Jace Donovan wasn’t used to being caught off guard.

But here he was, sitting in the cafeteria, still feeling the sticky remnants of juice dripping down his cheek, while the entire school buzzed over what had just happened.

Everleigh Carter had fought back.

And worse? She had won.

The whole cafeteria had gasped when she did it. He could still hear the stunned whispers around him.

"Did you see that?"
"She actually stood up to Jace."
"Damn, that was brutal."

Jace clenched his jaw, wiping his face with the back of his sleeve. He should be pissed.

And he was.

But beneath the anger, there was something else. Something unfamiliar.

Something that felt a little too much like admiration.

What the hell?

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Everleigh was supposed to break. She was supposed to cry or run away like everyone else who dared to stand in his way.

But instead, she had looked him straight in the eye and thrown it right back at him.

Like she wasn’t afraid of him at all.

Jace scowled, gripping the edge of the table. He could hear his friends laughing beside him, cracking jokes at his expense.

"Dude, she got you good."
"Never thought I'd see the day Jace Donovan got owned."

He exhaled sharply, forcing a smirk. "Please," he said, leaning back. "I let her have that one. Thought I’d give her a little hope before I completely destroy her."

Lies.

Because the truth was, he should have remembered that fire in her eyes.

That defiance.

That girl wasn’t a stranger.

She was Everleigh.

The girl who once tied friendship bracelets around his wrist. The girl who used to chase fireflies with him in the summer.

The girl he had forgotten.

Jace shook his head, shoving the thoughts away. None of that mattered.

The past was gone.

And if Everleigh Carter thought she could challenge him?

She was about to learn just how ruthless Jace Donovan could be.