Eye Candy

Heather was helping, grabbing for her second one too. “Logan’s party is at the other house, right?”

I nodded. “He’s renting it. He didn’t want to do damage to ours.”

“Okay. So, yes. We drop the pumpkins we want at your house, then drop the rest off at the one he’s renting. I figure we can keep six for us. Five girls. Maybe an extra for Logan to carve tomorrow, or tonight if he crashes girls’ night.” She shrugged. “Or hell, we can just have one on hand for him to smash if he wants.”

That was good thinking.

“Is Channing coming up tomorrow night?” I grabbed for my eighth pumpkin. We were halfway done.

She grabbed two at a time, placing them gently in the truck. She grunted from the effort, then repeated the process. “Yeah. He’s coming up, but more to see Mason than me.”

She bit off her sentence, and I frowned. I reached for another two, but I was a wimp. She was grunting from grabbing the bigger pumpkins. I grabbed two small ones. “That bad? Something going on with you two?”

Mason, Logan, and I had grown up in Fallen Crest, a small town on the northern coast of California. Heather still lived in Fallen Crest, which was a full three-hour drive from Cain University. In high school she’d always managed her father’s bar and grill, Manny’s, and now she was running it full-time. Her boyfriend, or on-and-off-again boyfriend, Channing, lived there too. Well, he lived close by in Roussou, Fallen Crest’s rival, a neighboring town that was further inland.

Fallen Crest was filled with middle-to upper-class families, with a huge proportion of millionaires and billionaires. Roussou was mostly blue-collar families, and for some reason, the people from that town were rough and tough. Mason and Logan had tangled with some of them on more than one occasion, and most times the end result was spilled blood—if they were lucky. I suppressed a shiver. There’d been a couple of times I felt like I’d gotten out of Roussou with my life barely intact. But Channing ran his own bar in the town, and he’d become friendly with Mason and Logan because of my friendship with Heather.

He was the sunrise-and-sunset type of love for her, which, seeing that she still hadn’t answered my questions, spoke volumes.

We had three pumpkins left, and I stilled. “I’m sorry.”

She swallowed, looking pained, and shrugged a shoulder. “It’s . . . whatever.” She grabbed the last three and tossed them roughly onto the pile. As she took the wheelbarrow away, I ran a hand over the three pumpkins. All were still intact, but I cast a worried glance at my friend.

She was the toughest girl I knew. She rarely showed when she was angry, and my stomach sank.

This wasn’t good. Not at all.

She bypassed me, her long legs keeping a brisk pace. “Come on. The quicker we get to drinking, the better.”

I hopped in the passenger seat, threw my seat belt on, and sat back. She peeled out of the parking lot, and I had a feeling tonight was going to be worse than I had imagined.





Chapter 2


Heather was just as brisk when we pulled up to Logan’s party house. He and his friends were turning it into a haunted house. Word had already spread around campus, and I knew half the school would be attending. It was going to be huge. A Logan Kade party, plus the fact that Mason Kade was going to be there, meant only a social recluse would want to miss out.

I wasn’t going to let Mason out of my sight the whole time he was here. He’d moved to Massachusetts in June. It was now the end of October. I’d spent most of the summer there, but cross-country had taken every weekend from me. I flew out there on random overnight trips, but it wasn’t enough. It never was. I didn’t care if Logan was hoping for some brotherly bonding time, or if the guys wanted to do something just for the guys. It wasn’t happening.

“Yo!”

Logan came out of the front door, down the steps, and over to the truck. His hair was messy, but he ran a hand through it, shaking it out, and I knew he’d left it that way on purpose. It suited him. His dark eyes were almost gleaming from whatever he’d been planning, but the look waned when Heather ignored his greeting and started unloading the pumpkins on the front lawn.

He slowed to a stop, his eyes finding mine with an unspoken question in them.

I shrugged. I knew what was wrong with Heather, but I didn’t have to say anything. Logan was smart. He’d figure it out as soon as he saw Channing tomorrow night, if not before. With Heather in this mood, and knowing Logan was generally an in-your-face kind of guy, I was more worried the two would get into a fight tonight. I saw all the tequila she had stored in the back seat for later.

“Hey.” I gestured to the house. “It looks great already. Good spot for a haunted house party.”

He glanced back, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I thought so too.” I heard the pride in his voice. “Saw this place driving around one night, and got a realtor to look into it. The owners were thinking of renovating it, but I twisted their arm.” He grinned at me. “Everything’s sound, so no one will be falling through the floors or anything.”

I considered the three-story house. It was old. So much of the white paint was scraped off that it looked like it had been intended to be a black house, and the front walkway was so cracked, only a few of the slabs were still there. The rest was grass that had grown out and over the remaining rocks. As long as it was safe, I guessed I didn’t care. “No cockroaches?”

He shook his head. “They had it inspected. No mold either.”

Heather stopped for a second and looked at the house too. “Just spiders . . . and a few rats, I’m sure.” Her gaze swept to Logan at the last word and she lingered a moment before turning back for more pumpkins.

Logan’s eyes narrowed. His mouth firmed in a line. “What’s your problem? I haven’t done shit to you.” His hands came out, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

She paused, reaching back into the truck’s bed, and her eyes jumped to mine. I saw regret before she grumbled out, “Nothing.” Her hand closed around the pumpkin and it was soon placed in the pile with the others.

Logan opened his mouth. I knew he wasn’t going to say anything nice, so I jumped forward. “Hey,” I suggested to Heather, “you can take a break. We’ll finish the rest.”

Her eyes darkened, but I saw the relief in them even though her shoulders remained rigid. “Thank you. I think I will.” She ignored Logan, digging into her pockets as she headed for the sidewalk by the road.

Logan watched her go, his jaw clenching for a moment. “What’s her problem?” His eyes swung back to mine, dark and angry. “She just took a shot at me, and I haven’t done anything to earn it.” He lightened his tone, a crooked grin showing. “Now, if I’ve done something against her, then have at it. I’d apologize for being a dick.”