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She preened "That iven me Thank you"

A car honked as she swerved across four lanes to exit the highway, and she seee where he’s coh to call your Nana, huh?"

"I know It’s kind of weird, right, and" Wait I knew Cole He’d always been a guy with a plan A purpose He never did anything without a rock-solid reason But what reason could he possibly have had to--

The answer slammed into me, and I nearly liquefied in my seat I’d lost my family, and this wasto reduce the number of memories I’d have to battle

He didn’t know that I’d never before celebrated Halloween My dad hadn’t allowed us to leave the house at night, so there had been no reason to buy a costuers to pass out candy had been just as big a no-no

"Yeah," I said to Kat, wishing I could crawl into Cole’s arms and never leave "We are"

"You’re so lucky My dad has never been a Frosty fan I’m pretty sure he’s only ever threatened to castrate the boy"

Had to be those serial-killer eyes Sometimes, when Frosty looked at you, you just expected to die horribly "Your dad still lets you guys date, though"

"Yeah, and he alill When I was first diagnosed with defunct kidneys, he promised to let me make my own decisions and live my life the way I wanted"

Good ht?"

"The sa you are And I didn’tin jealousy knowing I was out having the best ti in your sickbed" She gripped the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles bleached of color "I’ not to be nervous I ht will be filled with all kinds of creepers, so hoill I knoho’s dangerous and who’s not?"

"You aren’t able to see real zombies," I reminded her

"That doesn’t mean they aren’t there First, I told Frosty no, but then he said, ‘Would I ever put you at risk, wo a double life since we started dating’ And he said, ‘You want ain, don’t you?’ And I said, ‘Every day for the rest of your life’ He had the nerve to laugh as if I was joking"

I sh of my own "Sowhat’s your costu Hood"

"LetBad Wolf"

"What else? I have a feeling he thinks it’ll be hilarious to snap his teeth atit, I shookto tell him to prove it Aren’t you?"

"I like that you know ravel road nestled between rows of trees in the process of shedding their fall coats When the trees finally gave way to fields of wheat, Cole’s "workout station for stallions" beca red barn that looked ready to topple over Actually, the thing could withstand a military invasion

"This place is in the middle of nowhere," Kat remarked as she eased to a stop

"For ht The sheer number of weapons kept here The condition we sometimes left in

There were more cars than usual in the driveway I frowned as I stepped into the coolness of the day Grunts, groans and even cheers seeped from the crack in the door "Come on" I quickened ape I’d assumed Cole, and maybe the &uuuys willing to forgo a countrywide day off

Kat bumped into me and froze "Oh, spank me," she whispered, her tone reverent

Here they were, all of the slayers in all their glory There was enough testosterone in the air to jump-start the deadest of hearts Most of the boys were shirtless, displaying bronzedat the enes, and even a few house-arrest anklets

The blond and scarily beautiful Frosty pounded his fists into a poor, defenseless punching bag The rough-and-tu in place, his feet planted firmly on the floor There was no force on earth that could move him, even one as violent as Frosty Collins ran on a treadhts

And Cole, well, he was in the boxing ring with a girl I didn’t recognize

There was an unfa the pair The only other females in the rooirl Kat had yet to forgive for not having a su with Frosty

Don’t ask

Trina waved at me, and I waved back, but htheartedly at the unknown girl, and she ducked before straightening and swinging at hiht her fist and jerked her against the hard line of his body, effectively disabling her

She grinned up at hiht where she was, clearly happy to be there A boy with a girlfriend should have released her and stepped back Although Cole stiffened, the glearanite-hard, he rerin with one of his own

I wasn’t sure what any of that meant I only knew I didn’t like it

Tiirls He’s even sirls This isn’t romantic This isn’t sexual

Of course, Downer Ali wasn’t fully convinced (yes, there are many sides to me) He didn’t pick you up because he didn’t want to leave this girl’s side

I shook my head He was mine, my toy, and I wouldn’t share