Vicious

put his arm around her. She’d carefully wiggled away. She didn’t want to encourage him or give him the wrong idea. Yet several times along the way, he’d taken hold of her hand. And she always found some excuse to pull away after a moment. She’d smooth back her hair or point to something in the woods and make a comment.

Moira was pretty certain he’d peeked at her while she was showering this morning. He and Jordan had gotten up earlier, had their Cap’n Crunch and coffee, and then gone out for a walk. While still in bed, Moira had heard them leave. She’d figured she ought to pull herself together before they returned. Her fantasies about sleeping with Jordan Prewitt did not include him seeing her after she’d just woken up.

So Moira crawled out of bed, brushed her teeth, and jumped in the shower. There was no lock on the bathroom door, which made her a little uneasy. Ever since seeing Psycho, she was wary about showering in an otherwise empty house and always locked the door. After last night’s scare, she was even more skittish. The plastic shower curtain was transparent—with blue and green cartoon fish on it. So Moira kept an eye on the bathroom door while she showered. But after getting soap in her eyes twice, she decided she was being silly. She finally started to relax and enjoy her shower. Her back was to the curtain when she saw a strange shadow on the tile wall in front of her. Automatically covering herself, she swiveled around. “Who’s there?” she asked in a panic. Through the transparent shower curtain, she caught a glimpse of the bathroom door just as it was closing.

Unnerved, Moira shut off the water and quickly wrapped a towel around her. She was wet—with conditioner still in her hair. But she stepped out of the tub and went to the bathroom door, leaving a trail of water footprints. She opened the door a crack. “Who’s there?” she demanded. Tightly clutching the towel, she stepped out to the corridor. “You guys? Jordan? Leo? Are you home?”

She waited a few moments. No answer. She heard floorboards creaking—then footsteps on the stairs. There was someone else in the house—again. She realized that last night was no fluke. It was real. Gooseflesh covered her bare, wet skin.

“Jordan? Leo?” she called, backing toward the bathroom.

“Did you just yell for us?” she heard Jordan ask.

“Oh, God,” Moira gasped, slumping against the wall.

Jordan stepped around the corner at the end of the hallway. An iPod was clipped to his belt, and he had the earphones on. “Oops, sorry….” He shielded his eyes.

“Were you or Leo just in here?” she asked.

“You mean in the bathroom?” he asked, lowering his hand away from his eyes. “I was in the one downstairs, but not up here. I think Leo’s still outside. We just got back—like a minute ago. What’s going on?”

Moira let out a long sigh. “Nothing, I—I thought someone came into the bathroom while I was in the shower.”

Jordan shook his head. “Not me, not without an invitation.”

She managed a smile and then ducked back into the bathroom. She went to lock the door behind her and realized once again that it had no lock.

Moira hadn’t said anything to either one of them about her little scare last night. She figured either they were playing an extended prank on her—or she was just nervous about being in a strange house in the middle of nowhere. She wasn’t completely giving up on the first explanation. Teenage boys were always punking each other. They could have decided to frighten her for a good laugh.

Or maybe Leo had thought scaring her was one way to make her more clingy and submissive this weekend. Was that his tactic? Oh, Leo, I’m so scared, I can’t sleep in that big bed alone tonight. Will you come to bed with me?

Walking alongside him in the woods, she was still trying to read his expression. “Are you sure you didn’t just happen to open the bathroom door and stick your head in for a free peek?” she asked.

“Jeez, I told you, no,” Leo said. “You think I’m so hard up that I’m sneaking peeks at you in the shower and then lying when you ask me about it? God, get over yourself, Moira.”

“Well, somebody opened the door while I was in there. I didn’t imagine it.” She shrugged. “Maybe it was Jordan.”

Shoving his hands in his pocket, Leo grunted. “Huh, you wish.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, indignant.

“It means you’ve got the hots for my best friend, and you’re probably hoping the feeling is mutual. And I think that really sucks.”

She squinted at him. “I don’t have the hots for Jordan. What are you talking about?”

“Oh, now who’s the liar?” he grumbled. “I saw the way you were looking at him last night, the way you were acting around him. How do you think that makes me feel? I’ve been—campaigning to win you over for a year now, hoping you’ll eventually come around. You treat me like your stupid little puppy dog or something. You’ve got me following you around. You call me up when you’re lonely or can’t get some guy you really like to take you out—”

“That’s not fair,” she argued.

Leo started to walk faster, and Moira grabbed his arm to stop him. “I’ve been honest with you from the start, Leo,” she said, her eyes wrestling with his. “I like you. I like you a lot. I don’t want to ruin a good friendship. My feelings for you are strictly—”

“Strictly platonic,” he finished for her. He yanked his arm away from her. “Yeah, I know. You’ve told me that before, and it’s emasculating.”

Moira said nothing. She didn’t even know he used words like emasculating.

Leo gave the ground a kick. “Just once, I wish you knew how it felt. In fact, huh, you want to hear something?”

“I’m not sure I do,” she admitted.

“Jordan’s not interested in you—not at all, not even platonically, Moira.”

She stared at him, wondering if it was true. After all, Jordan had kissed her hand last night. If that wasn’t flirting with her, then what was?

“I asked him this morning,” Leo said. “I told him to be honest, because he knows how I feel about you. And get this—he knows you’re hot for him—”

“Did you tell him that?” she asked, raising her voice.

“No, he figured it out. It’s obvious, Moira. I could see it last night—when I was getting over my diabetic episode, and hell, I was half out of it! You couldn’t stop looking at him. Jordan said you made him uncomfortable. He said it was embarrassing. He told me, ‘She’s not my type.’”

Moira frowned at him. “Okay, now you’re just being hurtful.”

He shook his head at her. “You want to talk about hurting? How do you think I feel, Moira? Shit, it’s my birthday, and you won’t even let me hold your goddamn hand.”

She started to walk away, but then stopped and turned toward him. “Well, if I’m such an emasculating bitch and your friend thinks I’m an embarrassment, why the hell did you invite me here for the weekend? Why are you even walking with me right now?”

“I’m wondering the same damn thing,” Leo shot back.

“Fine, then just leave me alone,” Moira retorted, tears in her eyes. She turned and stomped away, deeper into the forest.

“Okay, listen, listen,” she heard him groan. “I’m sorry, Moira. I didn’t mean to make you cry—”

“I mean it, leave me the fuck alone!” she screamed. Her voice seemed to echo through the trees. She started running up the forest trail, swatting at stray branches in her path. She almost stumbled over the roots of a tall cedar and grabbed on to the trunk to keep from falling.

Moira caught her breath and wiped the tears away. Gazing back at the trail snaking through the thick forest, she saw no sign of Leo. She heard leaves rustling in the distance, but the sound seemed to be fading.

Then, closer, some twigs snapped.

“Leo?” she called. “I’m serious. I need you to leave me alone!”

Glancing at all the trees and bushes looming around her, Moira tried to spot where her friend might be hiding.