Page 40 of For the Night

Penelope and I had gotten a glorious half hour all to ourselves.

“Always so naked,” Penelope said in response.

“Pffft, fuck that.” Reese gestured at me. “I have Nora on my side now. I don’t wanna hear shit about how little I wear.”

I smirked. “I’m gonna ride on a myth and claim I’m European, so that’s my topless excuse.”

He didn’t miss a beat. “I’m Southern. We need signs to tell us to wear shirts and shoes.”

I cracked up. He had a point!

Penelope’s shoulders shook with her silent laughter.

Reese dove into the pool at the same time as River and Shay emerged from their cabin, carrying towels and wearing trunks.

“Hi, Shay.” I waved. “Hello, Sir.”

River nodded once. “Evenin’.”

“Hey.” Shay walked over to us and lifted a brow at me. “Did you see the latest post from that weird account?”

I sat up instantly. “No—when was it? I checked it this morning.”

“Yeah, they posted about an hour ago,” he replied.

Oh my God, I had to check. I reached for my phone, and in my periphery, I noticed more people arriving. Two people I didn’t recognize, plus Gretchen. The latest addition to my friends list online. Like Nathan, she had reached out to me after I’d safeworded at their station, and I couldn’t really get past how compassionate they were here. Nathan had texted me both the same evening after the event and then the morning after too. Just to check in and make sure I was okay.

I exchanged a quick hello with Gretchen before she ducked into the club area, and then I went to my Mclean app to look up this new @OverheardMclean account.

For the past few days, someone had been posting things they’d “overheard” out here, kind of like the accounts dedicated to major cities on Instagram. Followers could send in quotes and conversations they’d heard, and the account posted them.

“I’m wondering if it’s Tate,” Shay said.

I didn’t know Tate well enough.

I scrolled till I saw the post.

Bottom: I’m just saying, you should watch yourself, Sir.

Top: When I do, people call me vain. Make up your mind.

Bottom: Ugh, you know what I mean!

“Who’s being quoted?” I glanced up at Shay.

“Noa and Lucian,” he replied. “Thing is, I was there when this happened the other day, and the only one who could’ve sent that in—aside from Noa and Lucian—is Kit. Which means we have both Tops and bottoms submitting quotes. It’s gonna be impossible to figure out who’s behind it.”

The plot thickens…

I did know Penelope had sent in something that Reese had said.

“So we can rule out that it’s a brat versus Sadist thing,” I deduced.

Shay nodded.

I saw Reese swimming closer. “Y’all talkin’ about the gossip account? I’m still gonna make you pay, Pen.”

Pen snickered and took a swig from our drink. “Come on—it’s fun! You’re so quotable.”

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