Page 107 of Dead Girls Don’t Forget

“You’re a wolf.”

“And frogs are disgusting.”

I watched the whole ridiculous scene for a few seconds, then pushed to my feet.

“Where are you going?” Jackson asked.

“Relocating your guest.”

The frog sat under the chair, blinking. My cat blinked back. Really?

I crouched, scooped the tiny thing carefully into my hands, and carried it toward the far side of the yard away from the fire. I released it near the bushes.

When I walked back, Lia narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously. Apparently Jackson had finally managed to pry the barnacle off himself.

“You touched it,” she said.

“Yes.”

“Voluntarily.”

“It’s a frog, not radioactive waste.”

Jackson caught my hand when I sat back down and tugged me sideways into his lap. His smile said he approved.

“Lia is deathly afraid of frogs,” Jackson explained, wrapping an arm loosely around my waist.

“Every single time,” Rick said, still laughing. “Twenty years old.”

Jason pointed across the fire. “My sister can throw a wolf twice her size but loses a battle against amphibians.”

“It’s the way they move,” Lia muttered with visible disgust.

The fire burned lower as the night stretched on. I should’ve stood out like a sore thumb, a feline among wolves, an obvious outsider. Instead, I fit in surprisingly well. After a while someone put music on near the porch. Jason attempted to roast six marshmallows simultaneously and lost four directly into the fire. Rick claimed it was “a metaphor for his academic career.”

Around eleven the conversation settled into something quieter.

Rick wandered over for another beer from the cooler beside me. As he straightened, he glanced toward Jackson, who was arguing with Jason about pineapple on pizza.

“You know, I’ve never seen him so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as he’s been these last few weeks,” he said.

I didn’t answer. I just watched Jackson laugh.

A little after midnight, a yawn slipped out of me before I could stop it. I’d slept badly the night before, and the emotional weight of the day still clung to me.

Jackson noticed immediately. “You tired?”

“A little.”

He stood and offered me his hand. “Stay tonight.”

I looked at him for a second before placing my hand in his. “Okay.”

Rick made exaggerated kissing noises. Jason lobbed a marshmallow at him. We ignored them both.

“Gotta put my girl to bed.”

He didn’t wait for permission. One arm slid beneath my knees, the other behind my back, and he lifted me clean off the ground.