Page 35 of Beautiful Collide

The shelves are pretty bare, but there are a few cans of lord knows what. I keep going, bending down to see what type of candy bars I can find. The plastic is dusty, but some of these might do the trick.

I see chips, too, and grab them as well.

“I found Twinkies.” I wave a pack in the air.

These things could survive a nuclear war.

Molly jumps up from where she’s sitting, ready to take some of the food out of my hands. “Pass. I’m not that desperate.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” I shoot back.

“Funny,” she mutters just loud enough for me to hear her.

If it were lighter out, I would bet my last snack she also rolled her eyes at me.

The only thing I can see is that she’s watching me.

I head back to her, pulling my phone from my pocket and switching on its flashlight. The beam cuts through the gloom as I stand beside her.

“What else did you bring?” she asks.

“Not much. It was slim pickings.”

Her brow furrows. “How do you know it’s good?”

I grin. “Because everyone knows these babies will last through an apocalypse.”

I place the Twinkie in her hand, watching as her fingers trace the wrapper.

Molly stares at it, then raises an eyebrow at me. “So you actually did get Twinkies? I thought you were messing with me.”

I nod. “Of course, I did. I never mess around when it comes to Twinkies or Girl Scout cookies, but unfortunately, we are all out of those.”

“You’re fired.”

“I got chips, though. But we should check the dates on those.”

“And not on the Twinkies?” she asks, her lips quirking up slightly.

“Everyone knows Twinkies don’t go bad.”

“That’s BS,” she says, shaking her head.

“Guess we’ll find out.” I tear open the wrapper and hold it out to her. “Ladies first.”

She crosses her arms, leaning back against the wall. “No. I insist you go first since you found it.”

I narrow my eyes. “Basically, you want to see if I die first?”

“Yeah.”

“Real nice, Hex,” I mutter before taking a bite.

It’s just as good as I remember it to be. I haven’t had one of these since I was a kid.

I grin, chewing dramatically. “Yum . . .”

She rolls her eyes and starts to eat, a small smile tugging at her lips.

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