Ruin (Rhodes #1) by Rina Kent

                             Sydney flips her hair back. “I need to stand out too, or people would take me for the group’s bloody maid.”

                             I chuckle, patting her hand. “You’re perfect to me.”

                             In a blink, Sydney is on her knees in front of my seat. “Marry me, Mae.”

                             My chuckle turns to a deep laugh. “Not that perfect, Syd.”

                             She staggers back to her seat with an exaggerated sigh. “I’m going to die alone.”

                             “You certainly won’t have better chances with the white hair.” Owen’s brows knit together before his mouth moves into a grin. “Seriously. Did you steal some witch’s wig?”

                             Oh dear, here we go again.

                             I laugh my butt off at Owen and Sydney’s battlefield, before I try to initiate peace talks. It’s a lost cause with these two.

                             Lunch is delightful, and it partially takes my mind from what haunts me.

                             After waving Owen goodbye, I get in my car and wait for Sydney to come out from the ladies’ room.

                             I reach for my handbag when a shadow passes my side vision. Sweat beams in my forehead as my gaze roams sideways.

                             Nothing. No one. Only an empty parking lot.

                             Still, my mind wanders where it shouldn’t. Unease creeps within me like a giant spider, crawling along the door of my car. The ticks of my wristwatch fill the space, and with each tick, trepidation builds in the depths of my psyche. My lips purse and I glance at the rear-view mirror. Not that I would see anything. He’s like the monster I used to think lived under my bed. Every fibre in my body screams he was there, but my vision never spots him.

                             The passenger door clicks open. I jump in my seat.

                             “Whoa.” Sydney settles beside me. “Why are you jumpy?”

                             “N-Nothing.”

                             It’s something. Something atrocious. I sit at the edge of a mental breakdown. If I haven’t met my clique today and had a dose of the normality they provide, I would’ve gone nuts.

                             “I studied psychology.” Sydney’s forefinger darts back and forth as she speaks. “I can tell when you’re lying.”

                             “No, you can’t.”

                             “Fine, I can’t.” She rolls her eyes. “But as your friend, I know something is up. Now, spill.”

                             All the misery I hid thus far comes back to overwhelm me. “I’m scared.” But also excited. How is that possible?

                             “Of what?”

                             Of him. A stranger who plagues my dreams. But I also love how he intrudes on my fantasies as if he always belonged in there.

                             There’s no way to open my heart to Sydney without worrying her or sounding ridiculous.