Page 10 of Close Your Eyes and Count to 10

Climbergirl:Where do I sign?

MavIsALiar:He never actually gives the money he raises for charity.

Truthteller09:Aren’t you being investigated for fraud? Unfollow this loser.

ExtremeHottie:Ignore the haters, Mav. We know you’re a good guy.

Violenceisblue:Love you, Mav.

Eleven thousand people now.

What a rush. He pressed a button on his phone, and people from all over the world tuned in to hear what he was saying. Him. A kid from New Jersey, a college dropout. He’d tried to explain that to his father. But the old man just didn’t seem to get it.

What’s a follower?his dad wanted to know. In his language,followerwasn’t a good thing.

Fifteen thousand people now.

“We have somesicksponsors for this event,” he said.

Over his phone, he saw Angeline marching toward him, tiny but mighty. A furious pixie with close-cropped jet hair and a face of hard angles: high cheekbones, arched brows, big heavily lashed dark eyes.

“What the fuck, Maverick,” she mouthed, lifting her palms. She wouldn’t screw up the live broadcast, though; he knew that. He gave her a grin, and she shook her head, put her hands on her hips.

“And I’ll be announcing those sponsors and our players soon.”

He moved in close, lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.

“This place iscrazy, you guys. The locals say it’s cursed. And you know what?” He made a show of glancing around. “I think they may be right. The energy is electric, and this is the perfect place for Extreme Hide and Seek. More to come. Peace and love.”

He cut the live, but not before he saw the comment from MavIsALiar:

Keep playing, Mav. But you will pay for what you’ve done. Where is Chloe Miranda?

“Itold youwe weren’t ready to announce, Mav,” said Angeline when she knew he was done. He tried to shake off that last comment from MavIsALiar, but it had hit dead center, echoing one of his dad’s many wisdom sound bites:What comes around goes around,son.

He pushed it down deep, turned to Angeline. “Just getting people excited.”

She had the flush on her cheeks that she got when she was mad, that glint to her eyes. It was hot. Really hot. It gave him a little jolt when she was angry, all her attention trained on him and whatever thing he’d just done. He loved the fire in her.

“We don’t have permission from the island yet,” she said. He tried to take her into his arms, but she shifted away, lithe as a cat. She was frowning, but underneath it he knew there was a smile, just a little one. “They could kick us out of here tomorrow.”

She worried too much. Angeline and Alex, they were always on about what Extreme should and shouldn’t do. Always worried about money and what was right.

“They won’t,” he said.

“How do you know that?”

He blew out a breath, held up his phone to show her the post with all its views and likes. “Because the internet has turnedus allinto publicity whores. Every single person, entity, and destination wants a piece of what we’re offering. The guy from the tourism council was practically drooling.”

He heard his own voice: knew he had a gift for sounding confident even when he had no idea what he was talking about. Angeline just held him in that gaze, the one that saw through all his bullshit and cared about him anyway. Or maybe it was just because he paid her a fortune. And she cared about that. Whatever. She was out of his league in every way. He’d take what he could get.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and she softened, looked up at him. There she was. She let him snake an arm around her waist, pull her close. “Chill, Ange. It will all work out. It always does.”

Tavo, somewhere in the bowels of Enchantments, whooped with joy.

This place was his find. Gustavo spent time on Falcão Island growing up and had always been fascinated with the hotel. During the summers he spent with his grandparents, the condemned building was forbidden ground. Haunted, cursed, the locals said. At the very least dangerous, parents warned their children away. But, of course, the kids were always sneaking in there—exploring, later throwing raves and getting high. Gustavo was stoked to be back here, though his family had all moved away.

“This shit is off the chain, Mav! Even crazier than I remember.”

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