Page 55 of The Haunting of Lockton

“Okay. We can try reaching out to him when we go back to Lockton.”

He nodded. “I was also thinking I’d ask Taylor to come with us tonight, if that’s okay with you.”

“The more, the merrier,” I said. “But are you sure you’re asking because you want him to help, or is it because you wanna make kissy faces at him all night?” I puckered my lips for emphasis.

Julian threw a pillow at me.

I protected my coffee from the attack. “Easy. You almost hurt it.”

“You should ask Paxton to come too.” My brother’s murderous impulses died down, and he returned to his bagel. Guess he’d wanted it after all.

“I’ll ask him.” Excitement fluttered in my chest. “We can start reviewing more footage and work on putting together the first episode too.”

Julian blinked at me. “Oh. Right. Yeah, we should.”

He was so focused on the mystery of Lockton that our show, the reason for doing all of this, had completely slipped his mind. He’d told Paxton that he would still investigate even if we didn’t make a penny doing it, but we needed money in ordertokeep traveling to places and investigating.

“Wanna record a small video today for our followers?” I devoured the omelet, barely even coming up for air between large mouthfuls. The cook had put bell peppers and a ton of cheese in them. My taste buds were in heaven.

“We should just record you eating. It’s a show in and of itself.”

“Nah. That would be too X-rated.”

He rolled his eyes. “I finished editing the footage for our Redwood mini episode, so we can post it today.”

“Awesome. Along with our investigation on the third floor?”

“Yep. We didn’t catch anything, by the way. The followers should still enjoy it though. I hope.” He picked at the last of his bagel. “Oh, I told Val we’d come in today to update her on the investigation.”

“Cool.” Which meant I’d get to see Paxton soon. Remembering I’d never responded to him, I set aside the paper plate—now empty—and shot him a text.

Me:You get off at 3:30? I’m no psychic, but I bet I’ll see you before then.

Paxton:…why does that make me nervous?

Me:lmao don’t be nervous. But I’m gonna keep you in suspense for a bit.

Paxton:I have anxiety, Skyler. You can’t keep me in suspense. I’ll die.

I laughed and typed back a response.

Me:Well, since your life is at stake, I guess I’ll tell you.We’re coming in today to talk to Val. So wear one of your hot costumes for me, k?

The urge to play hit me, and I grabbed my acoustic from the chair in the corner before plopping back down on the bed. I strummed once, letting the chords ring out. I didn’t want to be one of those asshole guests who disturbed everyone’s peace, so Isang under my breath and softly plucked the strings, playing my version of Third Eye Blind’s “How’s It Gonna Be.”

Julian smiled over at me before returning his attention to his phone.

My phone lit up with a text.

Paxton:Bring me a donut with sprinkles and we’ll see.

Every little flirtation was like playing with fire. I knew that. But I didn’t let myself dwell on the future and what would happen between us later. I only thought about today.

And today, I couldn’t wait to see him.

Chapter Eight

Paxton