Page 59 of Frenemies

Ashen Springs wasn’t like other towns—it had all the amenities of a city but with the aesthetic appeal of sprawling forests and other greenery. All the while, it managed to keep that small-town charm.

Unless you were down by the docks, that is, but I didn’t plan on going there. In fact, I preferred to forget that area existed at all. The only important part of this area was the architecturally pleasing buildings on the hills above the raggedy people slumming around the docks.

Bailey jumped back as a roar rocketed through the air. “What the hell was that?”

“Calm down.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s just geysers.”

If her eyes got any bigger, they would bulge out of her head. “You have geysers?”

“Yes, there are three of them over there,” I pointed off to the right. “They spray red water, so don’t go thinking someone was killed by a whale or anything.”

Ashen Springs also had hot springs, two lakes, and bluffs I could push her off if she kept asking questions.

“Okay?” Bailey’s face screwed up in confusion. “But where do you keep the cows?”

My brow arched. “There are no cows.”

What did she think we were? A bunch of ranchers that paraded livestock down Main Street? I shivered at the thought.

“But… this is a town, and I didn’t see any farms on the way here?”

“So?”

Ugh, why would we want farms anywhere near here? No one wanted the smell of manure wafting into town.

Bailey shook her head and muttered, “Florida is weird.”

I could argue that she was the weird one here, but that might spark up another conversation I did not want to have. It took two hours to get her to stop talking about how I was secretly a nice person.

And how did I stop that conversation? I turned the music back on and listened to her sing instead. It might be better to send her back on the bus.

I steered my car around the left side of Ashworth, my old high school, and headed up the hill to my destination. The entire way here, I kept going over how I was going to do this.

I’d need help to break into Daddy’s office, but who? Micha Kessler was the obvious choice, but he’d want the information as well, and this was none of his business.

A few other people came to mind, like Mason, Micha’s brother. He’d get a kick out of breaking into the Mayor’s Office, but he was an idiot. I’d have better luck with Tanner. Then there was Silas Creswell and Ava’s brother, Preston—neither of whom I cared to see, which left one person.

I looked up at the white house at the end of the driveway and prayed he was home.

“Oh my god,” Bailey shrieked. “Look at the cute little angel face on that fountain.”

Would she cry if she knew how many times we tried to destroy that thing? Well, not me personally—I left that kind of thing up to the boys.

I sighed and pulled the car to a stop when Bailey’s eyes once again went wide.

“This is your house?”

“No.” My family had wealth but not like this. This is what I referred to as old money.

Bailey followed me when I stepped out of the car and gawked up at the house. “So, who lives here?”

“Someone you’ll probably never forget,” I said and marched through the door.

It didn’t take the universe long to prove me right. We walked inside to Logan Hudson coming around the corner, with his tattooed torso on full display and his jeans open hanging off his hips while he was shoving a sandwich in his mouth.

Bailey’s jaw dropped as a charming smile washed over Logan’s face.

“Well, hey there, sweetheart,” he shot Bailey a wink. “I’m digging those pigtails.”

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