Page 91 of Soul So Dark

“Where haveyoubeen?” Jordy’s voice catches me off-guard, with both her bitchy tone and the fact that she’s even speaking to me.

“I found her,” says a deep voice from behind me.

It’s Aiden, and his venomous tone elicits a momentary look of fear in Jordy’s eyes before she quickly turns away.

“Where were you?” Colson calls from the hood of his car.

“Hiding,” I shrug as if he should already know. “Did I win?”

“Hide-N-Seek champion,” Aiden snickers, brushing past my shoulder. “She even got the jump on Alex.”

“Nuh-uh!” Colson laughs.

My heart starts racing. What the hell is he doing?

“Ole Dally popped out of nowhere,” Aiden continues, “almost scared the pants right off him.”

Before Colson or Alex can respond, Bryce bursts out of the trees with Logan following close behind. As soon as she sees me, her shoulders fall and she lets out a sigh of relief.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Dallas!” she calls, rushing toward me. “Are you alright?”

“It’s OK,” I try to reassure her, “I was just hiding.”

It’s not a total lie.

“Youlostmy sister?” Colson booms.

The circle goes quiet and Bryce freezes, looking like she’s seen a ghost. Her eyes dart back and forth between Colson and me, trying to think of what to say. I guess, technically, she did lose me, but I’m also not a puppy, I’ve been in the woods plenty of times. Colson continues staring at her with his signature deadass look, but I notice the tiny smile playing behind his eyes that doesn’t register with anyone else.

I can see through him so easily, why can’t they?

“Colson, you’re such a dick,” I mutter loud enough for everyone else to hear.

Josh lets out a whoop of laughter. “Damn, Dally!”

Colson finally cracks a smile. Bryce is overcome with relief and takes it as an invitation to finally approach Colson like he’s Zeus sitting on his throne of clouds instead of my douchebag brother on the hood of his racecar.

He’s not a douchebag. I can’t even call him that in my head without feeling bad. The guilt I’ve developed over the past month is crippling.

“Shit,what happened to you?” Josh looks past Alex at a figure stepping into the light.

Rory appears in the circle, a swollen pink welt on his cheekbone. There’s also a fresh cut on his bottom lip.

“He ran his ass straight into a tree,” Alex answers for him. “It gets real dark out there, doesn’t it?”

Rory doesn’t answer immediately, just looks away and pretends not to notice the severe look Alex is giving him. I smile to myself, secretly enjoying Rory’s busted-up face. I’m still pissed at him for making fun of my Squishmallows. Who the hell is he to judge what I like?

Moron.Maybe I’ll squeeze an Xbox out of him next year.

I lean against the trunk of Colson’s Civic with a sigh. I’m exhausted. The adrenaline’s worn off and now I just want to go home. I glance around to see if anyone else has the same idea, but it’s hard to tell. A few feet from me, Bryce and Logan exchange looks over their shoulders and snicker to themselves. I glance over to see what they’re looking at and catch sight of Tyler and Mason in his Avalanche.

I don’t know what to think about Tyler. I feel like I’ve seen three different people inhabiting her body throughout the night. She was so demure, bordering on timid on the ride up here, and then she stayed with the girls until the game started. Now, she’s hidden in the shadows, straddling Mason in the driver’s seat of his Avalanche, with his hands tucked halfway up her shorts.

She strokes the side of his face with the backs of her fingertips while they speak just inches from each other’s faces. Every so often, she leans in and kisses him. They’d look really sweet if I hadn’t just witnessed her deep throating him in a rotting shed while my brother jerked off to it. Granted, Bryce would never know it, either. She’s pressed between Colson and the door of his car, his one arm slung around her neck while she stares up at him in awe.

I still have so many questions, but I don’t actually want to ask any of them. Scratch that—I’d die before asking any of them.

Instead, I decide to claim a spot in Colson’s car before anyone else can. I only hope he won’t kick me out and I can ride back down with him instead of enduring another awkward drive squashed between all the girls comparing how good my brother and his friends are in bed. But when I round the bumper, my shoulder slams straight into a body that appears out of nowhere.