Page 29 of Bite Me

Ansel slipped in alongside me, sipping from a water bottle. “Only to page 47, I think. But enough to know he’s a jackass.” He looked Mark and Chet over carefully, but didn’t ask. Ansel was selective with his curiosity that way, usually when he didn’t want the same turned on him.

But Jesse was here, so it was kind of moot, especially since Jesse leaned forward, swatting at something on the outside of Ansel’s black-clad thigh. “You’ve got leaves on you or something. Where have you been?”

“Here, there, everywhere.” The paint on Ansel’s face made his enigmatic smile even more striking. “Now I’m going home.”

“Us too,” Nate said, resting back against my shoulder. “I’m beat.”

“Beat or…” Chet let the implication linger with a laugh, then whooped when Mark stood and yanked him upright.

Jesse and Sam exchanged a glance before Jesse cleared his throat and said, “I considered not saying anything, but I feel like it’s my duty to inform you, more specifically Mark—since you’re sort of the head of the house—that the police came by the house earlier…”

“What?” Mark roared. “Why?”

Sam put a hand up. “Chill, bro. It’s not a big deal. Someone thought they saw a person creeping, so they were just checking that everything was okay.”

I watched him closely as he spoke, the way his eyes kept darting toward Jesse. He was lying. But I was too tired to investigate, and it wasn’t my style anyway.

“Bet they took all the candy.” Nate aimed a grin at Sam. “Maybe try not to puke in the candy bucket this year. You’re looking a little flushed.”

“It reallywasyou,” Jesse exclaimed. “God, I still can’t believe it. So disappointing.”

Sam hung his head in shame, but beneath the fall of his hair, I caught the curve of a smile. Yeah, there was definitely some tea there.

But it would have to wait for another day.

Nate and I walked home from the party, swaying against each other—not from too much booze, just from sheer exhaustion. Once we were in bed, my body curled around his, and darkness cocooning us, Nate walked his fingers down my thigh. “Remember what you said earlier about being lost?”

“Mm-hmm.” I rubbed my lips along the fringe of hair at his neck, inhaled the scent of his shampoo. “I meant it.”

“You know I’d always find you, right?”

My lips brushed his skin and parted, drinking him in. “I do.”

—END—