Dead End: Midnight Hollow by Penn Cassidy (best e reader for epub txt) 📕

“You mean Mr. Hottie?” I teased.

“Shut up, he can probably hear you!” She gasped loudly as he turned our way, a smile aimed right at Mads.

“Oh, he heard all right, judging by that hungry smile. I wonder what he is? Does he read minds, you think? I wonder if he knows how much you think about his butt?” I laughed as her cheeks turned as red as a tomato.

“I swear to the great pumpkin, October—”she threatened, but it was too late.

“Hey, Baen!” I called out, waving my hand over my head before Maddie could finish her empty threat. It was time for Operation Get Maddie Laid.

“Get Maddie what?!” she screeched.

“Oops…did I say that out loud?” I had to bite my cheek to hold my laugh at her outraged face.

Baen stopped stacking books on the table in front of his shop and waved at us, eyes never straying from Maddie. Yeah, dude had it bad. I didn’t understand why Mads couldn’t see it.

We were about to head over to help Baen out, but someone intercepted us first. “Fancy meeting you two here.” Cal stepped in our path with his hands in his pockets as he attempted to smile, but it fell short.

I grimaced at him, before forcing it into a smile. I knew deep down, he probably had nothing to do with what happened to Jessica, but I still couldn’t stop picturing him ripping off that hood. I watched his eyes flicker over Maddie, and something flared in their depths before he forced himself to look back to me. I could tell he was into her, but he was suppressing it, and I needed to know why.

“Hey, Cal,” Maddie said as she gazed at him with her arms crossed before she looked away with disappointment when he barely nodded.

“Maddie,” he said in a dismissive way.

I could physically see the way Maddie’s heart dropped to her stomach as he disregarded her. Shit, she really liked him. He liked her too, so why was he acting like an ass?

“October, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asked, eyes clearly straining to look at me and not Maddie.

Her eyes were glossing over, and she looked anywhere but at him, biting the inside of her cheek again, this time probably to keep from crying.

“What do you need?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest, ready to rip him a new asshole for treating my sister from another mister this way. “My strong as fuck, grumpy ass boyfriends will be here any second, so you might want to hurry up. They aren’t feeling so kind when it comes to liars lately.”

His eyes turned wary as he said, “It’s nothing like that…” Clearing his throat, he shifted on his feet, looking visibly uncomfortable. What the hell is his deal? Where did the suave Calvin go? “My dad wants you to be in this year’s festival portrait for the Society… You know, since your parents aren’t around anymore for it.”

“Why would I want to be in that after the shit Payton pulled?” I demanded, looking at him like he’d lost his mind.

“None of us had anything to do with that,” he pleaded, begging me to trust him as he stepped forward to talk down to me. “Trust me, October, what she did to your familiar was vile. She won’t be coming back, my father made sure of it.”

My eyes widened. “You’re serious? He actually kicked her out of town?”

“Yeah, fuck her. But we still want you to join, and we’d really like it if you come with us for the portrait in front of city hall.” He was really pushing for that portrait as he started walking backwards, nodding his head for me to follow him.

I glanced at Maddie, who looked ready to bolt. Her eyes were flitting to Baen every few seconds as he stood there with his arms crossed, looking like he was about to come over and drag her away from Cal by the hair.

To save her from a jealous tirade on Baen’s part, I said, “Sure, Cal, let’s get this stupid protrait over with.” I gave Maddie an apologetic look. “I’ll be quick, and then I'll come right back here when I’m done. Can you keep an eye out for Jessica while I’m gone? She woke up kind of late after all that shit yesterday.”

Maddie’s face softened, and she smiled. “Of course. Go take a good picture. It’s a good thing you wore your lucky dress…” She stifled a laugh behind her hand, her eyes light with mirth.

“Oh my god,” I groaned, while Cal just looked confused. I tugged him away, while Maddie just winked and turned back to head over to Baen.

“Why is that your lucky dress?” Cal asked, eyeing me up and down as we continued down Main Street.

With a snort and blood rushing to my cheeks, I said, “Trust me, you don’t want to know.” As we got closer to Toil and Trouble’s booth, I suddenly had a hankering for some tea. “Wanna grab a cup?” I pointed to the brewing cauldron.

“We’re already kind of late,” he said, glancing at his wristwatch. His amber eyes were shifting over my shoulder, as if he was looking for someone.

Groaning, I shuffled past the delicious smelling tea when he said, “Let’s cut through here, we can shave off a few minutes.”

He headed for a side street between two buildings, and I halted. Flashes of my last encounter in this area of town slithered into my brain, making me second-guess taking the long way around. Zombies, zombies everywhere. “I—”

“Come on. It’ll take forever to get through that crowd, and they’re all waiting on us.” He kept walking, so I decided to bite the bullet and catch up after glancing at the hustle of the streets.

It was dark on this side street and quieter than the bustle of the crowd back on Main. My eyes were flitting back and forth, jumping at