Page 28 of The Haunting Plot

A wolfish grin lights up his face. “All the better to eat you with, my dear.”

“That was lame. Do better.”

“The prank or the comeback?”

“Both,” I say over my shoulder as I return to my desk to write.

This has RJ written all over it, but I can’t figure out why he’s doing this. Does he want me to date his boss? Is he fucking with me because I set him up with Summer? He’d been pining after her his whole life; I did them a favor.

Why Sawyer is going along with this is beyond me. I know he said he liked me, but is he really that desperate? Taking dating advice from my brother is the worst thing he could do.

I write romances for a living, so I know how things should play out. But in a book, I get to write both parts and get in both characters’ heads. So when the hero does something mean or out of character, I know the reason why. But real life doesn’t give you a cheat code like that. And who the fuck knows why men do the things they do?

This is why I’ve avoided relationships. People react in ways I don’t understand or predict. It’s unsettling. Why is he doing this? To piss me off? Pull my pigtails? Maybe he thinks he’s that funny? Is this my autistic brain overthinking, or are his actions normal? I should shut this down, but he’s oddly intriguing.

I might need reinforcements.

CHAPTER 9

RAVEN

Isit on the bench as my leg bounces. The moms walk up as their kids scatter on the playground. Lucy and Summer sit on either side of me as Bella stands in front of me. It’s a beautiful day, and the park is packed with kids trying to soak in the September sunshine before the season turns cold.

“Why’d you call this meeting of the moms, Raven?” Bella asks. “You finally ready to talk about a certain firefighter chief?”

“Levi, don’t climb on that!” Lucy yells to her youngest before turning to me. “I miss playdates at your house. It was easier to contain them there. Sorry if that makes me an asshole.”

“It doesn’t make you an asshole. It was nice knowing they were in a place they couldn’t easily escape from.”

“That’s why I brought Isaac. He can help corral them so we can chat,” Bella says. Isaac is her teenage son, the oldest in our group of kids.

“How are renovations going on the new place?” Summer asks. “Or should I say the old place? New to you? Sorry, pregnancy brain has me scattered.”

“I flashed him,” I blurt, ignoring her question.

Bella claps with glee.

“You what?” Summer asks.

“You can’t just drop that you showed him your party tit and not expect a million follow-up questions,” Bella says.

“That was not what I was expecting you to say,” says Lucy.

“You know I don’t do small talk, so I skipped straight to the point.”

“Oh my God, Raven made a nipple joke. I can’t… I can’t breathe…” Bella wheezes between laughs.

I cross my arms, squinting at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Straight to the point! Did he see one point or two? Were your nipples pointy, or were they turtling in?”

“I hate that I know exactly what you’re talking about,” Summer says, shaking her head.

“Ugh, not the takeaway here, Bella. The state of my nipples isn’t the point. And if you must know, they were covered in crackers.”

Lucy lifts an eyebrow in question. “On purpose?”

“No, not on purpose. I’m on a deadline⁠—”