Page 25 of Hot Monster Summer

I stand there, trying to collect myself, very aware of Oren’s steady presence behind me and Caspian’s watchful gaze from the water.

“I should… I should go back to the cabin,” I manage, voice still unsteady from Kaelen’s kiss. “I need a cold shower. Possibly more therapy.”

Oren nods, understanding. “Until tonight,” he rumbles. “Will come for you at sunset.”

“I’ll be waiting,” I reply, unable to stop the smile on my face.

As I walk back to the cabin on shaky legs, I can feel all three gazes following me—Oren’s patient and steady, Kaelen’s burning with promise from somewhere in the trees, and Caspian’s calculating from the water’s edge.

Three monsters, each wanting me in their own way.

And I’m loving it.

10

Lily

I’ve cycled through approximately seven outfits by sunset before settling on a simple sundress.

What exactly does one wear to visit the “heart of the forest” with an ancient troll?

The sundress seems appropriately woodland fairy, which feels right somehow.

Oren appears as the sun touches the treetops, materializing from the forest edge as if he grew straight from the soil.

Tonight, he looks different—more vibrant somehow. The moss covering parts of his bark-like skin and the flowers along hisshoulders have transformed into night-blooming varieties, pale and ethereal in the fading light.

“Ready,” he asks.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it,” I reply, stepping off the porch to meet him.

Something shifts in his expression—a softening around his eyes, a slight curl at the corner of his mouth, forming the most beautiful smile.

It completely transforms him.

“Lovely,” he says, gesturing to my dress.

“Thanks,” I respond, oddly touched by the simple compliment. “You look… glowy. Is that normal?”

“Special night,” he explains. “Forest heart awakens at sunset. Connects to me.”

He extends one massive hand, palm up in invitation. When I place my much smaller hand in his, the touch sends a warm tingle up my arm, not entirely unlike Kaelen’s pheromones, but gentler, more like sunshine than fire.

“What was that?” I ask, startled.

“Forest magic,” he says, curling his fingers carefully around mine. “Recognizes you now. Safe.”

The fact that an entire forest knows who I am should probably freak me out more than it does.

Oren leads me into the trees. The path we follow isn’t one I’ve seen before—it seems to appear just ahead of us and fade behind, as if the forest itself is creating a way forward only for us.

As we walk deeper, the woods change.

The trees grow larger and older, their trunks wider than cars, their canopies so high I can barely see the tops. The spaces between them pulse with soft bioluminescent light—mushrooms, flowers, and even some leaves give off a gentle glow that illuminates our path.

The air, too, feels thicker somehow and charged with something I can only describe as magic.

“This is incredible,” I breathe, watching as tiny lights that might be fireflies or might be something else entirely dance around us.

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