The Promise (Neighbor from Hell #10)(62)

“Really? Then what is she doing at the house every night besides screaming your name?” Matt asked, blinking innocently as he finished Reed’s hot dog and decided to help himself to the one Jackson tossed in the fire.

“You’re seeing someone?” Jackson asked, sending him a curious glance only to cringe when Matt devoured the rancid hot dog in one bite.

“Every night,” Matt said, nodding solemnly as he washed the rancid hot dog down with the iced tea that the store clerk had advised them against buying.

“I see,” Jackson murmured, sounding thoughtful as they watched a heavyset middle-aged man stumble toward the porta potties with his hands plastered against his stomach and an, “Oh, god,” only to follow that up with an, “Oh, god, no,” when he spotted the “Out of order” sign.

---

“Okay, this was a bad idea,” Joey mumbled softly, trying not to panic as she hugged the flashlight tightly against her chest as she made a mental list of all the things that she deeply regretted.

When she heard another twig snap somewhere close by, she couldn’t help but put coming here alone at the top of her list of regrets. The sounds of something rustling through the leaves had her quickly switching that with coming here at all.

Not that she had that many regrets because she didn’t.

Okay, so that might not be entirely true, she thought, deciding that perhaps now might be the best time for her to crawl into her sleeping bag and squeeze her eyes shut when the sounds of another twig breaking made its way inside the tent that she was starting to question its ability to protect her in the case of a bear attack. The next time she went camping it was going to be from the safety of a hotel room with round the clock room service, she decided as she curled up in the fetal position and thought about all those things that she didn’t regret.

Maybe it wasn’t too late, she told herself as the first glimmer of hope came that she wasn’t about to be devoured by a rabid carnivorous squirrel when the rustling suddenly stopped. Closing her eyes, she dropped her head back with a sigh of relief that quickly turned into a whimper when she heard something brush against her tent.

She was never going camping again, she decided as she squeezed her eyes shut only to forget how to breathe when she felt something slide over her leg and-

“Shhh, don’t scream,” Reed whispered, chuckling as he pulled her sleeping bag open so that she could crawl onto his lap and wrap her arms around him.

“Did I scare you?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

“No,” she said quickly, even as she couldn’t help but look over to make sure that he’d closed the tent behind him so that they wouldn’t have to worry about those aforementioned rabid squirrels getting in.

“Then I guess you just missed me, huh?” he asked as she shined the flashlight around her tent, making sure that they were alone when she remembered something important.

“Where’s Jackson?” she asked, quickly getting off his lap and putting some much-needed space between them.

“Most likely killing Matt,” Reed said, not really sounding all that worried.

“What are you doing here?” she couldn’t help but ask since he was supposed to be spending some time with her brother.

“I took one for the team,” he said with a sad shake of his head.

“Took one for the team?” she asked, her eyes narrowing on the big jerk that she’d missed.

Sighing, he nodded. “Someone had to.”

“And why exactly did you have to take one for the team?” she asked, deciding that she would take advantage of his presence and venture out of the tent so that she could grab a few items that she’d been forced to abandon when she’d heard that first twig break.

“Because the tent was too small for all three of us,” he said, reaching around her to grab the large pack that she was trying to drag inside.

“So, you drew the short straw?” she asked, closing the tent and sat back so that she could search through her bag for the essentials.

“You could say that,” Reed murmured as he laid down and closed his eyes.

“Where’s Jackson and Matt?” she asked as she grabbed her kindle and-

“I’m going to kill your brother,” Jackson announced as she found herself being picked up and moved over only to find herself picked up again and placed on Reed’s other side when Matt crawled into the tent and dropped down next to Reed with a grumbled, “Ungrateful bastards.”

“Just remember to make it look like an accident,” Reed said, sighing heavily as the flashlight was turned off and she found herself sitting in the pitch-black tent, wondering what she was supposed to do now only to smile when Reed wrapped his arm around her and pulled her down next to him.





Chapter 36

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine here by myself,” Joey said, and if she hadn’t said that while she was trying to break free from his hold so that she could dive back into her sleeping bag, he probably would have considered listening to her.

“You’re going!” Reed said, tightening his hold around her and moved to pull her out of the tent only to have the little demon start wiggling again.

“Never!” she snapped, trying to push her way out of his hold. “I’m never leaving!”