The Keys to Jericho by Ren Alexander Page A

with us anymore?”
    “Just put a sock in it, Dash.”
    He punches my arm. “There you go again. Shoving everyone away.”
    I shoot him a dirty look. Anyone besides Rio and Dash touching me like that would’ve been on their ass right now. “Watch it or I’ll be shoving you off this bridge.”
    Amongst the crowd, we find an open spot on the other end of the drawbridge, next to an old man. It could go either way. Old people are unpredictable. Some try to talk to me, while others leave me alone. There’s a fifty-fifty chance that I’m going to be bothered. I hope this one doesn’t even realize I’m here.
    Leaning over the pinkish top rail, I prop my foot on the bottom one, and look out to the plethora of boats ready to start. On the other side of me, Dash talks to people around us, which is a given when we go anywhere. I yank on the bill of my cap and hope he doesn’t try to pull me into his banal chatter.
    Is there something to what Dash and Rio have said? I’ve always been closed off to people, for the most part. Dash and Rio do know more about me than anyone else does, so I don’t get why Dash is bitching about me “shoving everyone away.” That’s bullshit. They both just want something to complain about or someone to blame. I’m always around to hear about their problems, but they want me to solve them. Fuck, I can’t even solve my own damn problems. Why do they want to know so much about mine? There’s nothing they can do about them. Anyway, they’re water…under the bridge.
    “No way! Look at you!” I hear him laughingly say to someone. I roll my eyes at the water below. How can he be so into people in general? Even strangers love him. He’s revoltingly bubbly. We’re nothing alike. How in the fuck have I stayed friends with him for 22 years?
    Suddenly, Dash smacks my arm. “Hey, I want you to meet someone.”
    Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.
    I grit my teeth. I just want to stand here and watch the boats. He knows I hate these tedious kinds of introductions. I’m not good at feigning interest, even with people I do know. I don’t need to meet one of Dash’s million followers; someone that I’ll never see again. What’s the point?
    Silently promising to shove Calder off the bridge later, I stiffly turn from the railing and force some semblance of a smile. However, the smile slips when I see purple-striped hair, those unreal, dark blue eyes, and a bright smile.
    Dash nods sideways at me. “Kat, this is my best friend Jared Beckett.” Her smile widens as my impatience grows. She has the gall to smile after what she pulled on me this morning?
    Licking my lips, I glower at her before I spread the adoration to Calder, guaranteeing he will meet his demise shortly. Ignoring my ire with his own grin, he says, “Jericho, this is Kat Merrick.”
    The bridge may as well have crashed into the harbor beneath us, taking my stomach first. I wouldn’t have noticed.
    As my jaw hangs open at Dash, Kat complacently says, “We know each other.”
    I really wish I had brought my sunglasses because there’s no way I can hide my shock in any way.
    Kat Merrick.
    Not Brandcroft.
    Katriona Merrick.
    She looks unbelievably different, but my instincts were right.
    It is her.
    She’s the one that got away in high school.
    She’s the one who repeatedly rejected me.
    She’s the one I still dream about.
    She’s…
    Fuck me. Fuck me.
    Fuck. Me.

CHAPTER 5
    KAT
     
     
     
    “Nice to meet you.”
    “What’s your last name?”
    Could he have twisted the knife into my heart any further by uttering those cutting words to me?
    Having Jared walk back into my life is either a blessing or a curse. In school, he was hot, but now, he’s undeniably, smoking hot. Though he looks broader and there is an indescribable wariness about him, his hair is still a warm caramel and his eyes are the same, cool mix of green and hazel. They’re spellbinding.
    Yet, looking into Jared Beckett’s blank stare when I saw him at my mom’s for