In my entire life.
“We won, Cunningham,” I said, laughing as he held me against him.
“Kicked their asses, Distefano,” he agreed, and a millionbutterflies went wild in my stomach as his gaze turned to something…more.
His eyes were focused and bright, with a glint to them, like I was the only thing on his mind,and I liked the way his mouth curved into a tiny smile.
“Can you please get down the hill and to the truck so we can close?” one of the twins said, crossing their arms.
“Sure,” I replied, and my heart stuttered with a jolt when Connor set me on my feet but slid his fingers between mine. We walked down the hill, holding hands, and everything felt overwhelmingly wonderful; it was scary how perfect everything felt.
Because suddenly I found myself believing in it. Was it actually possible? Could there actually be something magical between me and Connor Cunningham? It felt way too right, and I wasn’t sure what would come next.
I was shaken out of my thoughts when Connor squeezed my hand and said, “Check it out, Duff.”
I followed his eyes to the flatbed, and the rest of the zombie hunters were all seated, clapping as they saw us approach. Instead of being pissed we held them up, they were cheering. Phones were raised, taking videos of us as champions, and I couldn’t help it.
I fell into full-on belly laughter.
It was ridiculous and amazing, and the sound of Connor’s laugh beside me only made it better.
And as we climbed onto the truck, I let myself believe in it.
What was the point in fighting the magic?
I had no idea where this would take us, but I wanted to revel in the moment for a little bit longer.
29
Connor
“Do you want to come in?” Duffy asked.
After parking in her driveway, I glanced over at her but couldn’t read her face. I hadn’t expected the invitation. “Do you want me to?”
Her mouth twitched like she wanted to laugh before she said, “I mean, I want to help you. You look…um,ridiculous, so if you want to come in and clean up, I think that might be a great idea.”
“You’re afraid I’m going to scare my doorman, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, you might get arrested because you don’t look at all like yourself,” she said.
The zombies had unloaded on me and I was covered in splashes of neon paint. Even though there were rules about going for the face, those jackasses had definitely aimed high, making my face collateral damage.
“The good thing is that my dad’s not home, so we don’t have to deal with him at the moment.”
“Where’s Tony?” I asked. “Out partying?”
“Basically,” she said. “He likes to go to the bar down the street with his buddies on meat raffle nights.”
“Thatisa party,” I said.
“Right?”
I followed Duffy up to the porch, and when she led me into her home, it felt like I’d stepped into a time machine.
In a good way.
The house was typical middle class, with shiny oak cabinets in the kitchen and lots of silk flower arrangements. If I had to guess, I’d say that Duffy’s mom probably decorated this house when Duff was in middle school and it hadn’t changed since.
