the first time I’d asked, a moment of guilt eating at me. And it wasn’t the first time Zeke had given that answer, as if it made perfect sense to him.
All it did was make me feel like shit, and confused. “Yeah, man.” I nodded, grabbing a beer from one of the girls walking past us. She had a handful of them, and she looked up, smiling coyly, and winked. She wasn’t one of Mara’s best friends, but she was still in their group.
I held a hand up to Zeke, turned, and tipped up my beer.
I wanted to find a room, get wasted, and not think again until Sunday night when we had to go back home. That sounded like a better plan than anything else, except maybe getting Mara to ride my dick.
Or that weird chick.
3
Aspen
Camping was terrifying.
Once Blaise DeVroe had caught me, no way could I stay out here and relax in my weird stalking manner. I’d been discovered. The fun was gone. He knew I was here. He didn’t know I was camping on private property. He probably thought I was attending the party. It seemed half our grade was there, and I knew there were others from Los Angeles too, so I hoped he thought I was just someone he couldn’t track down in the house.
But I couldn’t shake the anxiety that he would come trouncing through the woods and find me in my tent. So after sitting up and shaking for five hours straight—jumping at any sound I heard in the woods—I gave up. I packed it in and trudged back to where I’d parked my car.
I’d pulled Maisie, my 1968 Dodge Charger, over on an abandoned road. The grass was long, but there’d been enough of a crossing for me to know it once had been a road to come onto these lands.
My parents hadn’t wanted me to have a classic muscle car, but when I saw Maisie, she spoke to me. She told me that while she loved having the speed and muscle and girth that’d been built into her, she was truly a diamond princess at heart. I was supposed to free her inner diva, so when my parents asked what car I wanted, I told them Maisie and dug my heels in. It wasn’t like I’d asked for a dog or a cat. It wasn’t like I was complaining that both my brothers were nonexistent in my life. And that seemed to do the trick—mostly because the reason my older brother, Nate, wasn’t around was because they’d tried to control his life. And dude, my brother could hold a grudge. I’m talking years. Actually, the grudge might’ve lingered until the point that he’d forgotten we existed.
I was being sarcastic, but with an edge of truth mixed in.
But it wasn’t the older brother card that won the car argument for me. It was my other brother card, because, you know, Owen wasn’t around because he was dead.
Yeah…
I hadn’t wanted to play either card, because I wasn’t that girl. But Maisie meant that much to me, and after my voice cracked, my parents gave in. They almost couldn’t give in fast enough.
Maisie was in our driveway the next morning, and she’d been mine ever since.
In a way, Maisie was my best friend. She was the one I hung out with the most.
I had lunch with her. I had dates with her. I depended on her for things, like holding my bags and carrying my things from point A to point B. And she always showed up. She was always happy, the purr of her engine told me so. It was her hello to me, and I rewarded her every time with a smile, a hello back, and a pat. Sometimes I tickled the dashboard.
I knew she enjoyed it.
The radio always did a little skip after the tickling. That was her little wink back at me. So yeah, Maisie and me. We were the best of friends.
When I returned to where I’d left her, of course she was waiting. I stowed my camping equipment in her trunk and tossed my backpack in front. I slid behind the wheel and checked my phone.
Zero text messages.
Zero phone calls.
Zero voicemails.
Alrighty then.
I started Maisie, and we were on the road a second later.
Zeke Allen’s cabin was an hour away from Fallen Crest. The drive back was relaxing. I enjoyed the scenery along the shoreline.
I got a peek of it as the road wound in and out.
When I got