Page 97 of Haunted Spurs

"We can't find Emerson."

Katherine's pragmatic voice, answering Carolina's question, violently yanks me back to the present. In that exact same second, Ron's hand slides possessively to the small of my back, guiding me down the last step. His heat seeps through the fabric of my t-shirt, and I do absolutely nothing to push it away.

"What do you mean you can't find Emerson?" Cole comments, with his usual, unsurpassed tact. He takes off his hat and scratches the back of his neck. "I figured he was busy getting it on in some dark corner with the blonde."

"Jesus, please, never say that out loud again."

Susan is slumped in an armchair. She looks absolutely wrecked and is gulping down a glass of water. She massages her temples with red-lacquered fingers. "I don't understand how the hell I managed to get so wasted last night... I can usually hold my liquor way better than that."

Katherine pushes her round glasses up, fixing her hair. "I knew he was small," she comments with a clinical coldness that almost makes me smile.

"Wait, wait... so you're telling me the nerd hid because..." Cole stops in the middle of the room. He raises one hand and makes an unmistakable, vulgar gesture: he repeatedly slides one finger in and out of the half-closed fist of his other hand, then contorts his face into an eloquent, disappointed grimace, as if to imply the astrophysicist ran away because of a monumental misfire.

Carolina bursts out laughing, then looks over at Susan and covers her mouth.

"No, idiot," Susan hisses, rolling her eyes. She presses the cold glass against her forehead. "We were actually about to do it. Then we heard a weird noise, he got up, went out into the hallway to check, and... he never came back."

Carolina furrows her brow, visibly confused, absentmindedly picking a piece of hay off her shoulder. "What do you mean he never came back?"

Susan shakes her head, closing her eyes in a pained grimace. "I don't know. I don't remember anything. My memories of last night are a bit fuzzy... thankfully."

"Do you guys think they kidnapped him? Maybe it's like one of those horror movies where all the main characters are convinced it's just a stupid prank, but then something actually scary and weird happens for real..."

Emma's voice shakes just a bit.

"Um... not to contradict you, Emma, but it seems highly suspicious that they just gathered us all here right now," Sam answers, crossing his massive arms over his chest pragmatically. "I'm sure production has something to do with it."

"Well, it has to be them," Carolina snaps. She looks irritated. "Because they disturbed me at a very inopportune moment."

The twins, standing right behind her, exchange a look and chuckle in unison.

"Oh, sweetie, you were out all night," Indya teases her, bursting out laughing.

Cole wiggles his eyebrows in a silent, brazen agreement, a lazy smirk plastered on his face.

Indya shakes her head, still deeply amused by the situation. "You're selfish, Carol. You should leave some for us poor mortals."

Carolina looks at her painted nails, blowing on them nonchalantly. "Oh, you can join in next time, if you want."

"Guys..." Emma tries to cut in, her voice pitching a little higher. "One of us is missing... I don't think this is the time to—"

Emma stops dead.

Suddenly, the main lights in the living room pop off. There's a quick rustle, a dull thud coming from the center of the room.

But me... I feel like I'm watching the scene unfold from the back row of a movie theater, like a completely detached spectator. The reason is simple: Ron Willers cannot keep his hands off me.

And I absolutely do not want him to.

We are standing in the shadows. He is behind me. One of his hands has slipped slightly under my shirt, his thumb tracing slow, hot circles on the bare skin of my hip, reassuring me and setting me on fire all at once. His solid chest is pressed flush against my back.

Thud.

"Fuck," Katherine's voice hisses in the dark, followed by the sound of a knee hitting the wooden table.

Emma lets out a strangled scream.

"Sorry, sorry, it was me, Emmy, I hit the corner," Kat rushes to say.