Page 46 of Wicked Hungry

Meredith nods, and sits up. “I’ll come with you.”

I sit up, too. “Maybe I should go home.”

Meredith pushes me down on the bed. “Not until I find Snowball. Besides, I thought you were hungry.” She jumps on top of me and pushes me down again. She wrinkles her nose prettily, looking at my muddy clothes. “Gosh, Stanley you do kind of smell. What have you gotten yourself into?”

If she only knew.

But she giggles then and holds me down with all her weight. “You can’t leave until we feed you.” Out of the corner of my eye I see Carolina smirking at us.

“Mercy,” I say.

“Kiss me,” she whispers.

Kiss her? Can’t I at least bite or even nip at her? My fingers curl, and I feel an itch on the backs of my hands.

“I’ll see you two in the kitchen,” Carolina says from the door.

No, I say in my mind. Stay here, help me control myself.

But Carolina walks away.

My fingers curl, the itching fades, and then Meredith kisses me.

I feel warm all over, like I’m going to explode. I reach my arms up and hold Meredith tight to me. She pushes me away, then lets go and kisses me on the mouth. “Come on, let’s go get the sandwiches.”

We stand up. Meredith is unsteady on her feet and leans against me. “I like you, Stanley, you’re a solid guy. I trust you.”

I can’t help smiling. “Let’s go get the sandwiches.”

We walk out of Carolina’s room and there’s a beautiful woman with long black hair standing in the hallway. When I say long, I mean it’s down to her waist, and straight. She has these enormous green eyes that I try to avoid, because I’m afraid if I just look into them, I’ll get lost. “Hi,” she says. “I’m Carolina’s mom. But you can call me Morgan.”

A balding white guy with spectacles holds out his hand. “I’m her dad. Blaine.” His shake is strong, and does he smell musky? That is some serious aftershave.

“Carolina is making us some sandwiches,” Meredith says.

Blaine looks stern. “Well, she better hurry up. We are closing this party down.” He smiles again. “You all need a ride home? Everyone else has left or called for a ride.”

I shrug. “I can walk. It’s just down the street.”

Morgan shakes her head. “No, Stanley. Your mother will be worried.”

Wait a minute, I ask myself, how does she know my name? And how does she know my mom?

“There’s been a lot of scary talk at the coven,” Morgan says, “and as you know, this is the witching hour.”

I don’t know what to say. Morgan is a witch, and she’s in my mom’s coven? When did Lansfeld get so full of witches?

“You think we’re in danger?” Meredith asks.

Morgan shakes her head. “No, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“But Snowball,” Meredith says.

“Snowball?” Morgan asks.

“My rabbit,” Meredith says. “I took him outside. And he ran off.”

Morgan looks at me a second, then shrugs. “I’m sure he’ll turn up.” But she doesn’t look very sure. “You haven’t seen him, have you, Stanley?”