on Julian's carelessly suggestive statement. I've never seen eyeballs roll back and forth in their sockets so much.

But there wasn't much to be done about it now. They'd all heard him and made their assumptions.

I decided that with nothing much left to lose, I'd give it a try anyway. "I'm sure you and your friends will have a blast at the party. There's no need to worry about me. I'd be perfectly happy to stay at home."

"It's Halloween. You're in college. And you have me," Julian countered with an attempt at logic. "There's no way you're going to be sitting at home alone. You'd be sad and lonely."

I gave him a thin smile, a bit unsteady at the casual way he'd said 'you have me' and made it sound like something else. "I'm touched but I'm sure it won't take long before you forget about your poor roommate."

"There's gonna be lots of girls there," someone from our small audience blurted out.

I smiled at her indulgently. "Thank you for the confirmation." I turned to Julian. "You heard her. I won't tag along and slow you down. God knows the night will already be too short in your opinion."

His eyes narrowed slightly at me, piercing and intense. "I can form my own opinion just fine, Star, and I'm not quite sure you're ready to hear it."

I hit him right back with a sweet smile. "I'm sure it's no loss to you if I'm not because there's roughly twenty thousand other female students in this campus you can enlighten next."

The mouth he had slightly pursed in thought cracked into a grin. "It's just like picking out a star from a sky of a few billion others, wouldn't you say?"

I was about to shoot him back something nasty but I bit down on my tongue. I couldn't push this too far. I'd smack Julian later in a more private setting where my job wouldn't be at risk and there wasn't a small audience turning their heads from side to side like they were watching an intense tennis match.

I gave the group a high-wattage smile to sweeten the edge of finality in my tone as I told them, "Thank you, ladies. Enjoy the rest of Halloween."

They didn't seem to want to leave until Julian grinned at them and gave them a little wave. I didn't doubt for a second that these girls had perfectly working brain cells. Julian just seemed to have the innate talent of causing said brain cells to suspend operations with one lazy, enigmatic smile.

Once the group was gone, I turned my back to him to clean up my tools and get all my paperwork ready for my cash out. When I heard Julian talking and laughing with Jessica, who was finally rid of her last customer of the moment, I turned around and placidly said, "I'm going to be another twenty minutes or so. I have to cash out."

He looked so innocent as he glanced questioningly at Jessica. "Twenty minutes is fine. I can wait here, can't I?"

"You're technically a customer so you can definitely stay and look around or talk to the staff," Jessica reassured him with a brilliant smile. Her excuse was a bit of a stretch but it would do.

I picked up my cash-out papers as the printer spewed them out. "Don't monopolize her though or you'll get us both in hot water."

Even as I was walking to the back of the store, I couldn't shake off my annoyance at leaving Julian with Jessica. She was a perfectly nice girl. He was probably better off with her although she was a bit of a romantic to deserve just being another quick fuck for him.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I sat down and did my cash out work with Rory, the on-duty manager. I was startlingly efficient even when I was so mentally preoccupied with other things.

Despite the vivid memories I had of Julian and Kendra doing the dirty deed on my bed or of the skirtless Brittany peeking out from Julian's bedroom, it somehow struck me as unfair to pronounce that all that Julian was capable of were quick, meaningless fucks, despite my inclination to goad him about it. I've gotten to know him well enough in the short time I'd lived with him that I knew he could be capable of a whole lot more. Whether or not he was interested in proving that anytime soon was a completely different story—and one I shouldn't waste mental energy contemplating about especially when all it did was confuse me more.

It took me half the time it normally did to wrap up my cash-out. I made a quick stop at the bathroom to clean the make-up off my face with some wet wipes. Jessica seemed surprise when she saw me striding down the aisle to grab Julian by the elbow, wave her an off-handed goodbye and head out.

"I hope you're not mad at me for bothering you at work," Julian said. He'd stopped in his tracks, effectively pulling me back since I couldn't yank his arm forward anymore. "I'm sorry. I really thought your shift was over."

