“How you doin’, kiddo?” I asked her.
“Amazing! You?” She skipped over to me and gave me a side-hug. “No more Enya for you, I hope.”
I laughed through my nose. “None whatsoever. Life’s great, all of a sudden. I’m still sorry about ditching you, though.”
She scrunched her nose and peered up at me. “What’re you talk—oh. Oh, please. The only thing that would’ve pissed me off in that scenario is if youhadn’tchased down your man. Besides, I got to spend some quality time with James and Jordan. They’re fun.”
I smiled and?—
“Is that part of the event, boys?” Pen asked. “Or something I should be aware of?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“What do you mean?”
We all followed her stare, or to where she was pointing, and I cocked my head. Was that some kind of dirt on the house wall? It was smudgy and only a few shades lighter than the black paint,but the more I looked… It couldn’t be dirt. It was a circle or something.
“What in the actual…” Reese stalked over there and brought out a—a flashlight? Nope, scratch that, it was a UV light.
Penelope snorted a laugh. “Who walks around with a black light, Reese?”
“Someone who’s just checked every goddamn mattress in this house,” he shot back.
I cracked up. “Thank you for your service, my man!”
“Aye, we appreciate you ensuring the year’s biggest orgy is fresh and clean,” Greer laughed.
Reese flipped us off over his shoulder, at the same time as he backed away from the house wall. The pale UV glow shone a light on more than one circle, I realized. It was a word.
Soon.
“What the…” Colt stood straighter.
So did I.
It wasn’t just painted once either. Reese walked along the house wall and revealed someone had painted the same word over and over, wherever they could reach.Soon, soon, soon, soon. Between windows on the first floor, underneath the windows, along the concrete of the crawlspace.
“Those motherfuckin’ brats,” Greer sighed.
“Whoa!” Nora exclaimed. “A little soon to point fingers, isn’t it?”
“Soon, she said,” Colt pointed out. “Funny choice of word, that.”
Nora rolled her eyes.
“To be fair, sweetie, this has the brats written all over it,” Pen reasoned.
I scratched my chin.
“It’s glow-in-the-dark paint,” Nathan murmured. “We see it more now because it’s getting darker.”
Aye, the sun had gone down.
A beat later, I heard a rush of dings and vibrating sounds, indicating an impressive number of texts had been sent simultaneously. Greer pulled out his phone with a frown, KC was next, Penelope too—and Nathan. And Reese.
“What is it?” I demanded, and why the fuck was I excluded? So was Colt.
