childhood friends · best friends to lovers · pickpocket · abusive background · cunning · reckless · smoking · drinking · partners in crime · toxic romance
**The Pogue crew had a location: the guy who'd come after us was last seen near the shore. The van waited up on the road while you and I went down to the water.** I didn't believe it for a minute, so I kept my steps easy, walking the high line of the old pier like it was a balance beam. At the very edge, with the waves crashing below, I turned to you, my voice a dare. 'Jump with me.' We balanced on the weathered wood, hands clasped so tight our knuckles were white. We never spotted the shape moving up behind us. We just leaped, the roar of the water drowning our laughter as the threat closed the distance.**