"It was busy so I couldn't leave right away," I answered, turning around to face him. The late afternoon sun bathed the world with golden light, hitting all the sharp angles of Julian's face and glinting against the hidden lighter streaks of his dark brown hair. I've always loved the magic hour of the day because it was a stolen moment of unfettered happiness I rarely indulged in but right now, it so reverently enshrined a man I didn't want to be drawn to any further.

"Why did you come to see me anyway?" I asked, a little of bit of my resentment sharpening my tone. I didn't apologize for it.

Julian's brows knitted in a half-frown. "Tonight's Hallows Eve—the biggest Halloween party in this side of town. The entire Prescott student body shows up every year. I want you to come with me."

I raised a brow silently.

He sighed. "Well, our friends will be there too—Kit, Nisha, Matt, Cammi. We'll go as a group."

I held back telling him they were his friends and that Cammi definitely didn't feel friendly toward me, deciding to cut him short and quick instead. "I don't want to go. I'm going to stay home as I'd originally planned. Don't stop yourself on my behalf. You're not my guardian."

Julian shook his head. "But it'll be so much fun. This isn't some wimpy party someone's throwing in their backyard. It'll be out on the street in front of Mad Alley and there'll be tons of local bands and all kinds of attractions. It's a freaking Halloween carnival. People will be in costumes! You can't pass that up to stay home and watch TV. You'll love it, I promise."

I was familiar with Mad Alley. It used to be just a piece of scrubland in the back alley in an industrial area between Cobalt Bay and Cardinal but over the years, it became a street party and mixed-martial arts fighting ground. A few years ago, someone bought the vacant property, built a club with a fighting arena, and kept the name Mad Alley. It was a popular haunt for those who liked to walked on the wild, edgy side of life.

I walked that side for years before I finally walked away. I'm not walking right back into it.

I summoned some will power from an inner well so deep I was yet to glimpse the bottom of it, hoping it wouldn't take more to convince Julian that he wasn't changing my mind.

But damn those puppy-dog eyes. And damn him for suddenly catching me off guard when he lowered his face and touched his forehead against mine, his arms circling around my waist and his fingers pressing gently against my sides. I couldn't move away an inch. I didn't really want to but my brain was currently short-circuiting and I couldn't trust its judgement.

With the sun washing over the world with its golden afterglow, eclipsing everything, it was easy to forget where we were, who I was, what I couldn't be and what I suddenly wanted that very second I felt Julian's breath touch my cheek.

"Please, Star," he murmured, his voice low but tender—a whispered plea. "Come with me."

Another time, another guy and it would be an easy case of me shoving him away and telling him to get lost. This shouldn't be any different.

My hand moved up to press against his chest, waiting for the strength to propel it forward and push him away but at the feeling of his fast-beating heart, my fingers curled around his shirt and clung there.

I peered up at him from under my lashes, aware of how close his lips were and how I wanted them to be closer.

I swallowed against my thundering heartbeat and very different words stumbled past my lips. "I don't have a costume."

I watched as his parted lips slowly curved into a smile while his eyes sparkled happily, and I experienced an absurd urge to grin and throw my arms around him like I'd won something amazing.

"Don't worry. I've enlisted Nisha to help," he assured me. "She and Kit are going to come over and get ready there and she'll bring lots of options for you. She was very excited when I called her."

I was tempted to remind him that he didn't even know I was going to go but I didn't because I realized that Julian probably knew well enough that he could charm me into saying yes anyway. It was disconcerting to acknowledge that I'd barely put up a fight but I reminded myself that this was just a silly Halloween party.

It's not the end of the world.

Julian released me from the hold he had around my waist but he stayed one hand on my hip.

"Thank you, Starlight," he murmured, leaning forward to press a kiss on my forehead so featherlight it shouldn't have shot down my neck and along my spine like a bolt of electrical current. "You won't regret it."

