Page 96 of Pleasure & Prey: Vol. 2

“Here you guys go!” The girl has the worst timing and pulls our attention off of each other. Cass steps toward her, a friendly smile on his face as he takes both cups.

“Thank you.” I take my cup from him and flash the girl a smile. “And thank you for the commitment to the extra marshmallows.” They’re piled onto my hot chocolate and melting into the liquid perfectly.

“Anytime! I hope you guys enjoy Manic Manor tonight!”

We walk away from her as I blow my nose again, closing my eyes at the burn in my nose. “So, did you come here with anyone?” I ask, not turning to look at Cass who’d fallen into step behind me. “The guy you brought to the diner?”

He doesn’t answer.

“Are you ignoring me?” I hadn’t thought he was actually mad at me, but his continued silence makes me rethink that. “Cassian—?” I turn with his name on my lips, only to find that he’s no longer behind me. In fact, as my eyes rove around the open yard, I realize he’s nowhere near at all.

“Okay then.” With a sigh, I bundle up my used tissues and toss them into an overflowing trash can nearby. My feet take me back across the yard and it’s easy to find Reagan standing out with her bright red hair and pink and black hoodie.

“I felt guilty,” I tell her, showing her my cup. “Felt weird to just steal napkins, so I bought a hot chocolate, too.” There’s no need to tell her about Cassian. While she knows the story, she definitely doesn’t know that he’s back and has been giving me a lot more attention than I’d expected.

And he’s making me feel incredibly conflicted this Halloween season. It’s…strange.

“Who was the guy with you?” She hands me a ticket, then shoves the other in her pocket. “Did you know him?”

It only takes me a moment to decide I’m going to lie to her. “He’s come to the diner a few times. We went to high school together, but he moved away pretty soon after.” The lie rolls off my tongue smoothly, and Reagan barely glances at me. There’s certainly no suspicion in her eyes, and I relax when I realize she’s bought my story.

Though she has no reason not to.

Who in the world would believe that I’d voluntarily talk to Cassian Byers or let him get near me? It’s much easier to tell her he’s just a friend from when I was younger and leave it as that.

“I didn’t think you talked to anyone from high school.” Reagan snorts, gesturing for us to head to the line for the haunted forest part of Manic Manor. “Except me, because you could never abandon me.”

“Because you’d never let me abandon you,” I amend, blowing my nose again before taking a large mouthful of marshmallow and hot chocolate. Though, it’s mostly marshmallow.

Reagan tips her head to the side thoughtfully. “Yeah,” she agrees. “I can agree with that. But come on, Winnie.” She slings an arm over my shoulders as we get closer to the front of the line. “You’re my best friend. No way I’d ever let you forget about me.”

“That sounds like a threat, you weirdo.” I shove at her arm, though I’m grinning when I meet her eyes.

“Oh, it’s such a threat. Where’s your ticket? Don’t tell me you’ve lost it already.” She glances up at the masked man holding his hand out for the tickets, and I dig in my pocket with a scowl.

“No, I didn’t lose it.” I hand it over to him and he scans it with his eyes and a small flashlight before handing it back to me. “I’m not that bad.”

“Uh, yeah. You really are.” Reagan is nearly vibrating with excitement as she drags me down the start of the trail, as screams echo through the trees in the distance.

It takes until we’re done with the trail for the decongestants to finally kick in. By now, my nose is sore as hell and I can’t breathe out of my right nostril, predictably, and I would sort of rather be at home under a blanket than out in the cold for another hour or so.

But I don’t want to ruin Reagan’s night. She’s extra chatty tonight and hangs onto my arm while we both giggle at the scares in the woods. Neither of us have ever been particularly afraid of haunted attractions like this, but they still make my heart race whenever someone catches me off guard.

“What’s the theme of the manor this year?” I ask, gazing up at the three-story, renovated farmhouse that’s way bigger than it needs to be. Beside it sits the large barn that’s been converted into a slaughterhouse, and I can hear the rev of a chainsaw from inside.

Honestly, out of all the things here, the slaughterhouse is the only part that sometimes unnerves me. It takes a moment for me to realize Reagan hasn’t replied as we fall into place at the back of the manor line. My brows furrow and I turn to her, surprised to see her looking conflicted with her teeth digging into her bottom lip hard enough to look painful.

“Reagan?” I nudge her as she slips her arm free of mine. “You good?”

She looks up at me, her face morphing into a smile. “I’m good,” she says finally, then tugs on my sleeve lightly. “Hey, let’s do the slaughterhouse first, yeah?” She gestures to the drastically shorter line than the one we’re in. “I’m impatient.”

“Whatever you want.” I let her drag me to the other side of the path, and we catch a spot just behind a large group that filters into the slaughterhouse door in front of us, leaving us alone in the line. The man letting people in moves to stand in front of us, breathing heavily behind his white mask.

Shivering, I gaze up at him with an unimpressed tilt of my head…at least until the chainsaw revs from just inside the door and two girls from the group in front of us scream. I can’t help but flinch, which drags a snicker out of Reagan at my side.

“They’re going to have fun with you, aren’t they? You’re jumpy as hell,” the large, broad man murmurs in a deep, rumbling voice.

“I’m not that bad,” I argue. My teeth chatter from the falling temperature, and I wish I had another cup of hot chocolate to take into the slaughterhouse with me, if only to warm my hands and my insides. The man doesn’t reply. He just watches me, and I jump when another actor brushes past me with a low hiss in my ear.