Page 86 of Shadowface

“You look like death reincarnate. And seriously, every time I see you, it looks like you’ve been…”

I raise an eyebrow at her. “I’ve been…?”

A wide grin spreads on her face. “Never mind. Are you going to tell us what happened?”

My pussy is still throbbing and raw… It’s like Dani can smell the sex on me, even if that sex was with a piece of wood in the forest.

Misty spits out her wine, her face tight, her eyes lingering on me for too long. I must look bad, and I glare back at Misty.

I drop my bag on the couch and sigh. “I need a hot shower.”

Dani pushes her barstool back. “Nope, not doing that. Where the hell have you been? And who is this mystery boyfriend? I recognize that look on your face, Summer. Something happened.”

My mouth gapes open at the audacity. How could she possibly…

“Don’t try to get out of coming to this party,” she adds. “It won’t be as crazy as the last one.”

Misty doesn’t seem too keen on my coming or my presence here at all as she sits and scowls. She remains silent, but her eyes, hard and unreadable, seem to dissect every inch of me.

Lincoln didn’t invite me to this party. He must have known this was going on, given it’s at his house. I guess I’m good enough to fuck on his desk but seeing me in public doesn’t seem to be too high on his agenda.

I stalk toward the hallway, toward the stairs to my attic bedroom. “Look, Dani, I get it. I just don’t have time.”

Dani sticks out her fingers. “Two drinks. Only two small glasses of wine, then you can go shower and get ready. Who’s got you so distracted?”

Misty cocks her annoying eyebrow, her eye twitches. “Oh… Summer, I didn’t realize you were seeing anyone.”

“I’m not,” I say too quickly.

Dani gives me a don’t bullshit me look, and Misty gives me a cocky smirk, not unlike the one she gave me when she was prancing out of Lincoln’s office when I first met him there. We haven’t spoken since that moment. It was as if she was silently saying, I want him, too.

“I swear, I am not seeing anyone.” Which is true, technically.

Misty’s gaze pierces through me like blazing flames. Like she can see my hidden shame and is envious. “Oh…” she says in a mousy voice. “I thought you liked our TA.”

I do like our TA, and I’m pretty sure she likes him, too.

He kills people who look like you, I want to scream at her.

Dani pours me a glass of wine, which I accept and ignore my wet clothes and how I want to puke at the soft, sweet aroma pouring out of Misty.

Intense jealousy fires up deep in my core. It expands in my stomach and wraps itself around my heart, burning me.

It’s unexplainable. Like I’m jealous of her mere existence.

I glare at her. “I don’t. If you’re so curious, I’m thinking about going out with Grant.”

Narrowing her eyes, Dani continues, “Grant? I thought you weren’t into him?” She shakes her head. “Never mind him. I want you and Misty to try to talk to Lincoln tonight. I need you to distract him while I try to dig up shit on Xander. I want to get into Xander’s bedroom without anyone seeing me.”

Misty and I stare at each other for a brief second before both of us break the stare.

“I thought you liked Xander?” I ask her, shooting my gaze toward Dani.

Her eyes twitch. “He’s hot, I won’t deny that…but there is something off about him. I have a bad feeling about them. Did you know they are all from here? All their parents grew up here, too. All they do is hang out with each other. It’s incestuous.”

I shrug. “That doesn’t make them part of a secret cult. This has nothing to do with your father, Dani.”

She leans back on the counter, her eyes glaze over and I immediately regret saying that. “I…I never said that…” She’s tongue tied. I’ve never seen Dani stammer like this.