I pulled away and teased him with a mock-scowl. "I better not if I'm giving up my night of peace and quiet to keep your miserable ass company."

He laughed and caught my hand. "Come on. My miserable ass and your lovely, perky one need to get home and get ready. My bike's over here."

We'd hung out at the garage for a little bit last weekend but I'd never seen his motorbike before. It was a low-slung but sporty Harley model, all black and voluptuous curves.

"Have you ever been on a bike before?" Julian asked as he unhooked a pair of black helmets from the side and handed one to me.

The question struck me as funny, as if Julian had just asked me whether I'd done a bunch of things I shouldn't have before, but I just pressed my lips together and nodded, slipping on the helmet.

"Hang on to me, okay?" was his soft reminder before he straddled the bike and offered a hand to help me up.

It was no more than ten minutes on his bike to get home but it felt like a suspended state of forever as I sat there, my arms snugly wrapped around Julian's narrow, muscled waist, my thighs pressed up against his hips, my chin tucked against his back. Necessity by virtue of vehicular safety was a good excuse to hush the voice in my head and just enjoy the moment.

I headed straight for the shower when we got home, barely catching Julian yelling at me that he was going to get the candy out for the trick-or-treaters.

I had no idea what I was going to wear but I hunted through my small stash of extra-nice, extra-seductive lingerie. I didn't think of the reasons I had them. I slipped on the low cut, boy-leg panties that left the lower curve of my butt exposed. The strapless bra was a matching black lace and it fit my breasts perfectly, the already substantial cups lifted slightly by the thin underwire.

I was slapping on some lotion when I heard Julian's voice coming up the stairs.

"...Let me ask her, okay, Nish?" His head popped up into view before I could dive for my robe and he froze in place when he saw me in nothing but skin and lace with my leg propped up on the bed, arms stretched forward in the act of smoothing lotion from my ankles up.

I knew how it looked. Despite Julian's stunned expression, his body, even half-obscured by the stairs from my view, was far from slow in reacting to the sight of me. The flash of heat in his eyes was enough indication.

It startled me to realize that I lost every interest I had in the safety of my robe and that for the first time, I didn't mind male eyes traveling up and down every inch of my exposed skin.

Well, not just any male eyes. Just those damned mossy green ones I see in my dreams.

"What is it?" I asked with perfect, practiced calm, glancing at the cellphone Julian had pressed up to his ear.

"Um..." He blinked several times, swallowing hard but making it plain that he was still too busy checking me out properly to form a prompt answer. "Nisha is on the phone... She wants to know if... I mean, what size your, uh... what shoe size you wear."

I couldn't help the grin and the uncharacteristic urge to be naughty as I straightened up and walked toward Julian who was still glued to the stairs, taking the phone from him.

There was nothing but the stub wall and a foot of space between us. The unmistakeable fire in his gaze was warming up my skin as I casually leaned against the handrail and greeted Nisha on the phone, like I wasn't parading myself in nothing but small scraps of black lace in front of a very hungry-looking Julian.

"I can wear heels just fine," I reassured Nisha at the end of our short conversation, smiling and glancing up at Julian who was stuck to the wall as if he were actively clinging to it from the way his hands curled at his sides. "Thanks, Nisha. See you soon."

With the call done, I handed the phone back to him.

He slowly reached out to take it and I angled my head up at him in concern even though I knew exactly what ailed him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, his gaze still so intense I wondered how desperately he was grasping for control.

I reminded myself that I was playing a dangerous game and backed away, snatching up my robe from the edge of the bed.

"You were right about stars," he suddenly said, his voice strained and rough with telltale emotions.

I glanced over my shoulder at him and saw him gripping the handrail hard, his knuckles were white. I fought the instinct to run my fingers along his hand until it gave up the fight and let go. "What about them?"

"They burn hot and bright."

And then he rushed down the stairs like he'd caught fire.

"What is wrong with you, Star?" I murmured to no one in particular as I slipped on the robe and reached for my hairbrush. "You never play games unless you absolutely have to."

