I’m too stunned to argue with him.
Callum slides into the backseat of the large SUV with me still in his arms, pulling me down onto his lap like I was built to fit there.
His arms go around me so tight, but surprisingly it makes me feel calm. I know it doesn’t mean anything to him, but it feels like he’s claiming me as his.
The vehicle fills with laughter and chatter, but my world narrows to the way Callum is breathing against my neck. The way he holds me like I belong to only him.
“You’re shivering,” he murmurs and I swear I feel the ghost of his lips skate along the side of my neck.
“I’m not cold.” It’s not a lie. I’m very warm right now.
When everyone else has piled into their seats, Callum’s hands rest on my hips and pull me back against his chest. He’s big, warm, just Callum. I feel him lean forward and press his face between my pigtails to rest against the back of my neck.
He reaches one hand up to wrap a finger around the bottom of my hair, twirling it for a second as if he likes how silky it is. “I like when you wear your hair like this,” he admits quietly, but it feels like there’s something deeper there. Maybe like he’s telling me he wants me to wear it like this for him.
I don’t dare to move in the event that whatever spell I’m under right now will be shattered into a million pieces.
Iwantto be held like this.
Even if it means pretending Callum doesn’t only see me as a responsibility.
Even if it breaks me for the rest of my life.
CALLUM
The woods leading up to the cliffs are overgrown and narrow. The trees are too close together. I’m starting to feel claustrophobic. I don’t know why Lilac decided to come here tonight. This isn’t her usual style, but then again, Adam showing up to anything regarding Lilac isn’t either. I suspect each of these things have something to do with the other. Fog snakes low over the path leading up to the mansion, weaving between our legs as the group crunches forward over dead leaves that look like they’ve been piling up for a decade.
Lilac walks just ahead of me, her ponytails swinging, breath puffing out in little clouds. I could watch her for hours like this. She doesn't know I'm staring. She never does, because I’ve gotten really good at hiding my infatuation for her. I feel Adam’s eyes on me and when I glance over; he has one of these skating bitches wrapped around him and I roll my eyes. He looks all bulled up, and his silent anger is directed toward me. I know that he’s mad I’m here for his sister, but it’s not for the reason it should be. I haven’t had time to look into the Vincent Warshaw thing, or why Adam would be cosigning it. The only thing I can say is that it’s never fucking going to happen.
The mansion appears through the trees like something out of a nightmare. Perched on the cliffs, all jagged edges and rotting bones. Shutters hang loose. The porch leans left. The wrought-iron fence in front of it is broken in two places and tangled with dead vines. I can’t imagine that anyone actually lives here.
“There’s a section of the gate that will be easier to climb through,” the guy I’ve thought about murdering twenty-seven times a day since Lilac joined the skating team announces. He’s a senior, I think. Maybe a super senior? I just know his name is Danny, and I heard he joined the skating team when he didn’t make it through hockey tryouts three years in a row.
We all stop at the gate, and the unspoken vibe is that maybe we should turn back. I would, if Lilac wasn’t here. Like literally, this place looks like it’s run by possessed dolls or some shit. Not my vibe.
Lexi is making a big deal about how dangerous it is, like she wasn’t the fucking ringleader of this fucked adventure. What happened to girls going to get a massage and their nails done for a girls’ night out? Actually, fuck that, I don’t need to be adding more bodies to my hit list for massaging my girl. Danny mutters something under his breath about tetanus. The other two guys here I don’t know, but the way Eric just stares at me like he wants to fight me tells me all I need to know about him, too.
Lexi tries to push on the gate, and it won’t budge because of all the vines wrapped around it.
“We’ll have to climb it,” Mina says, and I reach out to test a loose post. It groans but holds. I don’t think going through with this shit is a smart idea, and I’m starting to get a weird feeling. Something’s off.
Lexi groans louder. “You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m not dressed for this.” I notice for the first time that she’s in a dress, and I laugh because wasn’t this her fucking idea? What did she think breaking into a haunted mansion looked like?
Lilac glances up at the spikes on the fence, then at me. She hesitates, and that’s enough for me. My girl isn’t comfortable, and that’s all I need to know. Eric steps forward and says, “Here, I can help?—”
“Back off.” I shoulder him aside before he can touch her. He really wants to get drop kicked off a cliff, apparently. If he only knew what Hayden, Tristan and I were capable of when it comes to throwing bodies off of cliffs, he’d tuck his tail between his legs and run home to his mommy.
He stumbles, blinking like he wasn’t expecting it. “Dude?—”
“You don’t need to touch her for any reason, so stay over there,” I say, staring him down. It’s not what I want to say to him, but I’ve got an audience that includes the girl who doesn’t know I’m in love with her and her brother. I promised Adam when we were kids that I’d never date his sister because he said it would make things weird and fuck up our friendship. I’m usually someone who sticks by my word, but we don’t have much of a friendship anymore. Even if we did, Lilac comes before anyone and anything.
Lilac arches a confused brow at me for the way I’ve spoken to Eric, but doesn’t argue. She doesn’t want him near her either, and that thought alone is enough to calm me down.
We watch as Eric and Adam lift a few of the girls up so they can climb over. There’s a lot of groaning and squealing, so we better hope to fucking God that this place really is abandoned.
I wait for Adam to get on the other side before I tip Lilac’s chin up to look at me. “I’ll lift you and Adam will help you down,” I say. There’s no way Eric or Ryan are going to get their hands on her, and Danny looks like he’d panic if he had to touch one of the girls to help them over.
Lilac gives me a look. A warning one. I ignore it.
