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“Lunch, by the time we make it back,” Phoenix mutters, unlocking the car so we can both get in. I take the food when he starts to put it behind me, the warmth of it sinking into my thighs. “Thanks. Do you need to go home, or anything? I thought we’d spend all day together, but if you don’t want to—”
“We should parade ourselves in front of Detective Angleson’s house,” I reply enthusiastically at his hesitation. “Just to make it known that we’re not upset that Ava is dead and, you know, we’re together. Since she hates you so much.”
Phoenix stares at me, and for a few seconds I wonder if I’ve gone too far with my teasing. Before I can say anything, however, his lips split into a smirk and he shakes his head with a snort. “You really are a vicious little thing these days, aren’t you?”
“Oh, like that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black,” I shoot back, as he turns the key in the ignition and sets to programming his navigation system to take us back to the hotel.
Chapter26
For a serial killer, Rory is absolutely adorable when he sleeps. It’s hard to reconcile the sadistic, blood-loving murderer I’ve come to adore with this man, curled up on his side on the hotel bed with his face relaxed in sleep.
“He looks so…harmless,” I admit in a whisper, edging closer to Phoenix.
“It’s why I don’t always wake him up,” Phoenix agrees, shoulder pressed to my own. “He’s adorable when he sleeps.”
“He’s not asleep.” Rory’s voice is rough and heavy with tiredness. His words drag, and as I watch, his eyelashes flutter ever so slightly, signaling that he really is awake. “Are you guys back already? What time is it?” He opens his eyes to slits, just to roll over and bury his head in the pillow next to him, inhaling what I assume is Phoenix’s scent.
“It’s almost noon,” Phoenix tells him, striding past me to kneel on the bed so he can dangle the bag of food near his boyfriend. “And I brought you sustenance.”
“You also brought me Bailey.” Rory rolls over onto his stomach, face now more firmly in the pillow. “If I can only have one, I want Bailey.”
“Because I’m great at wake-up calls?”
“Because waking up to you riding me would be way better than food.”
Phoenix snorts and moves, straddling Rory as he drops the food onto the bedside table. “You’re so lazy,” he murmurs, rubbing circles on his boyfriend’s shoulders. I join them on the bed, legs crossed under me as I sit in the warm spot Rory has left empty.
“Me?” Rory’s protest is strangled. “I’mthe lazy one? I’m the one who did most of the clean-up last night. And yes, I mean that for both situations. Plus I ran more than you to catch Ava.” Still, he lets out a soft, pleased groan as Phoenix’s fingers dig into his muscles. “Fuck, you can keep doing that.” His other hand reaches towards me blindly and I tap his palm, flicking it when he twists his wrist to grab my hand.
“Sleep in, then?” I offer, lacing my fingers with his. “Take a day off?”
“This is my day off.”
It takes a while to wake him up, but mostly because I think Phoenix enjoys seeing his boyfriend sleepy and relaxed. I can almost feel how much he loves being the one completely in control, especially when he presses his open mouth to Rory’s throat and his boyfriend can only moan.
But finally, when he does sit up, he immediately grabs the bag of food beside him, inhales, and opens the box to find the massive stack of pancakes waiting for him. “Thank fuck for you two,” he groans appreciatively. “Just give me, like, twenty minutes to eat and, I don’t know, a few to get ready. Where are we going? Should I dress up or look for a new clutch to match my eyes?”
“Sometimes it’s creepy that you don’t live around here anymore, but you still know way more places than I do,” I point out as we stand in the short line for the hayride that he’d somehow known about from two towns away, even though he technically lives two hours from Hollow Bridge and shouldn’t have known anything about it. Hell, even I hadn’t known this place existed before now, and I’m much closer than him. I can already hear the tractor slowly chugging its way up the lane, and I shiver despite the two jackets and beanie I’m wearing. “Do you just like, look up shit to do for fun? I’d think Rochester is a lot better than here, even at Halloween.”
“Rochester doesn’t have you,” Phoenix reminds me sweetly, shaking his head.
“Yet,” Rory mutters, half to himself and half to his shoes.
“I used to go to all kinds of places when I was in high school. Every haunted house or corn maze I could find, you know? Even if they weren’t in Hollow Bridge. I just remember places and check to see if they’re still open—” He breaks off when my phone rings, but by the ringtone, I know I don’t need to answer it.
It goes off again as I scuff my foot against the grass, aware that both of them are looking at me, expecting some kind of answer. “Cold tonight, huh?” I ask, gazing up at the cloudless sky. “At least it’s not raining again.” According to the news, the rain from the night before is still making it difficult for detectives to make much of the grisly scene of Ava’s murder.
What a shame.
“Your phone is ringing.” Rory says it almost like a question, like he isn’t sure if he’s hearing it correctly. “You know that, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I forgot to put it on silent.” God, I’m awful at lying. Even by omission.
“Whose ringtone is that?” Phoenix’s question is more suspicious, less confused, and I just shrug.
“Does it matter?” When my gaze snaps down to his, it’s a mistake. I can’t look at himandlie, so I give up the eye contact, letting my gaze slant to the ground instead. “It would be rude to answer it while we’re on a date.”
“Well, I’m giving you permission to answer it, and we won’t consider it rude.” The challenge is clear in his voice, and his brows arch when my phone starts ringing again, obviously daring me to refuse.
