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“Pretty sure kittens don’t have heels” Link grinned
Rid had caved and asked hianized It was the first tier than fiveof the su Rid he loved her at the Dar-ee Keen
“Meow,” Ridley said, annoyed
Link looked amused “I don’t really think a you as a cat person, Rid”
“I love cats,” she said, wrenching one foot out of a patch of drying ross sucking sound that re on an ICEE
“And the rest is leather, Greenpeace” Link’s spiky hair stood straight up, as usual—oing for His faded T-shirt said GRANNY BROKE BOTH HIPSTERS, and the chain hanging from his wallet made him sound like a puppy on a leash In other words, Link looked like he’d looked every day of his life, hybrid Incubus or not Gaining supernatural powers had done nothing to improve his sense of style
Just like the boy I fell for, Ridley thought Even if everything else between us is different
She yanked her foot up out of the ht her on her way to a full-body mud bath Before Rid could say a word, he hoisted her over his shoulder and bounded across the e of the lake
“Puther miniskirt back into place
“Fine You’re a real brat soain? ’Cause I gotta whole lotta blond jokes…”
“Ohhis chest in the process, but deep down, she didn’t th There were soing upside doasn’t one of theht in his arms
Lena waved them over from her spot at the cae Macon’s , Boo Radley, was curled at her feet Ethan and John were still working on the fire itself, the Mortal way, under Liv’s direction—not that she’d ever made a fire before Which was probably why it was still only s
“Hey, Rid” Lena smiled “Nice ride”
“I have a na Ridley with one arm
“Hey, Link” Lena’s black curls were pulled up into a loose knot, and her fa froed Ridley noticed that the ornaraduation had already joined her charless Mortal ceremonies Rid s into a live snake, right as Emily shook Principal Harper’s hand So like a few snakes to end a boring graduation, and fast But Lena looked a thousand times happier now that Ethan was back
“Down Now” Ridley gave Link one last kick for good measure
Link du “Don’t ever say I didn’t do anything for you”
“Aw, Shrinky Dink If it’s the thought that counts, you didn’t” She smiled sweetly back at hi’s like an air mattress”
“My mom says balloon” Link was unfazed
“Pound it, Pudding Head” Ethan dropped a last log on the s pile of sticks He bumped fists with Link
Liv sighed “There’s plenty of oxygen going to all the logs I used a classic tepee structure Unless the laws of physics have changed, I don’t knohy—”
“Do we have to do this the Mortal way?” Ethan looked at Lena
She nodded “More fun”
John struck another match “For who?”
Ridley held up her hand “Hold on That sounds like ca?”
Link moved across the fire pit “You may not know this, but Rid is not a happy camper”
“Sit” Lena gave her the Look “Because I’ or not” She fluttered her fingers, and the fire ignited
“Are you kiddingfire, insulted, while the boys laughed
“You want hed but reached for the raham crackers Between her love of snack foods, her faded Grateful Dead T-shirts, and herback to high school, not college Once Liv opened her h, she seemed like she should be one of the professors
“I’d pay serious money to see Rid campin’ for real” Link flopped down next to Ethan
“Your allowance isn’t serious enough to get ure out a way to sit down on a stone near the fire pit without ripping the thin black spandex skirt she was rocking
“Havin’ a little trouble with your nano-skirt, there?” Link patted the makeshift seat next to him
“No” Ridley twirled the pink stripe in her hair Lena speared aas Ridley took another pass at sitting on the rock
“Can’t rest your dogs while you’re strapped in that butt Band-Aid?” Link was enjoying himself
Ridley was not “It’s a micro-mini From Miu Miu And ould you know? You can’t even dress a salad”
“I’ve got my own kind of flair, Babe And I don’t need to buy mine at Meo”
Ridley gave up on the rock, squatting instead at the edge of a log just down from Link “Flair? You? You wash your face with shampoo and brush your teeth with a washcloth”
“What’s your point?” Link raised an eyebrow
Lena looked up “Enough Don’t tellat it This has to be some kind of record, even for you” She waved her stick and her ht on fire
“I an
“It was more of a conversation,” Link said “And she did blow me off—”
“I said I was sorry,” Rid countered “But you knohat they say Once a Mortal…”
Link snorted “Mortal? I wouldn’t believe a Siren if she—”
Lena held up her hand “I said not to tell me” Ridley and Link looked away from each other, embarrassed
“It’s all good,” Link said stiffly
“Caed the subject
Lena shook
her head “No, this is not ca This is… I don’t actually know the verb for it S’oo between two graha into Ethan’s mouth
Ethan , but he couldn’t open his h to make any actual words
“I take it you like ?” Lena smiled at him
Ethan nodded Tonight, in his oldest Harley-Davidson T-shirt and ratty jeans, he looked the same as he had the day Ridley first met him, after basketball practice at the Stop & Steal Which was crazy, if you thought about everything that had happened to hih in the name of my cousin And people think Sirens are hard on the opposite sex He’d do anything for her
A little voice in Ridley’s head pointed out the obvious: Loved and together is the opposite of unloved and alone Ridley could barely stand to watch a relationship that functional
She shuddered and shook her head, recovering “S’? Because this is no way to spend our last night together There are enemies to be made Laws to be broken Cheerleaders to—”
“Not tonight” Lena shook her head, spearing another marshmallow
Rid gave up, grabbing a bag of chocolate bars to console herself Sirens loved their sugar, especially this one
“Speak for yourself I think this is brilliant,” said Liv, stuffing her face with a gooey chocolate–raha together as one—on the saraham cracker? That’s democracy at its best This is why I love America S’mores”
“Is that the only reason?” John nudged her
“The only reason? Yes No,” Liv teased, licking a finger “S’mores, the Dar-ee Keen, and the CW” She shot hi a marshmallow into Boo Radley’s open mouth Boo thumped his tail appreciatively
Twenty-five marshmallows later, Boo was a little less appreciative and the fire was burning down to eht was far from over
“See? No tears No good-byes,” Lena said, breaking up the ash with her burnt-black stick “And e go, no one is allowed to say anything you’d read in a cheesy greeting card”