“I can’t help it.”
“Wouldn’t want you to.”
I smiled against his chest before the reality of everything slowly crept back in around the edges.My fingers stilled slightly against him.“I shouldn’t feel this good right now.”
Push’s hand slid through my hair before he pressed a kiss to the top of my head.“You’re doing everything you can to find her.You’re allowed a minute to breathe, baby.”
Simple, and somehow exactly what I needed.
I curled closer against him while exhaustion finally started pulling at me.
The room was warm, Push’s arm stayed tight around me, and for the first time since Erin disappeared, my chest didn’t feel tight with panic.
I should’ve felt guilty for that.Maybe I did a little.But mostly?Mostly, I just felt safe.And wrapped in Push’s arms, I fell asleep before I could think too hard about what that meant.
Chapter Eighteen
McKayla
I was starting to understand why people liked haunted houses.
Not because they were scary, but because they let people scream about something fake for a little while instead of the real things eating them alive.
The late evening air smelled like popcorn, grease, lake water, and fog machine smoke while tourists wandered through Skull Island laughing and taking pictures like there wasn’t a murderer somewhere on the property.
Honestly, good for them.Ignorance looked relaxing.
The sun hung low in the sky, throwing orange light through the trees surrounding the haunted house area while the attractions slowly came to life for the night.Actors in makeup shuffled around the midway, staying mostly in character while groups of people drifted between the entrance to the haunted house and the loading area for the ghost boat tours.
It wasn’t busy yet.
Push had agreed to let me out of the clubhouse only if we came before dark.Apparently me wanting fresh air had turned into a negotiation.
“You can walk around,” he’d said earlier while leaning against the kitchen counter drinking coffee, “but we’re doing it before dark.”
I’d narrowed my eyes at him.“You say that like I’m a gremlin.”
“You get into trouble like one.”
“Rude.”
“True.”
I’d flipped him off.
He’d kissed me five minutes later.
And now here we were walking through the haunted house area hand in hand like we weren’t in the middle of a murder investigation.
Not that my brain had stopped thinking about any of it.
That was the problem.The more I thought, the more tangled everything became.
Push’s hand stayed wrapped around mine while we walked slowly past the game booths and food stands.His thumb brushed lazily over my knuckles every few seconds like he did it without thinking.
Pearl walked beside me wearing oversized sunglasses even though the sun was almost gone, while Piney trailed behind us eating popcorn from a giant paper bag like it was his full-time job.Actually, maybe it was.
Pearl glanced over her shoulder at him.“How are you eating that?”
