Page 38 of Deadly Secrets

“Maggie came out a few minutes ago. She went to the bathroom but will meet us at the haunted house. I told her I’d wait for you and the guys to come out.”

I held Ander’s arm while he comforted me. It felt really good. We stayed like that while my heartbeat slowed to a steady pace, enjoying our closeness with my eyes shut tight. It reminded me of the many afternoons I rested my head on Ander’s lap while we watched a movie, and he caressed my hair.

Noah and Zayn came out together from the house of mirrors, suddenly breaking the spell.

“What are you doing?” Noah asked. One look at his face, and I was sure that he was pissed seeing me holding Ander.

Ander noticed and, pushing me away, said, “Someone scared the shit out of your girl in the house of mirrors. Sienna came out screaming and shaking like a tiny kitten.”

His words triggered a surge of anger within me, and I snapped, “Obviously, I was scared! That person had a fucking knife!”

“Well, I’m sure he was just an actor. Shall we go to the haunted house, or are you too scared to join us?” Ander raised one eyebrow, challenging me with a mocking smile.

I fixed my gaze on him, lips pressed tightly together.

“Lead the way.” I was scared, but I would never back down from a challenge.

We all walked toward the haunted house, where Maggie stood waiting for us. I was still shaken by what had happened at the house of mirrors, but I relaxed when Maggie told me she’d also seen them once I described to her how they looked.

“I thought it was pretty scary, too!” She giggled.

We all got our tickets and headed toward the main entrance, where a guy dressed as Michael Myers welcomed us. He went through the safety rules, with particular emphasis on the rule, “Do not touch the actors.” We started walking through the different rooms, hearing the screams of other people who had entered before us. It was dark. I was second to last, with Zayn following me and Noah in front of me. We were in the third room, which looked like Regan’s room from the movie The Exorcist—minus the possessed girl on the bed.

At that moment, Zayn whispered in my ear, “We need to talk.”

I looked around, meeting his eyes with surprise.

“This is neither the place nor the time, Zayn.”

“Yes, it is. This can’t wait any longer.” And he yanked me backward, placing a hand on my mouth and moving us to the room we just came from. He closed the door and pinned me to the wall.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I whispered when he removed his hand.

“I want to talk to you. I was going to do it at the end of the night, but I can’t wait any longer.”

I gave him a confused look. What couldn’t wait? It had been a few weeks since we met at The Cave, and he’d had plenty of opportunities to sit down and talk to me. Why now? What had changed?

And out of the blue, he kissed me. Liquid heat ran through my body as I returned the kiss because as much as I wanted to deny the truth, I really liked Zayn from the moment I met him in New York. Something dark about him kept pulling me toward him every time I was in his presence. It was very frustrating to be around him and Noah at the same time because I liked them both. Everything was getting fucking complicated. Did Zayn have no boundaries?

I broke the kiss, and without hesitating, I slapped him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I said in disbelief. “For fuck’s sake, Noah’s your best friend!”

“I don’t know, Sienna. I hate seeing you with him so much that it’s driving me crazy. You were mine first.”

The audacity.

“Let me be very clear. I’m not yours, and I’m not Noah’s. I’m not a car or a book you possess.” I was fuming. “I can’t fucking believe this. First, you left that restroom and didn’t even think about asking for my number. And now I’m yours? Fuck you, Zayn.”

Zayn’s eyes glittered with anger, but his gaze involuntarily flicked down to my lips.

“I thought I’d never see you again, but the last thing I could have imagined was that you’d be here too. And now I have to fucking see you with Noah around campus when all I want to do is kiss you.”

He raised a valid point. I was leaving New York, too, but seeing him again before I had to leave would have been nice. No strings attached. And now I was fucking confused. I really liked him, but now the magic of that moment was gone, and we had to face the reality. I was seeing Noah, and even though we hadn’t talked about being exclusive, Zayn was one of his closest friends. Feeling guilty enough about returning his kiss, I said, “I guess you’ll have to get used to it.” The last thing I wanted was to become the type of girl who came between two friends. I turned around and walked away, looking for the rest of the group.

Zayn didn’t follow me.

Everything was dark, no screams, no ambient sound…weird. I moved at a quick pace, the hairs on my arms up as I kept crossing every room…but there were no actors. Where the fuck is everyone? No Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th, Pennywise from It, or Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street…Had they closed the attraction?

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