Page 40 of Pretty Poisoned

"You look like a cheerleader," River says.

"Is that an insult?" I ask.

"No," she says. "I like cheerleaders."

"Well, I definitely was not a cheerleader," I tell her. "I already told you—I was a loser who had no friends. For the most part, I operated completely under the radar…until I got sent to an alternative school my junior year of high school. But…that's a story for another time…maybe." I move toward the bedroom door. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," she says, following me out of the room. "My wife was a cheerleader."

"Wait, Hazel is your wife?"

She laughs. "Yeah. We've been married for over a year now."

"Well, okay."

"What? Is that weird?" she asks.

"No, I think it's adorable," I tell her as we walk into the kitchen.

I take notice of who's there and who's missing—family members and another male and female I don't recognize, no one from the band is present.

"Where's the band?" I ask River quietly.

"They left for the studio early," she says. "I think Declan likes to do it after a party night as a kind of hazing, to be honest."

That's kind of comforting, actually. I could use a break from them—or at least a couple of hours without a De Rossi brother breathing down my neck. I grab a plate from the island and start piling on food, then sit at the table next to Brady.

"So, what do we do for the next two days?" I ask everyone.

"Nothing," Brady says. "We relax. We stay in bed and watch movies, we soak in the hot tub. There's a gym in the basement—if that's your thing. And there are a couple of trails behind the house. One of them leads to a waterfall."

"Oh, really?" I ask. "That sounds cool."

"Really?" he asks. "You don't really strike me as an outdoor girl, Terror Teagan."

"It's TerrorwithTeagan."

"I said what I said."

"I don't know, doesn't everyone like waterfalls? How far is it? Does anyone have a coat I can wear?"

"You can take mine," River says. "I'll bring it down when I'm done. I'll show you where the trail is, too. It's about a two-mile walk. Just don't wander off because…you know…no phones."

"Thanks," I tell her. "I'll be careful."

I finish my food and, when I'm sure everyone else is done, fill my plate again and eat that, too. River goes upstairs and finds a coat for me like she said she would and brings it down just as I finish.

"Thanks," I tell her. "Have you seen Layla this morning? I think I upset her last night."

"I did," she says. "She said she wasn't hungry, got a cup of coffee, and left. Why? What happened?"

I pull the jacket on over Layla's hoodie, zip it, and then head out the back door behind River. "I don't know. I was just trying to understand why she was so upset; I wanted to help her."

"We all want to help Layla. I wouldn't think too much about it. She's very forgiving; she was probably just tired. Here it is," she says when we get to the tree line. "Just…like I said, stay on the trail. But if you do get lost—if you follow the river downstream, it will eventually take you to the main road in town. It'll take a couple of hours, but it's better than freezing to death at night."

"Thanks. It feels so weird…going places without my phone."

She smiles. "You'll get used to it. Once you do, you'll see the freedom in it."

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