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“No.” Miri shakes her head, her face scrunched up in exasperation. “Unless Davis wants to make it rain.”
Davis growls at Miri, and she simply smirks up at him. I shove my glasses up my nose with too much force, but come on. We’re like Mystery Inc, but without Velma, which means we’re basically worthless. Ezra prowls across the room, stopping a few feet in front of the door, when in walks Colton Zima.
“Who the fuck are you?” Davis glowers at Colton, enough ice in his gaze to freeze the entirety of the island. Colton chuckles and shoves his hands in his pockets, as if he’s trying to look unthreatening. There’s something too sharp and calculating about him, despite how much he might attempt a casual persona.
“I was just looking for Lena. I’m Colton, by the way. Moved to the island a few weeks ago.”
“I don’t know where you moved from, but here on Wild Haven, we don’t just let ourselves into stranger’s houses.”
The smile is locked on Colton’s face, a perfect mask of civility that he almost pulls off with his good looks. I can see his aura though and it’s an odd green-gold tinged with black edges. That doesn’t lie, not like Colton does. “I did knock.”
“The door was locked,” Miri cuts herself off, even though I can tell she wants to say more. Ruby doesn’t have the same mental filter.
“Pretty fucking rude, dude. Ha. That rhymes.”
“Are you high?” Ezra frowns down at her, not as quiet as he thinks. He moved to her side as soon as Colton wandered into the room.
Colton smiles as though he’s indulging all our shenanigans and is patiently waiting his turn. All the attention slowly focuses back on him and then he turns to look at me. “Lena, do you mind? I hate to steal you away from your…” He gestures to the room as if unsure what to call this gathering and then gives up. “I could use some help getting things set up for tomorrow.”
“Did you see Archer downtown? He’s already there, setting up.” I have no idea what Colton would require from me specifically, especially since I spent three hours this morning helping out with things. All of the individual stores are responsible for their own booths and tables. Our committee is responsible for decorations, the music, and the final set-up check.
“Just a little problem with some of the baskets. A few of the vendors haven’t dropped off all their donations yet.” I groan, because there’s always a problem with some of the stores waiting until the last minute. I nod in agreement and go find the shoes I slid off when I was reading and grab my coat. My friends are all frowning at me. I can spot the lecture on the tip of Miri’s tongue, ready to tell me why I shouldn’t go, when Ruby pipes up again.
“I’ll come help. You know how much I love creating goodie baskets.”
I bite my lips to stifle my smile. Ruby hates that kind of tedious shit, but she’s not going to let me leave with creepy Colton. I wouldn’t have left with him, anyway. I would have made Ezra or Ruby take me back in one of their ATVs. Colton smiles at Ruby, and there’s another growl in the room. Looking over my shoulder, I spot Ezra clenching his fists, all but ready to attack.
Ruby walks by him, patting him on the shoulder because he’s too tall for her to reach his head. “Good dog.”
Lord, Ruby’s in a mood today.
“Don’t test me, Cube,” Ezra calls after her. She grabs Colton by the shirt and yanks him out of the room.
“Don’t let Ruby wander off alone today. She’s going to end up in a fistfight or making out with someone.” Miri hugs me. I one hundred percent agree. “Don’t go anywhere alone with Colton, either. There’s something not right about him.”
She doesn’t have to tell me. His aura is all kinds of messed up.
Ruby leaves her ATV at Miri’s house and hops into the front seat of Colton’s vehicle, shouting, “Shotgun!”
Colton flinches in surprise and gapes at her, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and Ruby. It looks like there’s disappointment there, but I can’t be sure because I’m too concerned with keeping my laughter in.
“Does the committee get any free time during these festivals? Or do you work us all day without a break?” Colton looks over his shoulder as he directs the question to me.
“Um, usually by mid-day everything is running pretty smoothly, and we can kick up our feet and relax a bit. There might still be some things that pop up, but most of the vendors know how to take care of their own booths.”
“Great. That means you can show me around and give me a behind the scenes tour of everything.” Colton looks over his shoulder again with a smile.
“Dude, eyes on the path. I really don’t want to die because ninth grade speech class convinced you that you had to make eye contact when speaking.”
This time I can’t contain the laugh, but Colton’s tight grip on the steering wheel makes me think he’s not amused. I’m grateful for Ruby’s distraction, because there’s something about Colton that makes my skin crawl. I don’t know what part of my not interested vibes he’s misinterpreting. I haven’t given him any signals that I’m interested.
Ignoring Ruby’s comment, he looks over his shoulder again. Ruby sighs loudly.
“You and Archer, then. You’re a thing?”
I want to tell him it’s none of his business, but Ruby opens her big fat mouth before I think of a more polite way to word things.
“Lost cause, buddy. Those two have been in love since they figured out they had different body parts.”
