Page 77 of A Smile Full of Lies
“Your turn, sweetheart.”
Her lashes fluttered, her lips swollen, her breath coming in sharp, shallow gasps. For one heartbeat, I thought she’d stay, thought she’d give me the next truth or dare and we’d finally burn the rest of the distance down between us.
Instead, she bolted.
She tore herself out of my arms and retreated fast, her hoodie brushing my chest as she spun and disappeared down the hall toward the guest room. The click of her door shutting echoed louder than it should’ve in the quiet house.
I stood there, jaw tight, hands flexing at my sides. She’d claimed me when she thought I couldn’t hear her. Claimed me in front of strangers, smiling like the devil herself while she said she knew me intimately. But when I gave her the chance to cross the line for real, she ran away.
Frustration burned hot in my chest. I poured another shot, swallowed it down hard, and stared at the dark hallway where she’d vanished.
“Run while you can, Ros,” I muttered under my breath. “But sooner or later, you’re going to have to admit you’re mine.”
Chapter
Twenty
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1
ROS
I bit backthe urge to scream. The second Knox left for work, I was going to hunt Nox Obscura down and get some answers about what happened between us last night. The Hollowing would only have one more day in town before they packed things up and disappeared forever. If I was going to have any chance of cornering Nox Obscura, today would be my only chance to make it happen.
As if he could sense my desire to bolt, Knox hovered close, moving as if we had all the time in the world and nowhere else to be. Finally, after savoring his coffee in comfortable silence, he brushed a kiss against my temple on his way out the door, as if he hadn't singlehandedly turned my life inside-out over the past seventy-two hours.
"Bye, Ros. Have a good day."
I blinked up at him, feeling a bit wide-eyed and owlish.
"You, too, Knox. See you later."
I sagged with relief. Fuck... I was starting to think he was never going to leave, and then what would I do? If he didn't go to work,he wouldn't let me out of his sight, and I'd never get my answers from Nox Obscura.
The moment I heard his truck pull away, I grabbed my keys.
I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Hell, I didn’t even know what I hoped to find, but I couldn’t sit in his guest room, wrapped in one of his sweatshirts, aching from the way I came against the door of his childhood bedroom for some stranger in a mask andnottry to get answers.
So I drove across town, back to Stonewood Manor.
The haunted house attraction wasn’t open for its final day of the weekend yet, but a couple of staff members milled around the gate, including a guy with a clipboard who looked like he might be in charge. The organizer leaned against the roped-off ticketing table in the bright autumn sunlight, sunglasses pushed up over his too-perfect hair. His whole vibe screamed college dropout who joined a pyramid scheme, but maybe that was unfair. Or maybe it wasn’t.
Either way, his smug little smile as I marched up to him was pissing me off.
“Who the fuck is Nox Obscura, and how do I get in touch with him?”
The haunted house organizer rolled his eyes at me, not willing to give me a single goddamn scrap of useful information.
“All we’ve got is the TikTok handle, lady. Nox Obscura handles his own arrangements. He’s… a very private guy, apparently.”
I glared at him.
“Private? Fuck private.” My voice was sharp. “This guy showed up last night, cut me off from everyone else, chased me through the private wing of the house, and pinned me to the fucking wall. You’re telling me you don’t have a name, a phone number, or any kind of contact information for him?”
The organizer shrugged, looking mildly amused.
“He handles his business through the app he posts all his videos on. That’s all I know.”
My jaw clenched. I took a step closer. His expression shifted, his smile twitching slightly at the edges.
