Page 29 of The Hallows Queen

“No, you don’t.” He chuckles, brushing some water from where it’s dripping down his forehead. “And neither do I, it’s nice having a girl in the group. She takes care of us.”

“You think that bothers Carson?”

“Nah,” Levi says, shaking his head. “It used to, but he knows she loves him with her whole chest. He knows she sees us as her brothers now.”

I hum between my lips. “I guess.”

“Dude, when you look at Lo, do you see someone you want to fuck?”

My face curls. “No, of course not.”

“And when you touch her, does your dick tingle?”

“What?!” I laugh. “No? Does yours?”

“Not anymore,” he says, looking out at the ocean in thought, as if he’s spitting wisdom. “I mean, yeah, there was a time when I wanted to be in her guts from sunup to sundown, but now when I look at her, it’s like I’m looking at someone else. I’m just looking at Carson’s girl, our friend, our sister.”

“What’s your point?” I chuckle, running my hands under the water.

“My point,bitch, is that Carson sees that, and he sees that she feels the same way about us. We all love each other, but in a fucked-up-family type of way. Don’t be so fucking hard on her for caring about you.”

I lick my dry lips. “Anyone ever told you that you’re one wise motherfucker?”

He cocks his head to the side to look at me and grins. “Not just a pretty face, dude.”

* * *

We leavethe beach around lunchtime, stop to grab some food on the boardwalk and then head to Carson and Logan’s house to have a movie night. School starts in two weeks, and Carson heads to football camp tomorrow, so we’re having one last night, just the four of us, before things start getting busy.

We each go separate ways, Logan and Carson to their shared shower, Levi to the pool house, and me to the guest bathroom. Once I’ve soaked myself in the burning shower and put some sweats on, I head to the living room to wait for everyone else.

I mindlessly scroll my phone while I wait, flipping between each bullshit social media app. After I’ve gotten bored of them all, I swipe back to Instagram and type the namePenelopeinto the search bar. Long shot, but I’ve got time to kill.

I scroll through all the responses, the little profile pictures ranging from teens to old women. Levi drops down on the other side of the couch silently, but I don’t acknowledge him. I just keep hunting for the rightPenelope.

I’ll never find her.

After another five minutes, I give up and lock my phone.

I look over at Levi, who has his head resting on the arm of the couch and his eyes closed.

Grabbing my phone again, I go to Facebook this time and type in her name. Clicking on the filters, I narrow the results down to people who live in Luxington.

Dozens of profiles pop up, but that’s better than the millions from Instagram, so I start my hunt again with fresh eyes. Again, it’s a mishmash of people, but I keep scrolling. When I get about halfway down the list, I spot her.

Penelope Leyton.

I press my teeth into my top lip as I click on her profile, and her image gets bigger along with the general information that Facebook displays.

Penelope Leyton.

Lives in Luxington, North Carolina

From Luxington, North Carolina

Went to Washington State University

Works at Luxington High School

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