Page 62 of The Host

“This is war!” she declared silently.

She looked at the other two who also didn’t get in the water… Devanee and Aaliyah.

“No pool time for you two?” she smiled politely.

“Wig,” Aaliyah said as she pointed to her head.

“The dye in this dress will bleed in the pool,” Devanee said sadly.

“Laugh loudly,” announced Neveah and the three laughed aloud.

Seconds later, Matt swam over to them. “Won’t you come join us?”

“You enjoy your quick dip, handsome,” Neveah purred. “I’d rather watch you from here.”

“That did the trick,” Neveah thought smugly. But her triumph was shortened as Evie hit the beachball which smacked Matt in the face.

“Oh no, you didn’t!” Matt teased.

He then took two large breast strokes and caught Evie before she could get away. He caught her by the waist, lifted her up, and dunked her under the water. When she immerged, Matt tried to do the same thing again, but Evie maneuvered herself to Matt’s back and then wrapped her legs around his waist, locking them in place.

Matt instantly went under the water and held his breath. Neveah figured Evie would let go of her grip but Evie didn’t budge. He merged back to the surface and turned around to see if Evie was alright.

Neveah would have done anything to have smacked that crooked smile off Evie’s face. Neveah looked at Matt and he had that look he always had when he stared at Evie. If Neveah had been a romantic, she would have thought Matt actually cared for Evie.

Neveah knew better. Romance was fake. It was better left in those sappy Hallmark movies that she couldn’t stand watching.

“I willnotbe an afterthought!”

She would do what needed to be done… and she would do it that night!

Chapter 13

Morning arrived and here she was again.

Still at the mansion.

Still having every word and movement recorded.

And still trying to convince herself that the feelings she was having for Matt weren’t real.

She lay quietly on her bed to hear if Devanee and Neveah were still in the room. It baffled her that since the first day, there were still three women in her room while the other rooms were either empty or just had two occupants.

Maybe she could suggest a different room if Devanee and Neveah survived the night.

Or if she survived the night.

Her ears told her that both women had already left, so Evie sat up, stretched, and headed to the bathroom. When she leaned over the sink to splash water on her face, some of her hair had fallen down and gotten wet, so after she dried her face on a towel, she reached up to take her hair out of its messy bun only to find out there was no messy bun on the top of her head.

Her eyes were instantly glued to the mirror and what she saw… or didn’t see… made her mouth drop open.

And then a loud cry escaped her throat as she pawed the top of her head in an attempt to gather her hair.

“What?” she cried aloud.

“No!” she exclaimed.

And then she truly screamed.

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