Page 141 of Just One Little Bargain

“He’s gone,” I say quietly.

“I know.”

“You can let go now.”

“I know that too.”

She tilts her face up. Her eyes are dark and wide, pupils blown from adrenaline, and the color high in her cheeks makes her freckles stand out.

“This is terrible,” she whispers.

“You’re doing great.”

Her attention drops to my mouth, and for one wildly inappropriate second I forget there’s a chainsaw somewhere behind us. I could kiss her. Judging by the fact that she’s still tucked against my chest, she might even let me.

A group of people comes tearing around the corner behind us, six or seven of them running at full speed and shrieking with laughter, phone flashlights swinging wild arcs through the fog. One of them slams into Evie’s shoulder, and she stumbles forward. The rest shove between us, laughing as they go. A scarecrow actor lunges from the corn into their path with a roar.

I lose sight of Evie behind a wall of flailing limbs and puffer jackets as the scarecrow chases the group down the left fork. They disappear into the maze, their screams fading into the distance.

Maddie jogs up, breathless and grinning until she sees I’m alone.

“Where’s Evie?”

“I lost sight of her.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“She was right here. The group shoved through, and when I turned around, she was gone.”

“Okay.” Maddie already has her phone out. “It’s Evie. She’s probably marching toward the exit, so she can yell at us for losing her. We’ll split up. I’ll go right, you go left.”

Then she disappears down the right fork.

Chapter 41

Milo

There’s no reason to be concerned. Mazes are designed to separate people, and Evie is more capable than either of us. She’ll navigate herself out and be waiting at the entrance, ready to spend the next twenty minutes telling Maddie and me this is exactly why she didn’t want to come in here.

I take the left fork through a section where someone’s propped fake tombstones against hay bales.

“Boo.”

Evie lunges from the corn behind me, and I let out a squeal I’ll deny for the rest of my existence. I spin. She’s doubled over, one hand braced on her knee.

“Your face,” she wheezes.

“You’re going to pay for that.”

Her laughter fades, but she’s still grinning. “Yeah? How?”

I step closer, giving her time to retreat, but she only tips her chin higher. My hand finds her waist and guides her into the shelter of the corn, where the string lights thin to a dim red glow. Dry leaves rasp behind her. Fog threads between us, pale against her jeans before the wind carries it deeper into the rows. Her eyes remain on mine.

“Like this.”

I kiss her hard, without the careful pace I usually keep with her. Her mouth opens beneath mine in surprise, then she fists my jacket and kisses me back just as hard.

“Someone could see us,” she murmurs when our mouths separate. The warning has very little conviction behind it. Her lips brush mine with every word. One of her hands has already slid beneath my jacket.