Page 36 of Hush, Hush

He licks his lips. “I’m waiting for the perfect time.” Sitting up, he stretches and then closes his textbook that he barely looked at the entire time we were here.

“When will that be?”

“You’ll see,” he tells me. “In the meantime, we’ll just have to keep experimenting with different ways to get each other off.”

He has that look in his eyes. It heats me up from the inside out until I find myself throwing my textbook in my bag and standing.

“You’re always surprising me, Delilah,” he rasps out. He threads his fingers through mine, and we make our way out of the library. He turns me in the direction of my room, which is the closest to where we are right now.

We practically run around the side of the building, and I walk smack into an impenetrable barrier. Keegan keeps me from falling. “The fuck,” he growls.

I blink to find Tim reaching out to help steady me on my feet.

“Get your hands off her.”

Tim listens, his hand falling away. It brushes my pants pocket on the way down. “It’s okay,” I tell Keegan. “I’m fine. Sorry, Tim. We didn’t see you.”

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“It’s nothing,” I say, laughing humorlessly. The back of my neck heats in embarrassment. Tim and Keegan stare at each other like they’d gladly take the others’ head off if provoked. I push Keegan ahead, figuring it’s best to get him out of the situation. I turn, waving to Tim as we leave.

He deliberately drops his gaze to my pocket. Keegan curses under his breath, but luckily, he keeps striding toward my building. I press my hand to my jeans and feel the edge of a piece of paper sticking out. I don’t know why Tim is passing me a note, but I don’t want to alert Keegan to it either. He’ll just blow it out of proportion. I stick it fully back inside my pocket and take Keegan’s arm, rubbing my hand up and down it to soothe him.

The note feels like a lead weight as I absentmindedly walk across campus, stepping on fallen leaves. I turn my head around again to peek back at Tim. He’s still watching, his arms crossed over his chest.

Facing front again, I peer straight ahead, shaking off the unnerving feeling as best I can. Was that anger in his eyes?

“You sure you’re okay?” Keegan asks.

“Totally fine,” I lie.

Totally fine.

ChapterSeventeen

Keegan parks his sports car at the dock. We’re a far cry from the Mediterranean, but the St. Lawrence River is pretty enough. Winding through small villages and larger tourist towns, the variety of structures found on its banks is astounding. Normal sized houses give way to huge mansions with sea walls and slides that end right in the river. I’ve been lucky enough to stay in fancy places around the world, but some of the most opulent homes are ones I’ve seen here.

Our forefathers vacationed here. The richest men in the world came to this very area to escape busy lives. Old money. New money. Men who built their wives castles because they could.

As for the Knights of Arcadia, we’re the proud owners of our own immaculate castle on Dark Island.

My gaze settles on the boat we’ve hired to take us down river. My stomach bottoms out. I love boating, but I’ll never forget the way the water clogged my lungs when I was little. In small vessels like the one I’m staring at, the water is closer, more alive. It’ll dip and bob with the wakes of other boats and jet skis. Fear starts to crawl up my spine.

A striking yellow jet ski flies by just in front of us, motor gunning. Water sprays out the back in a rushing fountain. I frown at the scene, and Keegan gives me a pat on the hand. “It’ll be over in no time. It’s only a half an hour to the island.”

Luckily.

Keegan’s explained to me in-depth of what to expect. I’m excited to see a real-life castle, but the journey to get there? Not so much.

Our guests, if they succeed in their treasure hunt, will find themselves at this very dock where captains we’ve hired will transport them down the seaway, dropping them off at our castle for a night of privileged fun.

Today, though, this is where us committee members head to the island to make sure everything is coming together smoothly. Mrs. Dupont has already been at the island for a few days. Since she has to get everything carried over by boat, it’s a hassle coordinating everything.

Keegan gets out of his car and grabs our bags from the back. Other committee members arrive. We move out onto the dock as a collective group where an old fisherman waits. His gray hair curls out around his hat as he waves us on board. Keegan helps me down into the boat, and I find a seat in the middle, clasping the seat securely. Despite the rough-around-the-edges look of the captain, the small dingy we’re taking over is nice and updated.

The other committee members chat happily about the upcoming days. We’ve put all the work into this party that we could. Now it’s just time for us to cross our fingers and hope everything goes off without a hitch and that the elders are pleasantly surprised with what we’ve done to celebrate Devil’s Night with them.

The sun warms my thighs as I peer out over the water. The weather is unseasonably warm today for this part of the country. The guy on the jet ski was still wearing a wet suit, but the fact that he even braved the water on something you’re bound to get wet on says something.

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