Page 101 of Eternal

Declan pulls back, his eyebrows pinching. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” I lift on my toes to kiss him again.

This time, I let Declan be the noise that quiets my chaos. I let him be the breeze that washes away the wreckage after the storm. I sink into the feel of his fingertips on my skin when he brushes them over my jaw,and I pretend we aren’t the most fucked-up people on the planet.

I pretend this didn’t start with manipulation and blackmail.

That I’m not losing my mind or imagining this.

And when I lower my heels to the ground and keep my gaze on Declan’s cool-gray eyes, I ignore the rest of the world to focus solely on him.

A ping comes from Declan’s pocket, and he digs his phone out, still not letting me go. He reads a text on the screen, swiping it away. And just as he’s about to lock his phone, I spot something that catches my attention.

“What was that?”

He glances down. “My dad, asking for our ETA.”

“Not the text.” I tap his screen to wake it up again. “That. Why am I your background?”

“Why wouldn’t you be?” He smirks.

“I don’t have you as the background on my phone.”

He reaches around me, digging my phone out of my purse.

“What are you doing?”

“Rectifying that.” Declan spins me in his arms so I’m standing with my back to his chest.

One arm is snaked around me, and he buries his nose in my neck, kissing where it meets my shoulder as he snaps the picture.

“There.” He clicks over to the settings, selecting the option to make it my home screen. “Mine.”

I’m starting to believe that word more every time he says it. And it’s terrifying.

28

The Long Run

Teal

The land surrounding RochesterLake is all privately owned, and most of the west side has been in my family for generations. I spent every summer out here growing up, and while it should have been a peaceful escape from the teasing at school and whispers around town, I found no peace in these trips.

I’ve always been convinced Rochester Lake is haunted. Cabins line the shore, but there are no docks, and no one swims in the water.

My father told me it’s because of toxic plants that grow at the bottom, but I never believed him. Something taints the lake, and it isn’t Mother Nature.

Declan drives us straight to our cabin when we arrive. A number of the guests are staying in cabins up by my parents’, but we’ve been assigned one that’s deeper inthe woods. I’d appreciate the privacy more if I didn’t know it was another attempt at my father hiding us from everyone.

“I hate this place.” I frown when I walk through the front door to the cabin and am met with a deer head hanging above the fireplace in the living room.

“Those things always creep me out,” Violet agrees, walking past me hand in hand with Kole.

Declan stops behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach and resting his chin on the top of my head. “Do you know what I’d rather hang up there?”

“I’m scared to answer that question.”

He chuckles. “One of your paintings. But I appreciate whatever dirty thought just went through your head.”