Free Wicked Dreams by Lily Harper Hart

police officer there?” Ivy asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Did you like it?”
    “You’re asking a lot of questions all of a sudden,” Jack said. “You weren’t interested in my past before.”
    “I was interested,” Ivy said, her voice soft. “I just didn’t want to … push you.”
    Jack’s face softened. “You’re not pushing me,” he said. “I … what do you want to know?” He had no idea why he was opening the door to this conversation, and yet he didn’t want to close it.
    “Did you like the city?”
    “I liked being able to go to a grocery store … or a movie … or even a gas station in the middle of the night if I wanted to,” Jack said. “You can’t do that in Shadow Lake.”
    “No,” Ivy agreed.
    “I didn’t like all of the … concrete, though,” he said. “I didn’t like all the people. I didn’t like all the smog. I didn’t like all the crime.”
    He didn’t like being stalked in the dark and shot twice, Ivy added silently. “Do you like it up here?”
    “I like parts of it very much,” Jack said pointedly, his gaze fixed on Ivy’s face. “I like the open spaces, trees, fields, and rivers. I like the quiet. I like a lot of the people.”
    “Like Ivy?” Kelly teased.
    Jack cocked an eyebrow as he regarded the teenager. She’d grown steadily more accustomed to his presence over the course of the afternoon. She wasn’t exactly comfortable with him yet, but she was getting there. “I like Ivy sometimes,” he said. “I want to strangle her sometimes, too.”
    “Not really, though?”
    “Not really,” Jack said. “I know you don’t know me, Kelly, but I would never hurt anyone. I wouldn’t hurt you, and I definitely wouldn’t hurt Ivy.”
    “Even if she … called you a name?”
    “She’s called me plenty of names,” Jack said. “In fact, she denies it, but I think she’s turned my name into an insult of sorts.”
    “I told you that I’ve been calling people jackholes since I was a kid,” Ivy argued.
    “I’m not sure I believe you.”
    “And that’s why you’re a jackhole,” Ivy said.
    Jack smirked, despite himself. “See.”
    “I think you’re nice,” Kelly said after a moment. “I think you’re nice to Ivy, too, even if you guys like to pretend you hate each other.”
    “We don’t hate each other,” Ivy said. “We’re just … combative.”
    “We’re both bossy,” Jack explained. “Ivy is used to getting her way, and so am I. When you put two people who think that way together, they fight.”
    “I think it’s more than that,” Kelly said. “I think you two want to kiss each other.”
    Ivy pressed her lips together, conflicted. “I’d rather kiss a toad.”
    “I’ll find one for you so we can test that theory,” Jack said, narrowing his eyes.
    “My foster parents never kiss each other,” Kelly said, lost in thought. “They never look like they want to either. I guess I just thought that’s how all adults acted around each other. You two are proving me wrong.”
    There was the opening he was looking for. Jack cleared his throat. “Speaking of your foster parents, I had a talk with them yesterday.”
    Kelly froze, her face a mask of fear and doubt. “W-what did they say?”
    “Well, first off, they told me you were at the library,” Jack said, refusing to lie. “When I pointed out that was impossible, they opened up about a few things. They weren’t happy about it, though.”
    “Are they going to kick me out?”
    “I don’t think you need to worry about that right now,” Jack said. “They have bigger fish to fry. Besides, I thought you were happy here with Ivy for the time being?”
    “I am,” Kelly said hurriedly. “It’s just … they don’t like it when kids make waves. They want kids to be good … and quiet.”
    “I kind of figured that out myself,” Jack said. It was now or never. “Kelly, I need to ask you a question.”
    “You want to know if they hurt me, don’t you?”
    “Yes.”
    “They never touched