I had been infatuated with Dylan since the day we first met all those years ago, but it wasn’t until that kiss that my feelings for him were solidified. Then to find out that it wasn’t Dylan that I had kissed, but Reece instead… it threw all my emotions for a loop. Everything I had based my crush on was a lie. I had read into things that weren’t even there. Those small touches, the way he held my hand, the way he smiled at me… that was just Dylan being Dylan. It had nothing to do with him liking me back.

“God, this is driving me nuts,” I mumble as another shiver rocks my body. It was then that I felt the warmth of a jacket being wrapped around my shoulders engulfing me in the unmistakable smell of Reece Nicholls. I didn’t even have to see his face to know it was him. “Thanks, Reece.”

I hear a throaty laugh from behind. “How did you know it was me?”

“Because you are the only one I know that smells like cinnamon,” I tell him earnestly. “I like cinnamon.”

Reece comes to stand next to me, his back leaning against the railings and his face angled away from me. His face was shadowed and I couldn’t make out the emotion in his eyes but I could see the frown on his forehead. Instinctively, I reach up and run the pads of my fingers of the lines, tracing their way down to his cheek before coming to a rest on his chiselled jaw line. I gently force his gaze to mine and shoot him a small smile.

“What are you doing?” Reece asks, his voice so small that I almost didn’t catch it.

I shrug. “Trying to work something out,” I answer as best as I could. “You were the one under the Zorro mask?”

Reece nods. “Yes,” he gulps audibly.

“And you’re the one who does those treasure hunts every year on my birthday?” I ask and again Reece nods in confirmation. “What about the notes in my locker? Was that you too?”

A coy smile creeps up onto Reece’s face. “That was me,” he whispers. “All of that was me.”

“Damn it,” I find myself grumbling. I shake my head and laugh to myself, gaining a worried look from Reece.

I laugh for the longest time as realisation hits me. When I finally snap out of it, I do the most unexpected thing. Standing on my tip toes I reach up to Reece’s height and plant my lips against his. At first it’s chaste, a little unsure and slightly awkward. A knot starts to form in the pit of my stomach and my eyes flutter open to see Reece’s confused stare on me.

“You’re supposed to close your eyes when you’re kissing someone,” I tell him, my words laced with a slight annoyance.

“I know,” he nods, and then promptly shakes his head. When those melting brown eyes find mine, Reece frowns again. “Why are you doing this, Cadence?”

“What do you mean?” I demand, lowering myself so that I’m no longer stretched up to six-two. “Was I bad at it? Did I do it wrong?”

Reece’s frown deepens. “No,” he hurriedly tells me. “You were… it was… I just… Why did you kiss me?”

I step closer to him, nestling myself into his arms. “Because I very much liked kissing you before.”

“Before?”

“Halloween, Zorro,” I tell him, watching him closely for a reaction. When it finally dawned on him what I was talking about, I giggle. “You see, it was that kiss that really made me fall for Dylan… only now that I know that it wasn’t Dylan, things are a little different.”

“Ah,” Reece’s voice and features become cold. “Trying your luck with the other brother, huh?”

I stumble backwards. “Excuse me?” I challenge him. “Is that what you really think of me?”

He doesn’t answer.

“How dare you,” I jab him in the chest. “That’s not what this is about, at all. This is me trying to work out if there’s a spark between us like there was all those years ago. You like me and I want to see if there’s a chance that we could be… together.”

“Who the hell told you that I like you?” Reece’s tone was laced with disgust.

“Dylan and the others,” I answer nervously. “Were they wrong?”

“Too bloody right they were wrong!” Reece yells.

The words hit me like a freight train and I could feel my insides falling apart. I tried not to look disappointed, but it was hard. I was being rejected by the only boy that I had ever maybe loved and he didn’t seem to care that he was destroying me. I stumble away from Reece, pulling his jacket from my shoulders and tossing it back at him. It wasn’t until I looked up and met his stare that I realised just how heart-breaking this was.

Tears slid down my cheeks thick and fast and there was nothing I could do to stop them from flowing. My chest constricted and my breathing became erratic as I fought for every breath. My body began trembling and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I backed away from the terrace and headed for the Ball room. As soon as I stepped inside, I felt the eyes of everyone on me, carefully watching to see what else I was going to do. When they saw how upset I was, however, they all returned their gazes to their tables and began whispering to each other instead.

Erin was the first to notice my state and she shot Dylan a worried glance before getting to her feet and pulling me into a tight embrace.

“What happened?” Erin asks, her soothing voice trying to calm me. “What did he do?”

“He-” I choked out. “He- said- he- didn’t- like-”

Erin cooed into my ear. “I’m so sorry, Cady,” she said. “I really thought-” Erin came to an abrupt stop and I felt her body tense against mine. “Um, Cady? I think you might want to turn around.”

I pulled away from the hug and turned to where Erin pointed.

Reece stood in the middle of the dance floor holding the microphone in his hand. He looked a mixture of guilt and nerves and it was a vulnerability that I had never seen in him before.