Chapter 19
Maggie
The music is pumping as the crowd pulses to the upbeat bass of the after-party. I sit at the bar nursing a soda water as I happily people watch. Well almost happily. The mosquitos have also decided to join the fun, putting a damper on ours.
With the loud music, I don’t hear the buzz of the tiny bloodsucker until it’s seconds away from landing on my neck. Ever since the sun went down they have been getting worse. I slap a hand to my neck and when my palm comes away full of somebody else’s blood, I decide to call it a night.
Remembering Hadley’s stuff is in my van, I wander through the crowd to find him. Finally, I catch a glimpse of him in the sea of hats at one end of the bar. I weave my way through sweaty bodies until I stop at his side. He stops talking immediately, those dark eyes of his homing in on me.
Levi’s, Brady’s, and Spencer’s gazes do much the same, only with less intensity.
“I’m calling it a night, you want your bedroll left outside?”
“Yeah, thanks.” The smile growing over his face lights up his eyes.
Heat rushes up my neck, flooding my face fast.Shit.
“Okay, well. Night, guys.”
Levi tips his hat like the old man he is. Brady and Spencer say their good nights, but Hadley just stares at me. Now his smile has dipped, and a mix of concern and something I can’t read is etched over his face.
Pushing back the way I came, I brace myself for the onslaught of mosquitos. I barely make it out of the event area when they track me down and come flying over. I wave my hands around, trying to bat them away. By the time I reach Betsy, I’m slapping the damn things all over me.
Urgh, this is horrendous.
As quick as I can, I slip the side door to the van open and rush inside, slamming it shut a beat later.
Three mosquitos make it in, and I kill them before letting out a whole-body shudder. “God, this place. Sucked me right in with its pretty lake. Only to be eaten alive hours later.”
I sit on the bed, eyeing the van space as if I’ll catch another one inside.
A hard knock rattles the side door. “Maggie! Let me in.”
Hadley.
“Get rid of the mosquitos first!”
I shove the curtain aside and peer out the window to see him flapping around. His hat falls to the ground and when he comes to the small door again, I open it quickly and only wide enough for him. Which, let’s face it, is a big enough space for a colony of them little bloodsuckers to breach my tiny home.
He’s inside and slamming the door behind himself a heartbeat later. Hunched over, he swats the few that made it in. Two sit on his shoulder and I slap them, instantly regretting my decision to help when blood bursts all over my hand. Again.
God, I’ve never wished for a steaming hot shower more than right now. But over hell’s warmed-up carcass am I going outside this van until it’s time to go home. I’ve been many places in this world. Traveled to some incredible destinations, and many notso incredible, and these tiny insects that want to drain the life out of you take the cake.
Especially after tonight’s events.
I drop onto my bunk with a heavy sigh. “You’ll have to stay in here. There is no way we’re opening the door again.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll be right outside in my bedroll, zipped up.”
“You’ll be eaten alive by morning. Take the bunk, I’ll sleep in the driver’s seat. It reclines most of the way.”
“Not a chance.” He sits next to me, running a hand through his hair. A mosquito that must have been trapped in the luscious dark mess flies up and hovers in front of us. Hadley claps his hands around it, killing it. “Little fuckers.”
“God, why are they so bad here?”
“Most likely the enormous water source mere kilometers away.”
I roll my eyes at the connection, annoyed I didn’t see it before.
