Ghostly (Darkly Devoted Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

You like Halloween though, right?”
    I cocked an eyebrow. “Um, yeah. It’s my favorite holiday.”
    “Awesome.” He opened the passenger side door for me and motioned for me to get in.
    I let myself enjoy the feeling of the leather seats underneath me and pulled on my seatbelt as he got in and did the same.
    “So, do you have any siblings?”
    I nodded. “One. A younger brother, Dillon; he’s four. You?”
    “Yep, one older sister. She says that some of her sorority sisters are afraid of you.”
    “What? Why?”
    “Because you live in the scariest house in town and you wear black all the time and you don’t ever smile at them. They think it’s weird. They are used to smiling, friendly faces.”
    “That’s just my style. They’ll just have to deal with it. How do you know all this anyway? Are you a closet prep?” My voice was accusatory as I crossed my arms and looked over at him. Silently I prayed for a no. I didn’t need that shit in my life again.
    He laughed. “No, but my sister is a full on prep, and she’s talked about you.”
    “I see.”
    We pulled up to my house a few minutes later. I frowned when I saw my father’s car in the driveway. “Looks like I have to save the tour for another day.”
    “That’s a shame.”
    “Well, thanks for the ride.”
    He reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Anytime, Briar. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    I picked up my bag and exited the truck. As I slipped inside the house, I saw my dad sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. I tried to sneak past him, but the clearing of his throat signaled that I’d failed miserably.
    “Sounded like a truck out there. Again.”
    “Well, that’s probably ‘cause I rode home with my friend.”
    “That boy again?”
    I cursed under my breath. “Maybe.”
    “Briar, we’ve talked about this. You need to be careful. You can’t just be getting into cars with boys.”
    “Well, if you’d let me drive the car every now and then maybe I wouldn’t ride home with boys .”
    He pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously frustrated with me. The car was something he was particular about, and he wasn’t giving in. “You’re definitely not going to be driving it now.”
    “Aw, come on.”
    “No, absolutely not.”
    I crossed my arms and scoffed. “You suck.”
    “It’s not like you’ve made any friends to hang out with.”
    “Have so.”
    “Who? Other than that boy.”
    “Celeste and Meredith.” Kinda.
    He eyed me suspiciously. “Then why aren’t you dying to have a Halloween party like you usually are?”
    “Because parties are lame, Dad. I’m eighteen now.” And because you won’t let me have a fun one. “And I’m not just going to have two people here. That’s stupid.”
    “Well, if you promise to behave, you can have them over next weekend. It will be the first one in October, and you can watch scary movies.”
    I scrunched up my face. I didn’t want to have people over, but I did wanna celebrate Halloween. “Um, ok…”
    “That way I can meet them and know they are appropriate. I don’t want you hanging around with negative kids again.”
    “Oh my God, Dad, I’m not a kid.”
    “Keep up that smart mouth of yours, and I will change my mind. I’m going to be going to a small get together that night, and Dillon is staying with Sandy next door. After I meet the girls and set some ground rules, you will have the house all to yourself.”
    “You’re what?” I asked and burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I, um, are you going on a date?”
    I could tell by the blush in his cheeks that he was. The two of us were just alike in that aspect; neither of us was able to hide a blush. “Well, Briar, I’ve made some new friends here, and they invited me to go with them.”
    “But you don’t even drink.”
    “It’s not about the drinking.”
    “You don’t dance.”
    “Or the dancing.”
    I scowled. “Then what is it about?”
    “Just trying to find a way to deal with this pain, Briar.