Page 40 of Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

“Gross.” He nudged my knee again, handing me the bottle back. “You never answered my question.”

“Have you seen Lewis?”

“Lewis? What about him?” he replied, pulling his hood over his hair. His brown hair peeked out from beneath, the tips stained red from his face paint.

Below us, the waves crashed against the cliff, and the cold wind seeped in through the thin layer of my dress. My jacket was still back at the house.

“Have you seen him?” I asked again carefully.

“He’ll be around somewhere.”

I stared at him for a long moment, sweeping my gaze over his red-painted face and black lips. “Why won’t you believe me?”

His attention drifted toward the dark horizon and the subtle crashing of the waves before he looked at me and rubbed the back of his neck. “Nate’s a good guy.”

My brows knitted together and I abruptly climbed to my feet. “I’m going inside.”

Max stood up too, seizing my arm before I could leave. The apologetic look in his dark eyes didn’t erase the truth; he still didn’t believe me. “Don’t leave.”

“You think I’m crazy.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You all do,” I insisted, inhaling a ragged breath and scanning the tree line. Low-lying mist swirled around my ankles, the cold biting at my bare skin. “I need to go back inside.”

“Why did you kiss Nate?”

I paused, staring into his dark eyes as his fingers moved up to tuck my hair behind my ear.

“Sorry,” he whispered with a small smile when he smudged the paint on my cheek. He tried to rub it off, but it wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t know why I kissed him,” I admitted.

Max’s hand fell away, dangling at his side for a brief moment before he took the bottle from me and tossed it over the cliff’s edge. His fingers reached for mine. I’d never been alone with Max, but I could tell he flirted with me.

“Do you like him?”

Like him? He was a killer… Of course I didn’t like him. “No, I don’t like him,” I replied, stiffening when he brushed my hair away from my shoulder.

“Do you like Dustin?”

My throat went dry at the look in Max’s eyes. The way he slowly held the side of my neck before sliding his hand around the back. “Dustin is my friend.”

“Your friend? He’s more than your friend.”

“No, he’s not,” I insisted, confused. “We’re just friends.”

Another gust of wind raised goose bumps on my skin as he guided me closer. Max was shorter than Nate, but still tall enough that his breath ghosted over my forehead and cheeks when my hands flew up to his warm chest.

Tilting his head down, he cupped my jaw. My heartbeat started racing and I didn’t dare look up at him.

His jacket rustled as he ducked and pressed his lips to the corner of mine. It was sweet.

“Trying your luck, huh?”

I startled, jumping back at the sound of Nate’s voice. The man in question walked up to us with determined steps, his hands buried in his jeans pockets.

As he slowed to a halt, he clapped Max on the shoulder and said, “I don’t blame you, man. She’s a fine piece of pussy beneath her boring clothes.”

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