his feet. “Captain of our football team, ladies and gentlemen.”
“I’m the receiver,” Reyn says. “Em just throws shit and hopes someone catches it.”
Emory points an arm at Reyn, looking anything but offended. “And he usually does!”
From out of nowhere, Aubrey says, “We should go skinny dipping,” and all the guys—the Devils—turn to stare at her.
“That water is freezing!” I say, gaping at her.
“Eh.” She flaps a hand. “We’ve got a fire going, we can warm up.”
Emory instantly jumps up. “I’m in!”
And with that, “I’m out. No way I’m skinny dipping with my brother and his girlfriend.”
Something must have been in that chalice besides wine, because all these idiots are somehow down to get naked and jump in the cold water. I stay right where I am and Reyn squeezes me tight.
I guess he’s missed out on the chalice-induced insanity, too.
Luckily for me, everyone goes out to the waterfront before the nakedness ensues. I like all these guys. I really do. But I don’t want to see their dicks.
There’s a long stretch of silence before the sound of a loud yelp comes from the distance.
“Was that Caroline?”
Reyn buries a laugh into my neck. “Pretty sure that was Carlton.”
“These people are crazy,” I say, amazed as more yelps begin sounding out. “We might be the only smart ones. This whole secret society is doomed.”
“Maybe leave that out of your article,” Reyn suggests.
I stare into the fire, head shaking. “There is no article.”
He doesn’t sound surprised. “I figured.”
To punctuate this point, I reach into my pocket and extract the flash drive I brought along. I hold it up, inspecting it. “This is the only copy left of all the evidence and files.” This flash drive is a betrayal of everyone—not just Emory and Reyn. There isn’t a lot about the Devil stuff I can take seriously, but the vow of loyalty to all my friends?
That’s as real to me as the feel of Reyn’s warm kiss on my neck.
It’s easy to throw the flash drive into the fire.
Reyn and I watch it burn, the distant sounds of our friends fluttering up the shore to us.
“I’m going to miss you,” Reyn says.
I hook a hand around the forearm that’s pinning me to his chest. “Me, too. Especially because you’ll be gone when I get back.” I swallow thickly.
“Hey,” he says, nosing my ear. “It’s only a seven-minute drive to the new place.”
“It won’t be the same,” I worry.
We’re quiet for a long stretch, watching the sparks from the fire. I feel mesmerized and so comfortable—so content—that I’m terrified of blinking, let alone leaving for three weeks. It’s my experience that feelings like this don’t last long.
Reyn sighs, resting his chin on my temple. “Let’s make a deal. We’ll meet up every day after school.”
I slide my eyes up, even though I can’t see him. “Every day?”
“Every day,” he agrees. “We’ll go to The Nerd, or the treehouse, or go get coffee, or… here. We can come here, too. Or we can stay in, even. Wherever.”
The sparks from the fire flutter into the sky, rising higher and higher. If I lower my eyelids just so, it’s almost like a perfect dream. A dream of me and Reyn, being on the dark, still lake, fireflies flickering around us. I feel the same way now that I’d felt in those dreams. Calm. Happy. Not alone.
“Every day.” I test this out in my head, deciding, “It’s a deal.” And it’s an easy one to make.
After all, the very best deals are the ones I make with my Devil.
Afterword
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Chapter 1
Sebastian
There’s something ironic about how the uber wealthy go to tiny, back wood, hick towns for vacation. God forbid we go to one of the five-star resorts that line pristine beaches, or the comforts of a modernized summer home in the mountains. Nope, every year the Wilcox family makes the trek to the little town of Briar Cliffs to stay in our hundred-year old, musty cabin, overlooking the lake that my father has been coming to since he was born, and his father came to since