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His mouth moves over mine, coaxing my lips to part further. The kiss deepens, our bodies pressing closer and closer together. I can feel the hard planes of his chest against mine, the heat of his skin seeping through the thin material of my shirt.
We break apart, exhaling quick pants of air, the silence between us heavy with unspoken words.
“I'm sorry. I have to go,” he murmurs an inch from my mouth.
I nod, still trying to catch my breath from the best kiss of my life. “Yeah.”
He leans in once more, dragging his lips across my jaw, until he reaches my ear. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“Goodnight,” I whisper as he pulls away.
I watch as he walks backward, toward The Wild Boar. A grin tugs up the edges of his mouth. It's a smile that's joyful and slightly smug. With the way that man just kissed me, I'll allow a flash of his ego.
He pauses outside the front door of the bar. “Get inside your car, Evangeline” he calls, his dimples popping out.
I startle, coming back to myself. My cheeks warm as I walk toward my car. Just before I slide into the front seat, I look over my shoulder.
He's still there, waiting to make sure I get in.
I hate the way it only endears him to me more. At least that's the lie I'm telling myself.
WELCOME TO ROSEWOOD
It's your favorite neighbor,and I'm back with the juiciest gossip in town. It's the moment we've all been waiting for since we bid one of ours adieu last year.
Magnolia Lane has the lights on. And rumor has it, a new Carter girl is in town. Permanently. The late Josephine Carter was always busy around town, and it seems her granddaughter will be too.
Hold on tight, my dear neighbors, for the plot thickens. Rosewood's newest resident was seen downtown arm-in-arm with one of the Reapers. And not just any Reaper either, but a St. James Reaper.
Can you feel the anticipation thickening in the air? Will she secure a coveted place on the back of a bike? Or will she disappear as swiftly as Delilah's apple pie at the summer festival?
Only time will tell.
Until next time,
—Rose
14
BANE
“Nice of you to join us.”I lean forward, the front legs of the chair I'm sitting in slamming to the concrete floor.
“Yeah, well, next time you take the meeting. Some of us have shit to do,” Nova grumbles as he sinks into the chair across from me. He leans to the side, looking around me toward the kitchen behind us. “He's not even here yet.”
I glance at the clock on the wall next to me. “He had to make sure Hunter was asleep. He'll be here in a minute. “
That's about how long it takes to get from their house to mine. Living next door to my cousins has its perks, and that is definitely one of them.
“He could've brought him here. That kid's ability to fall asleep anywhere is a superpower.”
“Remember when he fell asleep at Lockwood Park?” I laugh, the memory of him curled up at the top of the playground, right in the little cubby space at the beginning of the plastic slide.
Nova chuckles too, his eyes lighting up the way they always do when we talk about the five-year-old ball of energy in our life. “Yeah, and Silas had to climb all the way up there to pick him up. He must've been, what? Four?”
“He was three-and-a-half and we had taken him to the beach all day. He was exhausted by four o'clock,” Silas says by way of greetings, striding into the room.
“That's right,” I say around a grin. “That's right about when he started his nap strikes.”