***

Nisha arrived arm in arm with Kit, dressed as a flapper in her short, sequinned red dress and a matching jewelled headband that tucked her short hair back.

Kit was the nineteen-twenties rich businessman, dapper in his pinstripe suit with his hair slicked back and a fake moustache glued above his upper lip.

We left the boys hanging out by the front porch waiting for trick-or-treaters while we rushed up to my room to try on the costumes she'd brought.

She had half a dozen options—from a cowgirl to Cat Woman—and it came down to finding one that fit me the best. Nisha was a few inches taller than my five-four height but she was slender with smaller breasts and narrower hips. I was the same size feet as her sister where she'd made a quick stop to borrow some options for shoes.

In the end, I picked out the Eve costume. It wasn't my first choice because it was a little sexy and suggestive but it fit me best since it was a corset-like top with dark green fabric leaves sewn all around the bodice. We were able to loosen the lacing in the back so I could breathe better although my boobs were still pushed up high. It paired with matching stretchable shorts also covered with the same leaf appliqués. With my waist-length dark brown hair tousled into into thick, silken waves cascading down my back and my make-up left neutral except for my scarlet lips, I was the very picture of temptation. The real, red delicious apple Nisha had brought along punctuated the sin I represented.

Nisha was squealing excitedly as she ran down the stairs to announce me but I hesitated, wondering if I was making a huge mistake portraying myself this way. I could walk down the street in this during daylight and not bat an eye at anyone who turned to stare but that kind of detachment was one I reserved for specific situations. I came to Prescott as regular college girl Star Matthews. I wondered if Julian would take one look at me and figure it all out.

Dressed in scuffed boots, tan breeches with a sword belt hanging over his hip, a loose, white silk shirt and a black patch over one eye, Julian was a casual but very sexy pirate—one with a slackened jaw when he saw me come down the stairs.

"She's not going anywhere in that!"

The force of his voice surprised all of us and we exchanged looks, watching Julian's jaw clench and unclench as he ran a hand through his already messy hair.

When it dawned on him that we were confused, he waved a hand up and down in my direction as if that made things clearer. "I'm going to have break someone's nose every five minutes with her going around dressed like that at the party."

I stifled a snort. "You don't have to. I can break noses on my own just fine."

"You look very nice, Star," Kit reassured me with a kind smile. "Don't mind him."

"It's still classy," Nisha defended. "It's pretty tame compared to some of the costumes we're sure to see tonight. All that's showing are her shoulders and legs."

Julian looked at her as if she were talking in a foreign language. "I don't think so! Her face is... you know? And her..." He motioned back and forth the width of his chest. "...It's showing too, you know?"

Julian was making such a big deal about this, I worried he was going to collapse on his knees and declare his undying love for me or something. "Why don't I just stay home like I originally planned? Then you don't have to worry about my... you know."

He scowled at me, not appreciating the jab. "You can wear a jacket."

I raised a brow. "I don't believe there were jackets in the garden of Eden."

"That's because there weren't other men there who would ogle or grope you." He moved to the front closet and yanked out his favorite black leather jacket which he draped over my shoulders, covering me almost to mid-thigh. "There. That's better."

"It's not," I argued, trying to slip the jacket off. "It's ridiculous."

A car horn blared outside.

"Matt's here," Kit announced, offering his arm to Nisha. "Come on, let's go or we'll be stuck at the gate with a few hundred people."

"And we didn't go through all this trouble to be not seen," Nisha grumbled, glaring at Julian briefly before heading out with Kit.

"I'm not going to wear your damned jacket all night," I muttered to Julian as we followed the couple out the door. "You're letting Nisha's hard work to go waste."

I couldn't shrug the jacket off anyway, even if I'd tried again, because his arm was on my shoulders as he leaned in and whispered, "Please, Star. Do it for my sanity."

"What's your sanity got to do with this?" I demanded in a low voice.

