I look between them. “Those are not your real names,” I murmur.
They ignore me, and Maggie asks him, “What are you doing here?”
Colton grins over at me, and if I were most single girls, that smile might send me stupid. I’m not blind. The guy’s attractive in that generic fuck-boy kind of way. Good head of shaggy, almost curly hair. Symmetrical face. Square jaw. Straight nose. Bright, white smile and big brown doe-like eyes. Too bad I feel absolutely nothing when he looks at me. He answers Maggie, “I’m taking Jamie out.”
“What!” That was me… not at all confused.
Maggie laughs once. “It’s not a date or anything, right?”
“Not a date,” Colton assures. Then focuses on me again. “You ready?”
“I didn’t agree to—”
“Yeah, you did.”
“Um, I think I’d remember.”
“Um…” he mocks jokingly. “On Monday… when I saved you from falling on your ass…?”
I shake my head, eyes wide as I glare up at him. “I do not recall such an interaction.”
Colton sighs. “I said, we should hang out on Friday night, and you said, I don’t think I’ll be around then, and I said, yeah, but if you are… and then you said, I won’t be, and I said, yeah, but what if you are… and you rolled your eyes and finally conceded. Pretty sure your exact words were, ‘yeah, okay, whatever.’”
“That sounds like a solid agreement to me,” Maggie says, getting to her feet.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I state, adamant.
“Why not?” Colton asks.
“Because… because I don’t know where we’re going, and I don’t even know you, and you’re friends with Holden, which is a disaster just waiting to happen.”
Colton’s eyes shift to Maggie, then back to me. “We’re just going to my friend’s house, and I’m Colton Lockwood.” He enunciates his last name as if it should mean something. When my expression shows that I have no idea what that something is, he puts his arm around Maggie’s shoulders and brings her to his side. “As in Maggie Lockwood’s nephew.”
“Oh…”
“And your boy isn’t even coming out tonight. He and Brianna are spending the night at his house.”
“Right.” Brianna. His perfect girlfriend. Because he has one of those—a girlfriend—and I’m sure the last thing on his mind is whatever I’m doing with whoever I’m doing it with.
“You should go, Jamie,” Maggie encourages. “Have fun. Blow off some steam.”
I openly pout. “I was blowing off some steam.”
“Yeah?” Maggie raises her eyebrows. “Speaking of blowing, want to know what Big H—”
“Stop!” I stand so fast my head spins. “I’m going, okay? Jeez.”
Like every other person in this town, Colton drives a truck. It’s not as big as Holden’s, or as new or fancy. It reminds me of the one Holden had back in high school. The one our attackers destroyed with baseball bats…
We don’t speak much on the ride, not that I have a lot to say. Or that time would allow it. We’re only driving a few minutes before he pulls off the main road and into a wide, loose gravel driveway. The moment I realize where we are, I second-guess my decision to leave with him. I’ve seen the building in passing a few times now, mainly when Maggie gives me a ride to and from the diner.
It’s a large square structure with broken windows, graffiti, and no evidence of life. It’s clearly abandoned, but any signs of what it once was have faded over time. I glance sideways at Colton, trying not to let my discomfort show. Yes, he’s Maggie’s nephew, and I’m sure she believes he’s a nice, decent, perfectly normal guy—but go ahead… ask everyone who knew Ted Bundy what they thought of him.
“Relax, Jamie,” he says, glancing up at the looming building as we pass it. He smiles to one side as he explains, “It’s an old paper mill. Hasn’t been operational in, like, thirty years. It used to employ a couple of thousand workers before it shut down, and since there wasn’t a lot of housing around the area to accommodate those workers, the owners built a little village of cottages out back.” Without taking his hands off the wheel, he points directly ahead of us. “The owners still lease out the cottages. That’s where my friends live.”
“Right.” I nod, feeling only slightly pathetic for thinking anything sinister was happening.
“It’s actually pretty cool inside,” he says. “I can take you there during the day if you want to check it out.”
That sounds… amazing. “Yeah, I’d love to see it.”
He turns slightly, his teeth showing with his smile, right before he stops in front of the only house I can see with lights on. “Shit,” he mumbles, his grin fading just enough for me to notice it.
I look between him and the house. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he states, distracted. “You ready?”
It’s dark out, and I can’t make out much of what’s around us when I step out of the truck. There are already a few other cars here, and not knowing what to do, I wait for him to lead me away. With his hand on the small of my back, he guides me through the side of the house and toward the rear. The smell of a bonfire fills the air, along with something else I can’t quite put my finger on.
“Lockwood’s here!” is the first thing I hear when I round the corner. The first thing I see? Holden. I stop in my tracks and pivot on my heels, only to slam into a solid wall of Colton.
“Relax, Jamie,” he says, his voice low, only for me. It’s the second time he’s said those exact words in the span of minutes. If he thought he was going to have a stress-free, fun, wild night with me, he was clearly mistaken. Poor guy. “He’s already seen you, so running isn’t going to change it.” Over my head, he calls out, obviously to Holden, “I thought you weren’t coming out tonight?”
Holden doesn’t respond. Not verbally. And when Colton uses my elbows to spin me around and face the storm, Holden looks… bored.
This is going to be a blast.
Colton introduces me to Jasmine and Mason, the couple who rent the house, then adds, “And you obviously know Holden and his girlfriend, Bri.”
I need an escape plan. Maybe one that includes me jumping into the roaring fire set ablaze in the middle of the yard. That makes the most sense.
We’re moving now, closer and closer to the danger zone, and then Jasmine says, “One of the chairs broke, so Colton’s going to have to get his ass dirty.”
Holden moves so fast, it’s almost as if I imagined it. He stands, takes the deck chair he was using, and walks it over to us. “Here.” He drops the chair right by Colton’s feet. “Since you’re so comfortable taking what’s mine.”
“Thanks, bro,” Colton says to his retreating back. “You’ve always been so generous when it comes to sharing.” There’s clearly an underlying meaning behind his words, but I’m too wrapped up in my own thoughts to care about what it might be.