Page 81 of Poison Touch

“I told you not to come home.”

I give him the dumb face.“And I told you to come, but you’d rather spend your evening with Trey, eat pizza, and watch old Bruce Lee movies.”

“You won’t watch them with me.”

“You’re right.” I’m jealous of his simple, laid-back plans. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Call me if you need a ride home.” He rubs his hands together as if concocting a wicked plan. “Hopefully, you won’t,” he sings.

“Thanks, Luca. Love you.”

“Love you back,” he says. “And I want every effing dirty detail of the night.”

I follow Eden down the driveway. “Bye, Luca.”

“Wait!” Luca hollers from behind me. He races after us and hands his phone to Eden. “I need a pic! Do you mind?”

We pose as she takes a few pictures. “Thanks,” Luca and I say as she hands him back his phone.

He gives me one last hug. “If you need me, I’m here,” he whispers into my ear.

“Love you.” I release him.

“Me, too.”

“Send those to me,” I call over my shoulder to him and climb into Eden’s boat of a car. Thankfully, it’s not a small car with the layers of fabric I need to tuck inside. “Thanks for picking me up. I didn’t want Josh to. If I meet him there, it’s technically not a date, right?”

“Absolutely right.”

Bryce is standing outside the large, modern beach style house when we arrive. Most everyone is dressed up. There are funny costumes, sexy ones, scary and clever ones, like Eden’s and Bryce’s.

“Holy shit! You look amazing, Kinsley,” he says.

“Thanks. But I may not make it the whole night in these shoes.”

Josh sees me just as I see him and hurries over.

“He’s been looking for you since I got here,” Bryce says.

“Yay me,” I say flatly.

“Hey, Kinsley. Wow! I mean, whoa. Your costume is awesome. You look gorgeous.”

He’s dressed as the Phantom of the Opera. I didn’t think I mentioned what I would be, but ironically, we kind of fit together. He reaches for my hand, but before he can take hold of it, I slip it away, pretending to adjust my hair. Nausea becomes a swirling entity in my gut when I look at him now. Before, it was just that I wasn’t that into him. But now, after Kade told me about his sister, there’s a yucky writhing sensation I have a hard time ignoring. I want to ask him straight up, but I’m not sure tonight’s the night.

“A lot of people are inside,” Bryce says.

“I heard there’s a hedge maze in the backyard,” Josh says.

“Of course, there is. We’re at Mikayla Winward’s house,” Eden says as she points to a group of girls. “There’s the guest of honor, sexy Medusa.”

The name doesn’t jostle any faces in my memory until I see Brielle draped on her arm like an accessory to her costume. Oh, that Mikayla, one of Venom’s groupies.

“This is considered a mansion,” Bryce corrects.

Josh nudges my arm. “I’m thinking we should hit it before it gets busy.”

I don’t look forward to going in there with him, but I still agree, hoping he’ll forget. “Yeah, sure.”