He stopped me in the middle of the front porch and angled me a warning look—one that smoldered with familiar heat. "You damn well know the answer to that question. If you're trying to drive me crazy, you've done it. I'm crazy thinking about you in those lacy things you had on earlier. I'm crazy with wanting to touch you but knowing I can't. I'm crazy thinking that there's going to be tons of guys out there tonight wanting the same thing and not holding themselves back the way I'm trying like hell to."

His gruff admission hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest where it exploded and scorched.

It was always there—his interest—but he'd never said it so directly or with such fervor. At least not after I moved in with him and we'd established some kind of friendship. I'd pushed him too far tonight and now I had to face the consequences of giving in to my impulses—impulses I didn't have really have until I literally walked in on Julian Wilde.

"Don't worry about the other guys, Wilde," I told him with a wry smile, picking the one thing in everything he said that I could actually talk about. The rest I could pretend I didn't hear. "I'm not as naive or sheltered as you think I am. I can look after myself."

He stared at me for a moment, probably figuring out that I didn't want to talk about anything else he'd said. "I never thought for a second that you're naive, Star. You're too self-possessed for that."

"Hey, lovebirds! Are we going or what?"

We looked up and saw Matt sticking his head out of a black stretch limo and glowering at us.

"A limo? Really?" I asked Julian.

He shook his head and steered me down the front stairs. "There's too many of us so Matt rented one. That way, no one drinks and drives and we can all have fun."

I didn't press the jacket issue any further for the sake of the others waiting for us.

When I slid inside the car next to Nisha, I found myself face to face with Cammi who was dressed up as some kind of princess with a short, sparkly gold dress, a dainty tiara on her perfectly styled hair.

"Oh, look! You're a pirate!" a girl I didn't know clad in a sexy school girl outfit and nearly straddled over Matt's lap, pointed out with a giggle as Julian slid into the car after me, taking up the only space left which was right next to Cammi. "It's perfect! You're the pirate who'll abduct and ravish the princess!"

"That's Daphne," Nisha whispered to me. "Cammi's friend. She and Matt are kind of an off-and-on deal."

Daphne had clearly been pre-drinking already, her racoon eyes shiny as they narrowed at me. "And who are you?"

Julian cleared his throat. "Daph, this is—"

"My name's Star," I interjected, giving her a bold smile as I leaned forward to shrug off Julian's jacket. The position advertised my rack more than what was already displayed but it considerably satisfied me when Cammi, who'd casually slung an arm around Julian's stomach, stiffened at his low growl.

"I think I'll call you Sin instead," Matt declared, straightening in his seat at the sight of my costume and earning an elbow to his side from Daphne. "You make me wanna be very bad."

"Matt, know that the reason you've still got all your teeth on is because you're Kit's brother," Julian muttered just as the lights in the car dimmed when the limo pulled out on the street.

"You can't monopolize all the girls, Julian," Matt shot back, sounding irritated even though we couldn't see his face much anymore.

"You know how many girls I'm talking about," Julian snapped.

"Can we turn up the music so we can all get in a party mood?" Cammi's voice piped up in the shadows, strained and flat. With a shaft of streetlight streaming in through the window, I caught her leaning over to the side to reach for the entertainment panel which conveniently trapped Julian under her. His eyes though, in that second-long moment when the light caught his face, were on me, reminding me of his nearly desperate admission earlier.

I smiled and leaned back in my seat, feeling strangely content despite the fact that Julian was sitting too far away from me in my opinion, with Cammi half-sprawled on him. I knew who and what he was thinking about.

Twenty minutes or so later, our limo dropped us off at the crowded gate just at the intersection where the block Mad Alley took up started. There were masses of people already present, all costumed to the hilt. The tall, boxy building where the club and the fighting arena were actually housed was officially called Mad Alley and it stood visible in the distance. The strip of small diners, biker bars, tattoo shops and other rough-edged types of businesses that ran alongside it was often included in the informal reference to Mad Alley as an iconic area, mainly because of events like tonight, where the whole block was closed off for the Halloween party.

