Page 83 of To the Grave

I sighed and watched as a couple emerged from one of the trails winding through the park. They were holding hands and the guy looked down at the girl like she was the sun, moon, and everything in between.

Did McSexy look at me like that? I didn’t think so, but that was fine. I wasn’t looking to get married or anything.

I thought about Daisy, living in our mom’s house — Daisy’s house now — with the three guys who’d killed Blake. Did theylook at her like that? Because no way was it just a business arrangement, not when Cassie said Daisy was all torn up over Jace Kane’s death.

It was sick, Daisy living with them like that.Beingwith them like that. And she had the nerve to judge me? To act like she was the queen of good decisions?

She hadn’t even come home for Thanksgiving. It shouldn’t have mattered, but sitting around the table — loaded with tons of amazing food — with my dad and Joan, who’d joined us for Thanksgiving, I could almost see the ghost of my family.

There was my mom at one end of the table, Daisy next to her, Blake in his chair next to my dad. But they were all fading, disappearing like they’d never existed at all.

I’d spent the four days since then swinging between depression and rage. What had happened to our family? How could Daisy abandon me — us — like this?

Headlights lit up the parking lot and I peered through the haze, then checked my lip gloss in my visor mirror when I saw that it was McSexy. He was almost always ten minutes late, which was annoying, but he wasn’t some kid who shot hoops and played video games after school. He was an actual adult with a job. I couldn’t expect him to drop everything to be on time for a date, if that was what we were calling our mini-hookups.

My stomach fluttered as he walked toward my car and slid into the passenger seat.

“Hey there, gorgeous.”

I smiled. “Hey.”

He pulled me toward him across the console and we were off to the races, his hand slipping under my T-shirt about two seconds after his tongue invaded my mouth.

“Damn, you smell good.” He kissed his way down my neck, but the angle in the car made the logistics complicated.

“We could get in the back seat,” I suggested.

“You’re too good for a back seat.” He looked into my eyes and my heart melted a little. “I think it’s past time I get you somewhere where I can take care of you properly.”

I closed my eyes as he kissed me again, long and slow.

“Like where?” I asked between kisses.

“How about a suite in the city?” He was still kissing me, making me want more. “We could have a nice dinner, spend the whole night together. Like a real couple.”

A real couple sounded nice. I might not be looking for anything serious but there was nothing wrong with wanting a guy to actually like you when you fucked him, was there?

“Think you could get away for a night?” he asked, rubbing his thumb across my damp lower lip.

Getting away was easy. I was becoming a ghost too. My dad hardly noticed when I was gone. I’d just tell him I was spending the night at Bailey’s.

“Definitely,” I said. “When?”

“How about Friday night?”

Friday was four days away. Plenty of time for me to hatch a plan with Bailey.

“Friday sounds great.”

Chapter 55

Wolf

For the second time in three weeks I was stuck in a car with Jace, this time without Daisy and Otis. Boston was only a couple hours from Blackwell Falls — an easy day trip — and Daisy couldn’t take time off work with the resort opening so close.

Plus,The Daily Free Presswas a long shot. We just didn’t have anything else to go on. Aloha was still working on cracking Blake’s email, Arlo was nowhere in sight, and we hadn’t seen a single suspicious thing in all the nights we’d staked out Mo’s.

“I hope this fucking works.” Jace flipped his visor down against the sun rising through a thick bank of clouds even though he was wearing sunglasses. A storm was moving in, a nor’ easter according to the weather report. I hoped we’d be back in Blackwell Falls before it hit. Otis was with Daisy but I still didn’t like being away from her.

---