Page 10 of Romance Is Dead

He made a show of peering out the window. “It’s awfully dark out there. And we are headed to the same parking lot.”

“I’ll give you a head start.”

Teddy burst out with a laugh. “Wow, you’re stubborn.”

I hesitated. Everything in me wanted to insist that I could walk my own self to my own car, thank you very much. But I had to admit he was right. There were no lights and we were in the middle of nowhere—it was freaking dark out there. Jason Vorhees himself could be lurking nearby in his hockey mask with a chainsaw.

“Go.” I pulled on my Converse and hoodie and grabbed my bag. “I’m leaving so you need to go too.”

“Ladies first.”

I rolled my eyes as I exited the trailer, locking it securely behind us. I was in no mood for his patronizing attempts at chivalry.

The day had been warm, but the night air was brisk. The moon was a skinny sliver, offering almost no light to walk by. I lengthened my stride as I made my way through base camp, eager to put as much distance as possible between me and Teddy. But as we came to the long stretch of field that came before the road we had to cross to get to the parking area, I heard Teddy’s footsteps getting closer and closer.

“Would you stop creeping up on me?” I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill.

“Why, you scared?” Teddy whispered in my ear.

“What? No. Of course not.”

“Interesting. Then why are you pressed up against me?”

Looking down, I realized he was right. Somehow, we’d ended up so close that we were hip to hip.

I jerked away. “Sorry. I’ve always had trouble walking in a straight line.”

“You might want to get that checked. Sounds like it could be a problem with your amygdala.”

“I’m pretty sure it would be an inner ear issue.”

Teddy shrugged. “Either way. Doesn’t sound normal.”

“It’s totally normal, I just—Ah!”

I screeched to a halt, narrowly keeping myself from running into the deep ditch separating the field from the road. I windmilled my arms, suddenly off balance, reaching for something—anything—that would keep me from toppling over. Teddy gripped my arm, steadying us both as we moved back onto stable ground. I grappled with my phone, turning up the brightness as I tried to find a way across.

And then I screamed.

Chapter Four

Finding a dead body in a movie is easy. You wait while the extra is oh-so-carefully arranged in a gruesome manner, listen for the AD to call “Action!” and then hit your mark and scream in a way you’ve artfully practiced in the mirror until the effect is perfect. Terrified, but in a sexy way.

In real life, it’s different.

At first, it took me a few beats to register what I was seeing. The ditch was deep and dark, shrouded in shadow. By the time my brain registered there was a human at the bottom, I assumed they had simply fallen down and must be awfully hurt to be lying in there, completely motionless. My stubborn brain refused to believe that what I’d simulated more than a dozen times on screen was happening in real life.

But then I saw the blood. Gallons of it, black as ink where it had sunk between the rocks and into the earth.

That’s when I screamed. And it wasn’t a pretty, moonlight-bouncing-off-my-tits scream. It was ugly and hurt my throat, wrenched out of my lungs like the rattling buzz of a chainsaw. I staggered back, pulling Teddy along with me. We fell to the ground and I used my feet to push us away from the ditch. My scream died in my throat, my chest constricting until I couldn’t catch my breath. Teddy wrapped an arm around my shoulders, yanking me close, and my lungs finally loosened.

“Call 911!”

“Right.”

As Teddy fumbled through his pockets for his phone and hit the emergency call button, I crawled over to where the body—no, the person—was lying. Shock was rapidly being replaced by an all-encompassing dread. But I needed to get a closer look so we could relay information to the 911 operator.

I lifted my phone for light as I peered into the ditch, which ran along the road. The bright orange temporary fencing that would typically keep someone from falling in and hitting the rocks below had fallen away, leaving a gap. The person was curled inside, wearing jeans and a black tee-shirt, and my stomach sank when I finally made out their face.

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