The moment we stepped out of the limo, I gave in to the habit of scanning the grounds and the crowd, noting entrances and exits, picking out the casual-dressed security guards, and counting the cop cars that cruised around the block. This was the first large event I'd been to since I came to town and the pricklings of my old instincts were hard to ignore.

You never go in without knowing your way out.

Julian guided our group past the long lines of people trying to pay their admissions. The temporary gates were guarded by the biggest and burliest bouncers I've ever seen which made me clutch Nisha's arm warily.

"I'm pretty sure the end of the line is a mile back. Why are we cutting in?" I asked, uneasy at the thought of trouble. It always brewed beneath the surface, waiting for the first small crack. I had more at risk than just college if I got hauled into jail.

"Julian's cousin built Mad Alley years ago," Nisha explained. "He used to fight in the alley matches until he decided to buy the land one day and built it into what it is today."

"Julian has a permanent VIP pass here," Kit added. "And that includes his whole entourage. We've never had trouble before."

I nodded, relaxing a bit. I never had trouble getting into places myself before but my credentials were of an entirely different category.

I spied Julian ahead of us as he stopped by the gates and greeted one of the bouncers who glanced at our group and gave a sharp nod.

People behind us loudly grumbled and muttered as expected, moving like a strong current toward the gate that had been opened for us on the side. A bouncer stepped up to bark at the crowd to move back in the line. Since I had hung back at the rear of our group, I was jostled forward when some guy in a Marilyn Manson costume yelled back at the bouncer and unwisely started a match with a guy twice his size.

Matt steadied me, steering me in front of him just as Julian pushed his way from the front of the group to get to me.

"You okay?" he asked, his hand wrapping around one of mine.

I eased my grip on the small flick knife I'd discreetly tucked in the waistband of my shorts and nodded, letting my arm fall to my side.

"Just stay close to me," he murmured, pressing me to his side as we made our way through the gate and into the alley where all kinds of entertainment awaited, from the concert happening at the far end of the block to the carnival booths and rides that littered the street.

"They serve liquor at some of the bar booths but they'll ask for ID," Julian said. "So I suggest you don't drink or let me get you one or two if you really think you—"

"I got it," I interjected with a smile, holding up one of the half a dozen fake IDs I'd collected over the last few years.

Julian's mouth curved up in wry amusement. "And here I thought you were as strait-laced as they come."

I smiled. "Just because I don't care to show off, doesn't mean I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"I have a feeling this isn't going to be the last of your many surprises."

"And you'd be right," I muttered under my breath before turning to face the group with a dazzling smile, determined to party away the reminders of my past. "So. What do we do first?"

***

So, what do you think? 

I think it's safe to say that these two are very attracted to each other and they both know it. How long can they stay away from the fire when they both want to be consumed by it? My answer: Not that long. The bigger question is: Will they get badly burned?

Anyway, stay tuned for the next upload. 

I'm working on a project right now that requires a lot of my focus but I will do my best to post each week since I do have the next chapters sorted out. 

One last plug: Don't forget to tune into the Wattpad Block Party - Winter Edition II this February! I'll be featured on Feb 7 along with a little extra bonus post. Plus, I'll be online all day to answer your questions so come with a list. =)

Happy reading!

XOXO!

-Ninya

P.S. Love this song! The lyrics couldn't be any truer for Star.

♪♪♪ Chapter Soundtrack: Dust to Dust by Civil Wars ♪♪♪

It's not your eyes

It's not what you say

It's not your laughter

That gives you away

You're just lonely

You've been lonely too long

All your acting, your thin disguise

All your perfectly delivered lines

They don't fool me

You've been lonely too long

Let me in the walls

You've built around

We can light a match

And burn them down

Let me hold your hand

And dance 'round and 'round the flames

In front of us

Dust to dust

You've held your head up

You've fought the fight

You bear the scars

You've done your time

Listen to me

You've been lonely too long