Page 253 of Revenge Reads Better

It’s strange seeing the place like this. During the school year, Friday nights usually mean dozens of cars parked along the dirt road, music blasting from every direction, and enough teenagers wandering around with beer bottles in their hands to give Chief Neptune a coronary.

Tonight, however, only two cars and a motorcycle are parked near the tree line.

Then again, it is the middle of summer. Most kids in Fairhope are either working summer jobs or, if they’re lucky, spending their vacation somewhere far more exciting than this godforsaken town.

Without the usual crowds, the mill looks almost haunted, though.

Its towering brick walls rise against the darkening sky, the broken windows resembling rows of hollow eyes staring down at us. Even the old smokestack seems more imposing tonight, standing like a forgotten monument to a town that never quite recovered from losing its livelihood.

I’ve been coming here for years, but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed just how creepy the place looks when there aren’t a hundred drunk teenagers running around it.

“Woohoo! You guys made it!”

I look up to find Dylan waving at us from the roof, Brandon standing beside him with a beer in his hand.

“Thank God!” Paige calls down. “I was starting to think you two had ditched your own going-away party.”

“Yo, Fletcher! Get your ass up here!” Kody shouts. “Fucking Kimball locked us out on the roof!”

“Hey! I didn’t lock us out,” Dylan protests. “I just forgot to put the iron bar against the door. Easy mistake.”

“No, you were too busy staring at your boyfriend’s ass to remember,” Kody shoots back. “What are the rules?”

“The last one up checks the door!” Dylan, Brandon, and Paige chorus, bursting into laughter, as if they’d heard Kody repeat this particular rule a million times before.

“You all suck, you know that?” Kody complains.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before. But now that the guests of honor have finally arrived, can we please turn up the music already?” Dylan asks, pressing his palms together in an exaggerated gesture of begging.

“I’m way ahead of you, babe,” Brandon laughs, cranking up the volume until the music is so loud I’m surprised their eardrums don’t burst.

“We’ll be up in a minute!” Milo calls after them, though I doubt anyone can hear him over the music. But before we take a step, Milo brings his mouth close to my ear. “I just need a few more minutes alone with my girl.”

Thank God the few strings of twinkling lights hanging around the mill don’t reach this far, or he’d see the blush creeping up my cheeks.

We make our way inside the abandoned building and start climbing the first flight of stairs, but we barely reach the landing before Milo pulls me against the wall.

“Now, where were we?” he murmurs, lowering his head to kiss the side of my neck, fully aware of the effect it has on me.

“Everyone’s waiting upstairs,” I moan.

“Let them wait a little longer.”

“Milo,” I protest, only to lose my train of thought when he slips his hands around my waist and lifts one of my legs around his hip. “What if someone comes looking for us?”

“You heard Kody. They’re locked out on the roof.”

“Sienna and Craig could still catch us.”

“They’re probably already up there. Most likely doing exactly what I’m trying to do right now.”

I laugh, tipping my head back against the wall as his lips find that particularly sensitive spot beneath my ear.

“Fine. But just one more minute.”

Milo lifts his head, his mouth curving into a wicked grin.

“I’m going to need a hell of a lot longer than that, sweetheart.”