Page 40 of Bend

“All clear,” he calls a second later. “No murderers. Bit disappointed, honestly.”

Echo laughs, turning back toward me. “See? Not so bad.”

I walk over to the bed and crouch, lifting the edge of the duvet just enough to look underneath.

That gets a laugh out of both of them.

“Oh my God,” Echo says. “You’re actually checking.”

I glance up at her. “You said monsters under the bed.”

“Anything good under there?” Thorne snorts.

“Just dust and carpet stains.”

Echo leans back against the dresser, arms folding loosely over her middle, eyes bright with amusement. “What about the wardrobe? Could still be something absolutely terrifying hiding in there.”

I straighten up, smiling despite myself, and for a second it’s easy. Just the three of us in this tiny room, the night still warm under our skin, the joke still half alive between us.

Then Echo looks from him to me.

Not casually, either.

Slow, like she’s been watching us all night and has finally decided to stop being subtle about it.

Her head tips slightly. “So.”

Thorne lets out a laugh under his breath. “So?”

I lean back a little against the foot of the bed, crossing my arms. “Go on, trouble.”

Her gaze flicks between us again, and there’s that same wicked little glint in it from downstairs. “Am I imagining things, or have you two been dancing around each other all night?”

I huff a laugh before I can stop it.

Thorne looks personally attacked. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

“What?” Echo asks, all innocence she absolutely does not possess. “I’m just asking. I sensed some tension.”

“No, you’re stirring shit,” he says.

“Maybe a little, but you can’t blame a girl for picking up on what you two are giving off.”

“That obvious is it?” I ask, because apparently I enjoy making his life harder.

Echo looks at me first. Then him. “To me? Yeah.”

Thorne drags a hand over his face. “God, this might be the worst night of my life.”

Echo grins. “Oh, relax. It’s not the worst night of your life. You’re just having a crisis because someone finally called your bluff.”

Fuck me she’s having way too much fun with this.

I should probably be more embarrassed than I am, but honestly, I’m fucking not. If anything, I’m a little amused. Mostly because she’s saying out loud the exact thing me and Thorne have been skirting around for way too long, and she clocked it in one night flat.

One fucking night.

Thorne shifts his weight, eyes going everywhere except me and that gets me right in the chest.