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“You didn’t exactly give me a chance,” Nic snaps, squaring off against him without hesitation. “You just swooped in like she matters to you and grabbed her off the ground. Should I have wrestled her out of your arms?”
“Maybe,” Rory shrugs, looking between them with one hand still on my waist. “That’s what best friends do, right?”
“Maybe that’s what assholeboyfriendsdo when they’re trying to make a point,” Nic counters hotly. “Speaking of, your menace is prowling toward the corn. Better stop him before he scares off the kids.” She nods in Phoenix’s direction, but I’m too busy watching Rory’s face for any sign of anger at her words.
But the expression I’m expecting never comes. He just melts into friendliness, his pale gray eyes glittering with amusement. “Oh, come on,” he chuckles, suddenly the polar opposite of how he’d just acted toward her. “Give him the credit of being asexymenace. But you’re right. I do have to stop him from stealing the souls of the children.”
He glances at me one more time, hand rising a few inches and bunching my hoodie up with it, until I can feel his cold fingers against my heated skin and shiver. “You’re good?” he asks, and I nod to assure him of it. “Good. Don’t let them bother you, okay?”
“Okay,” I reply in a tiny voice, feeling suddenly a lot younger than twenty. He grins once more, though the look softens at the edges, then takes off after Phoenix, following him to the field's entrance.
“It’s a shame he’s that hot,” Nolan says with a sigh. I turn to look at him, brows raised for clarification. “It’s a shame he’s that hot and that much of a dick,” Nolan explains. “That’s all.”
“I don’t think he’s that much of a dick,” I admit. “He seems nicer than Phoenix.”
“Which is a rather low bar,” Nic points out, looking me over with worried eyes. “Seriously though, you’re okay?”
I nod and bite my tongue, not wanting to remind them Phoenix wasn’talwaysthis quick to anger or so cold. Sure, he was never exactly friendly. Especially when he was saddled with babysitting or dragon duty. But I wonder if there’s still a part of him under all of that anger that reminds me of the Phoenix I grew up with.
Unhelpfully, my brain flashes to the night at Agnes’ tree. When I’d been the one holding him against it and hiseyes—
No, it’s definitely not a good time to think about that, so I sweep the memory into the ever-growing pile under the mental rug. “What do you want to do first?” I ask, looking between the two attractions. “Field? Before it gets super dark?” Not that it would matter, probably, since I know the trail is lit enough to see by.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Nic agrees, excitement streaming back into her and, by extension, me as well. We’d come here to have fun, and though it’s hard, I shove away the humiliation with one last glance around the area for Ava and Evan.
But wherever they’ve gone, I can’t see them. As I look, I fall into step with Nic, walking with her into the clearing where I can see a girl on the screen in her t-shirt and underwear, doing laundry in a dark room. Yeah, because that’s always gone well in movies. Not that I haven’t seen this one before, so admittedly, I know the dark room was never her downfall.
The line is short enough, and as soon as we fall into it, I hear screaming from the field that makes me jump, my heart fluttering in excitement as I let a smile creep onto my face. A shiver wracks me seconds later, and I let my sleeves fall as far as they’ll go, covering my fingers even when I hold them straight.
God, I love October in Hollow Bridge.
Another group screams, and I hear a chainsaw rev. The sound makes me flinch, and my fingers curl against my palms, but any trembling is from cold and excitement, not fear.
Ahead of us, about seven people up in line, I can see the edge of Phoenix’s black and red jacket. But more than that, I can see his back pocket, where Rory has unobtrusively slipped his fingers in for a better handhold as the two of them talk too softly for me to hear.
God, to have a relationship like that. Nic and Nolan are enviable, of course. But I don’t have a crush on either of them. Phoenix, though? And now, after his comment and the way he’d helped me to my feet, Rory is definitely a contender for this year’s unexpected crush award.
But it’s not like either of them is obtainable for a relationship. Even if theywouldgive dating me a thought, they’re so taken with each other that the thought of coming between that is laughable. Not with the way Phoenix’s jaw softens just a little when he looks at Rory with his entire focus. And certainly not considering the possessive curl of Rory’s fingers in Phoenix’s back pocket.
I blink as the line moves, admitting them and the group of three behind them. Rory grins as they enter the maze and, unexpectedly, turns directly to me and sends me a little salute, as if he knew where I was and that I was watching them this whole time.
Which, admittedly, is more than a little embarrassing. I smile painfully back at him just as both of them disappear into the corn maze, and I’m left to listen to Jamie Lee Curtis scream and the crackle of the huge fire.
“I’m glad you thought of this,” Nic says, nudging me gently with her elbow to bring me back to the conversation. “I’ve been craving getting scared lately.”
“I haven’t,” Nolan remarks helpfully, and Nic snorts at his words. “But I’m sure I’ll be the loudest one screaming. So if anyone asks who sounds like a toddler, it’s definitely me.”
“You’re notthatbad” I argue, as the attendant says something into a walkie talkie in her hand. She steps forward and waves the next group of two on, then glances at the three of us and holds up 3 fingers.
We nod and she ushers us in, Nic’s hand snaking around mine and Nolan gripping onto her with both arms.
When I see that they’ve both fallen behind me as we walk in, I can’t help but scoff lightly, my stomach tightening. “You wantmeto lead?” I hiss, seeing that the couple is far enough ahead that they’ll hit things way before us.
“You’re the brave one,” Nolan says sagely, nodding like it’s a foregone conclusion. “We’re just chickens beside you, Bailey.”
“Chickens,” I repeat, brows raised. “Chickens,sure.” Normally they’re the extroverts. The brave ones. But seeing as I’m sure I’ve done this to both of them in numerous social situations and made them all but throw me into a fireman’s carry when we’ve gone somewhere I haven’t felt comfortable, I decide that I can take one for the team this once.
Sucking in a breath, I start walking. One foot in front of the other, and my heart starts to beat a little more normallyjustas the corn to my left rustles and a short woman comes out, screaming, her head and arms held in a pillory unattached to the ground. Jerking to the side I gasp, her hands rattling the wood as she screams curses and warns us off the sour land.
