Page 71 of The Write Track
“I’ve always wanted to go to Salem for Halloween,” I admitted.
“You can’t really know Salem until you go there with somebody who understands the town,” she said. “You’ll have fun with me.”
Something warm passed through me at the invitation in her voice.
Bree cleared her throat. “Um… I want to go to Salem with somebody who knows the town.”
Bella laughed. “You can come too.”
I didn’t like that idea. Bella was talking about a trip a couple would make—we weren’t a real couple, although I had to keep reminding myself of that—and I was agitated that Bree wanted to horn in on our alone time. That could not be normal.
“Maybe,” I interjected.
Bella glanced at me over her shoulder. She felt warm between my legs, and I liked having her there. I would like it even more if she leaned her head back just a little and…
Don’t go there, man.My inner Nathan was sounding out a warning alarm.You’re getting too close to her.
I didn’t listen to that inner voice.
“The first time I meet her mother in person should probably not be a group activity,” I hedged.
Bree wasn’t having it. “We can head out on our own to explore when you’re meeting her mother,” she replied. “Then we’ll all have dinner together. It’s not rocket science.”
I wanted to argue with her. But it was a waste of time until I wrapped my head around what I was feeling. I’d volunteered my services to help Bella because I was convinced there was no chance of it leading to something else. What if I’d been wrong, though?
“We’ll talk about it later,” I replied. “For now, it’s time for alcohol and ghost stories.”
“Ooh.” Bella made an excited sound. “I love ghost stories. I have a lot of good ones from my mother.”
“Yes, because Daffy Taffy spends all her time making up weird crap in her head,” Preston muttered just loud enough for everybody to hear.
I sent him a warning look. I didn’t know Taffy. I could acknowledge that she seemed a bit excitable, but I liked her. I wouldn’t stand for slander. “Nobody invited you to participate,” I replied evenly. “If you don’t like ghost stories, I’m sure there’s something for you to do… elsewhere.”
As I knew he would, Preston took it as a challenge. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to play.”
“Well, then stop being a whiner.” I didn’t care that he was technically in charge of this event. He was on my last nerve. “Who wants to go first?”
Bella’s hand shot into the air. “I do. I have a great story for warming everybody up.”
Her enthusiasm was adorable and contagious. “Lay it on me, Bellarino. I bet I can think of one to top you.”
“Oh, we’ll just see about that.”
18
EIGHTEEN
Iwoke to a feeling of being smothered. I didn’t run away from the feeling. Instead, my mind wandered.
It was a cold Salem morning, and I’d rolled myself into a burrito in my fuzzy blanket. That was all I could think, yet that wasn’t right. My mind wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but I knew I wasn’t in Salem.
No, I was in Savannah. I was at a writer’s retreat. I was fake engaged, and I’d eaten far too many s’mores last night. There’d been too much alcohol too.
That’s when it hit me, and I wrenched my eyes open.
Nathan. I couldn’t see his face from this angle, but it didn’t matter. I felt him.
The hard planes of his naked chest were pressed against my face, and my arms were wrapped around him. His were wrapped around me, too, and his cheek rested on top of my head.
