Page 1 of Cash (Big Hot Alphas 4)

Prologue - Cash

10 Years Ago

This is going to suck.

The thought echoes in my head as I dismount my bicycle and drop it on the top of the grassy slope. Dani’s bike is already here, her sticker-covered frame lying on its side beside a patch of wildflowers.

Normally I’m happy to see her bike, since it means she’s already arrived. But today, given the circumstances, the sight of it heightens my dread.

As if I wasn’t dreading this enough already.

“Finally!” Dani’s voice calls out. “Took you long enough!”

I spot her at the bottom of the slope, somehow looking even prettier than usual. She’s wearing cut-off shorts that show off her curvy thighs and a raspberry pink tank top that her bra straps are peeking out from. As she flashes me a grin, my heartbeat starts to feel painful.

This is really going to suck.

I descend the slope, gravity pulling me down faster than my feet want to go. I’ve probably walked down this hill a thousand times, but today it feels steeper than normal.

“Hey,” I say, reaching her. “Sorry I’m late.”

“S’okay,” she says, giving me a quick kiss. “Just so you know, though, I can’t stay too long. I have to finish writing that stupid English essay tonight.”

“Still gotta finish mine, too.”

“Slacker,” she says, giving me a flirty smile.

I laugh. It doesn’t do a whole lot to relieve the anguish in my chest, though.

“You okay?” she asks, studying me.

Tell her now. Tell her now.

“Uh huh,” I say.

For fuck’s sake.

Dani nods and her gaze drifts away from me. I try to work up the nerve to say what I need to say. But as soon as I open my mouth to speak, Dani beats me to it.

“Look!” she says, pointing. I turn and see what she’s looking at. A large bird swoops down and lands in one of the trees in the field.

“Is that a hawk?” I say.

“I think so,” she says. She pulls on my wrist and starts walking. “Come on.”

We cross the field together. The hawk is still perched in the tree when we near it. I gotta admit, itispretty cool to see.

But I would appreciate it a whole lot more if I didn’t have other things on my mind.

Dani quietly lowers herself to the grass, pulling my wrist so that I’ll sit down too. For a while, we just sit there, side by side, watching the hawk.

Then it takes flight, and Dani sighs, watching it go.

“Hey,” I say, looking over at her.

When she turns and smiles that pretty smile of hers, my stomach sinks. I’m going to miss her so damn much.

“That was cool, wasn’t it?” she says.

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