Page 37 of Against the Autumn Pines
“I should get home. Early day of work tomorrow.” Her soft voice between the crackling of the bonfire stirred something inside of me, and I wanted more.
“Doing what?” I questioned with a smirk.
“Ha!” she laughed sarcastically. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Without another word, she turned and walked over to the Jeep I knew she drove.
It wasn’t until I could no longer see taillights that my mind half returned to the party. The bonfire the only thing keeping me busy and not running after her.
“Are you finally starting to win over Ember?” Aspen’s question caught me off guard, bringing me out of my thoughts. I looked around and realized the party was finally winding down. I grabbed a bag so I could start helping Aspen collect trash and clean up.
“Uh, not that I can tell. Why? Did she say something to you?” I tried not to sound desperate. I didn’t even truly care if the woman liked me or not; it would just make working together easier. I’d been able to set her up with new accounts, along with the information about her father, but I wanted to help her out more.
Something about her made me want to make her smile and see what she looked like when she truly relaxed, which I had a strong feeling she didn’t do often enough.
“No, but I saw you talking to her at the party, so I guess Rowan and I just assumed you two were being…civil.”
“The Halloween party? Like, tonight?” She nodded her head slowly as if to say obviously, dumb ass. “The only person I talked to was my…um—Poison Ivy, so I’m not sure what you—" I stopped talking when a slow smile spread across her face, and it clicked what she was implying. “Poison Ivy was…is...”
Aspen just nodded her head again as she bit her bottom lip to contain the laugh that was trying to escape her mouth, if the breathy sound coming out of her nose was any clue.
“No, but that would mean…” I felt the blood drain from my face as I realized what that would mean. I dropped the trash bag on the ground, and I felt like my brain was going to explode.
That was when Rowan decided to walk in, looking between the two of us. “Ya okay, bro?” he asked.
I stared at the mountains in front of me. Was I okay? I wasn’t sure.
“I just revealed that Ember was Poison Ivy.”
Rowan looked at Aspen before looking over at me, his eyes wide.
“Wait…as in…your Poison Ivy? Oh, no damn way! That is just too fucking good.” Rowan started laughing before he slapped my back. “At least now you know. Good luck, bro.”
Aspen sighed. “This is another twin secret, isn’t it. Fucking twins,” she muttered as she got up and walked up the stairs. “Good luck, Wyatt! Sounds like you’ll need it.”
And fuck wasn’t that the biggest fact of the century, because if Ember Brady wasmyPoison Ivy? Well, I was fucked.
18
A DEDICATED PARENT
Wyatt
I leanedback in my office chair, my chin resting in my hand, while I stared at the computer screen in front of me.
The truth was, I could’ve found out who Poison Ivy was at any moment. I built the damn security system for the app after all, but I didn’t want to know. I liked the anonymity of it—the surprise, the unknown. It was fun. Until it all came crashing down around me, and the cold, hard truth began to stare me in the eyes.
Ember Rae Brady.
It had been twenty-four hours since I’d literally ran into her dressed in that over-the-top Batman costume, and in those twenty-four hours, it felt as if my entire world had been turned upside down. I’d come home after that party and stared at the ceiling until my brain finally shut off and went to sleep. When I woke up, I spent the morning havingmy coffee and trying to truly decide how I wanted to go about this.
Ember Rae Brady.
I went for a jog, I finished some side jobs up, I did my laundry—anything and everything I could to get my mind off of checking to see if Poison Ivy and Ember were truly one in the same.
That was, until she messaged me. I glanced down at my phone, which still had the open message thread.
Scream-Pies: I had a good time with you last night. Are we still on for Wednesday?
ImVengecock: I wouldn’t miss it for the world, little flame.
