He climbed in, and a moment later we were easing out of the slot, waiting for Kirk’s truck, which didn’t take long. A black SUV sped past us, only pausing for a second at the exit before it took off.

Ryan wasn’t as fast, but he caught up after a block.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know; Kirk will choose a place.”

I remembered the almost-crazed look in his eyes. “Did something happen? Do you know?”

“Who knows. Kirk gets like this. He needs space or has to get his mind off something.”

“What do you guys do when that happens?”

Ryan shrugged, flicking on his turn signal and pausing at an intersection. “Honestly, this isn’t that normal. I mean, it is for Kirk and me, but since he’s come back, he’s been with the others more than he was before. It used to be him and me.”

I read between the lines there. “And you’re with me most of the time now.”

“Yeah.” He started through the intersection, glancing at me as we moved in behind Kirk’s SUV.

“You okay?” he asked moments later when we pulled into a driveway.

We parked behind Kirk’s truck, but I didn’t see anyone still inside.

“Where are we?”

“Kirk’s place.”

“Won’t his parents—”

Ryan laughed. “His dad works in the city like yours, and the staff won’t say a thing. Kirk skipping is normal.”

Great. Another abnormality that was becoming normal. I was on the fast track to becoming a juvenile delinquent.

“Okay.”

Ryan laughed a little and then sighed. “We didn’t talk about last night.”

He’d brought this up earlier. I wanted to evade it then, and I still wanted to.

Normal life, normal Mackenzie would’ve been freaking. I would’ve called or texted Willow from the bathroom. I would’ve lain awake the rest of the night, wondering if I’d done everything right. If I should’ve showered or was I clean enough? How was I supposed to lay with him? Any move he made, I would’ve analyzed. Or, who knew? Maybe I was channeling Willow again, because that was what she would’ve been doing.

Willow told me all about her first time. She freaked out, but she never showed it. Not in front of her boyfriend, not in front of the guy she’d been dating at that time, not even in front of her friends. I saw the freak-outs. They were behind closed doors. Always behind closed doors.

Goddamn. Duke’s abs were like a seven-layer cake I could lick all day, but he was as dumb as the barbells he used in the gym.

I almost sighed and thought to her, Thank you, Wills, for reminding me.

Happy to help. You’re going on this whole memory-lane journey. I want to clean it up, make sure you’re using my language and not yours.

Yes. Thank you. I was not serious.

Willow snorted.

“Mac?”

A rush of heat swept through me. Ryan had been staring at me the whole time I talked to Willow in my head.

“Sorry. What?”

“You okay?”

I was going insane. “Totally fine. Let’s go.” Opening my door and jumping out, I took in Kirk’s house.

The driveway curved up and around a hill and there was a Spanish-style fence outlining a large yard. The house looked Spanish, too, and it had with brightly colored tiles and a veranda in front. Large, neatly trimmed bushes ran up and down the length of the yard.

Kirk’s house was huge, but I wasn’t surprised. They had a cleaning lady and a butler, and as Ryan predicted, neither seemed surprised nor disapproving as we all traipsed in.

“Thanks, Mitchell.” Kirk clapped the butler on the shoulder.

His dark blue suit didn’t seem to move under the touch, and he barely blinked an eye. He had one of those faces that might’ve been warm and friendly if he smiled. He didn’t. His face seemed encased in plastic, like if he smiled it would break the whole thing. I placed him around sixty, with silvery graying hair, perfectly combed in place.

“Will your guests be staying for dinner?” he asked.

Ryan opened his mouth, but Kirk said, “Yes, and we’d like to have a full-course meal from Joann’s delivered.”

That got a reaction.

Mitchell blinked a few times. The muscle near his mouth twitched and then . . . nothing. The mask was back in place, like he’d magically gotten a dose of Botox.

“Very well.” He disappeared down a hallway.

I watched him go. I saw his shoes touch the tiled floor, but heard not a sound. How was that even possible? Willow could take haunting lessons from him.

She snorted. The stiff has nothing on me.

Kirk led the way to the back. He hit a button and two walls on the end slid open, revealing the pool. Parts of the backyard were outside, but parts were indoors with glass walls separating them. There were benches made out of blue and white tiles, but there were also couches and lounge chairs with cushions on them. Two different grills sat on opposite ends of the deck, and the whole thing was covered in cobblestones.