Page 78 of The Haunting of Lockton

“So you guys found some good evidence?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Skyler lifted a hand to the back of his hair and ruffled it. “It’s pretty awesome, actually. We’ll show you after dinner. We set up our laptops on the coffee table. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yep. Perfectly fine.”

He grabbed my hips and pressed himself against my back, placing his mouth at the shell of my ear. “I know something else that’s perfectly fine.”

Chills erupted on my skin. “If you don’t let me go, your precious pancakes will burn.”

They wouldn’t be the only thing burning though. As he gently turned me to face him and flashed a soft smile, my blood heated. Flirty Skyler, I could handle. Even “arrogant, likes to tease me” Skyler. But not this. The tenderness in his gaze felt too dangerous. It was encroaching on territory we weren’t allowed to cross.

“Let them burn.” Skyler leaned in and nuzzled the side of my neck. “I’ll still eat them.”

Thankfully, they didn’t burn.

I wrangled free of his hold, trying to ignore the flutters in my chest as he chuckled low and gave me room to work. I started a pot of coffee before finishing the pancakes and cooking scrambled eggs. All while trying not to be distracted by Skyler and his unwavering attention on me.

The three of us then sat together at the table. The smell of food and coffee filled the kitchen, as did the sounds of forks scraping plates as we ate.

“You should hear this guy sing,” Julian said, tipping his head to Skyler.

Skyler shoved a huge wedge of pancake into his mouth and spoke through his mouthful, “I’m notthatgood.”

“Pfft.” Julian rolled his eyes, then looked at me. “Don’t listen to his lies. He may suck at a lot of things, but music isn’t one of them.”

“Hey.” Skyler pointed his fork at his brother. “I don’t know if I should be offended or flattered by that.”

I chuckled into my coffee.

This was nice. Having friends over. Laughing and chatting over a meal.

After dinner, Skyler and Julian helped clean up the kitchen, ignoring my protests about them being guests. We then refilled our coffee mugs and went into the living room so they could show me some of the evidence they’d come across earlier that day.

Alan still hadn’t shown himself.

Chapter Eleven

Skyler

“Okay, this is from the first night of investigation.” I sat beside Paxton on the couch while Julian sat in the armchair, our laptops in front of us on the coffee table. “You already listened to the EVP recording of the voices saying their names and stuff. This is after that when we were in the corridor.”

Paxton stared at the laptop. “From when you and I were talking?”

“Yep. Jules was down the hall in one of the rooms.” I selected the voice clip and highlighted the section I wanted to play. “The recorder was still on.”

Julian shifted awkwardly in the chair. “When you two were talking about me.”

I gave him what I hoped was an apologetic smile. He’d been kind of upset when he’d heard that part of the recording. Not because I’d told Paxton about his gift but because he had learned I was still having nightmares about my guilt over it.

After increasing the volume by several notches, I played the clip.

“Can’t say I’ve had many people flirt with me before,” Paxton said on the recording.

The Paxton beside me cringed, probably a combination of hearing his own voice and having Julian listening to our intended private conversation. I rested my hand on his leg and gently squeezed.

“Then consider me flirting,” came my response.

“Right here.” I nodded to the laptop.