Page 34 of Deviant

But the coy smile she throws back my way isn’t directed at me but is purposely poised on the boy sitting by my side. Aidan winks at her, her green eyes twinkling just for him,The Scourgelong forgotten with that one endearment.

A more diligent girlfriend might become suspicious of how the two have somehow come up with their own secret language when she didn’t even realize they were friends.

But I’m not that kind of girlfriend.

In fact, if Aidan is somehow involved with the mayor’s daughter by some miracle, it would solve a problem I’ve been procrastinating on resolving for a long time—ending my lackluster relationship with the youngest Larsen brother.

And what?

Start one with the eldest?

I bite the corner of my lip and discreetly look at Elias again, only to get caught red-handed when I see his eyes are set on me instead of the mayor.

Feeling like I just got caught with my hand in the cookie jar, I spin forward so fast that even Aidan suffers its backlash.

I don’t dare move as Aidan looks over his shoulder at his brother and then back to me.

“What’s that asshole grinning about?”

I turn around just briefly to see Elias sprawling an arrogant grin on his lips, my cheeks heating up when he winks at both of us.

“Goddamn it. MaybeThe Scourgewill take pity on me and call that motherfucker once and for all.”

I frown at the scorn-filled remark.

“That’s not funny, Aidan. He is your brother,” I reprimand.

“Doesn’t make him any less of a pain in my ass. I’d rather have him be chosen than me. Not that it’ll happen. With my luck, I’ll be the one whose neck will be on the butcher’s block this year.”

I grimace at the idea.

I may not love Aidan as a girlfriend should love her boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t care for him. I don’t want him to be chosen any more than I want anyone else to go through the ordeal. No one deserves to be taken away from their homes and loved ones to face a nightmarish experience likeThe Scourge.

Not that anyone has returned to share what exactly happens in the games. The only person with those answers has sadly lost most of his mental capacities.

For the rest of the town hall meeting, everyone is given their respective duties to ensure the Harvest Festival goes off without a hitch. Since I’m working at Rosie’s, I will be tending to thediner’s booth and serving everything from pumpkin pie and apple crisp to butternut squash cake.

Aidan, known for his easygoing nature, is selected for hayride duty. For all his previous concerns about being selected, he doesn’t seem to mind that he’ll spend most of the festival tending to small children and their parents when it’s supposed to be the last night he’ll spend in this town.

Not that I care if my last duty to this town is shuffling pie, either.

It really doesn’t matter what I do.

As long as the end result is the same.

One of the six girls called to lower their masks must be me.

That’s the only result I care about.

“Fuck, that was tedious,” Aidan exclaims once my father steps in for the mayor and outlines all the security measures that need to be upheld during the festival, bringing the meeting to an end. “How about we go back to my place and unwind a little bit?”

Knowing that ‘unwind’ is code for getting fucked into another boring coma, I eagerly decline.

“Sorry. I promised my dad I’d go home with him after,” I lie.

Aidan lets out another aggravated gruff, running his fingers through his wavy, blond hair.

“Yeah, okay. Whatever.”

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