Page 78 of Savored Sins
More than once, I’ve felt eyes on me. I mean, you don’t run around getting chicks’ numbers and spend half your life absolutely perfecting your game, only to wake up completely oblivious one morning just because you found your person. Nah, I definitely notice when a girl has her eyes on me.
But I also don’t care. Like, let ‘em look. They may as well enjoy what they see, because that’s all they’re gonna get. I am one hundred percent gone for Autumn, and that’s all I know. Even sitting here now, next to her, my insides feel warm. Like I’m glowing. I also can’t wait to fuck her against the wall when we get home. Show her all the ways I love her.
Eat your hearts out, girls of Hawthorne Bay.
Zeke Holloway’s a taken dude.
“Hey.”
Trey’s voice brings me back to the present. Autumn’s still deep in conversation with Lydia, and Dustin’s still siding with Benji against Will, who’s still on his get-out-of-Boston tirade—so Trey’s talking only to me. Which makes me just atinybit nervous.
I shove down my nervousness, flashing him a friendly grin. “Oh, hey, man. What’s up? How you been?”
“Pretty good,” Trey says. “Can’t complain. Listen…”
Shit. Here it comes. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop with Trey. It’s no secret he wasn’t my biggest fan, and the past three weeks, I’ve just been waiting for him to call me up and tell me to keep my dick in my pants. To let me know he’ll throttle me if I so much as step a single toe out of line. I just didn’t think he’d do ithere. Not in front of a bunch of people.
“I owe you an apology,” Trey continues. “And also a thank you.”
“Okay…”
I’m pretty sure my mouth just fell open, but I try hard to reel my surprise back in, keep a straight face. I still don’t know where this is going, and I don’t want to make a fool of myself.
“The apology is for thinking you were an asshole,” Trey says. “I mean—youwerekind of an asshole, but you weren’t, like, an irredeemable asshole. I’m sorry I didn’t see that.”
That makes me laugh. “No problem, man. You don’t need to apologize for thinking someone’s an asshole.”
“Okay, well—even still.” Trey smiles. “But the more important thing I wanted to tell you is thank you—for being a good fucking man to Autumn. That shit isn’t a given, especially with what she’s been through. And you’re exceeding expectations.”
I quirk a playful eyebrow at him. “Is this the part where you tell me you’ll pluck my balls off one by one if I everdon’tmeet those expectations?”
“It sure is.”
“Great. It’s not gonna happen, though—you’ve got my word.”
“And you’ve got mine,” Trey says. He shakes my hand. “May I never have to castrate you, Zeke Holloway.”
“Seconded.”
“Alright!” Benji announces, and the conversations pause. Everyone turns to look at him. “Who wants to ride the ferris wheel with me? Phoebe told me she would, but it appears that promise is null and void.”
“Well, we know Will can’t,” I say, jabbing my thumb in Will’s direction. “That thing’ll come crashing right the fuck down.”
“And you’ll blow away in the breeze, motherfucker,” Will shoots back.
“Jesus,” says Trey, laughing. “It’s a good thing those kids aren’t here.”
“Okay. Knock it off.” Benji claps his hands in front of my face, then pulls me to my feet. He points to Will. “Hulk—you stay here. Twig—you and Autumn are coming with me.”
I gasp, still laughing. “Oh my god,twig?! Fucking rude, Benj.”
Trey joins us, too, and we all head off toward the carnival rides, leaving Dustin and Lydia to gush over wedding plans, Will sitting grumpily beside them. The air is sweet with the scent of cotton candy and kettle corn, but it’s got nothing on the salty breeze coming in off the sea.
As we stand in line for the ferris wheel, I scan the crowd. The whispers of ghosts are everywhere, as is the usual in Hawthorne Bay, but only a few have actually materialized today. After twenty-two years of always seeing dead people, I’m kind of a proat tuning them out. You get used to it, you know? Seeing them, hearing them.
I just wish we’d been able to do more for Lena. She trusted Autumn and me with her story, and here we are—still sitting on it. But it’s hard to know what to do. Without a body, it’s not like we can call the police. And even if we could, what would they do? Calvin Carroway is already rotting in the ground.
Butstill. If I had a bigger platform…
