The Naughty List

Prologue

PROLOGUE

LAUREL

A rustic cabin in the woods.

Two miles from our nearest neighbors.

Three women alone.

Four days during which we had told everyone we knew not to even try to reach us.

We’re just going to be alone in an isolated cabin with no one looking for us. What can possibly go wrong?

Anyone who had ever seen a horror movie would probably be able to rattle off a whole list of reasons why this was a bad idea, but all I had to do was not let my inner horror writer take the wheel and I’d be fine.

This was our annual girls’ trip and nothing—not even the potential for ax murderers—was going to quell my excitement. I was giddy about the prospect of spending the next few days here with my two best friends from high school.

Just us, books, card games, nature—and the list.

But I wasn’t ready to think about said list just yet.

The GPS in my rental car let out a low, digital ding, the disembodied voice making her bossy announcement through the speakers. “Your destination is on the left.”

I frowned, dry leaves crunching under my tires as I slowed, squinting to peer through the dense forest in search of any sign of the cabin we’d rented. There was nothing to suggest accommodation nearby, but as I looked around, I saw a cherry-red hatchback just up ahead and I grinned.

They’re here!

At least, I hoped it was them and not an ax murderer lying in wait, but I was going to go ahead and assume that no self-respecting serial killer would drive around in the brightest car available. Slowly inching into the parking spot beside the hatchback, I shut off my engine and pushed my sunglasses to the top of my head.

As I opened my door, I inhaled the salty scent of sea air mingled with the aroma of moist earth, and I decided that a lakefront cabin really hadn’t been such a bad idea after all—despite the woods. We were less than twenty miles away from Bar Harbor, close enough to be able to pop into town but far enough away that we could really relax.

Smiling, I shut the driver’s door behind me. I stared down the incline I’d parked on top of, leaning over to finally see a roof and a corner of outdoor decking overlooking the sparkling waters of the lake below.

Yes, this is it!

I recognized the place from the pictures Gemma had sent, and I eagerly grabbed my backpack and my duffel from the backseat, locked my car, and made my way to what appeared to be a rudimentary path leading down to a few stone steps. Carefully navigating the rocky dirt, I moved slowly down to the steps, loving the scents wafting through the forest, the birdsong in the distance, and the cool, fresh air.

“Knock, knock! I’m here,” I called out when I reached the deck. “Please tell me it’s you in there and not some creepy cannibal wanting to make a stew out of me?”

A moment later, the door opened and Gemma stuck her head out. Her green eyes lit up when she saw me, her arms opening for a hug. “A creepy cannibal? Jeez, woman. What on earth have you been writing? I didn’t know you were venturing into horror. No stews being made here, though. Don’t worry.”

I laughed, giving her a quick, clumsy hug around all my luggage. “I wasn’t trying to venture into horror, but three girls out here all alone? You don’t need a very active imagination to start thinking about the potential plotlines that could come out of it.”

“Laurel!” Mariam called from the door. “Stop scaring her or you’re going to have to tuck her in tonight. Nothing is going to happen to us here. Obviously, I did my research before I made the booking. There have been no mysterious or suspicious incidents around here in decades and the host said there is a panic button in case of fire, flood, or some other kind of emergency.”

I released Gemma and grinned at Mariam over her shoulder, my heart warming at the sight of my friend’s round face and big blue eyes. “I love that you always do such relevant research when you’re planning our trips.”

She laughed, stepping aside to let me into our humble abode with Gemma hot on my heels. As I walked into the cabin, I paused for a beat, feeling the tension of travel already leaving my muscles as I drank in our space. Plenty of natural light shone in through large, lake-facing windows and there was a little fireplace in the corner.

The place was exactly how I’d imagined it from the pictures, our three twin beds in a loft above the main area that featured a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. It really was so darn cozy, perfect for catching up, hanging out, and enjoying nature.

Gemma helped me bring my things up to the loft while Mariam headed into the kitchen, pulling her dirty blonde hair up into a ponytail as she waited for us to join her. Once we got back downstairs, she smirked at me. “Tea or margaritas? I figure we should drink the margaritas since you have to spill the tea.”

“About what?” I batted my lashes innocently, but heat flooded my cheeks. “Can we please leave the reunion in the past, where it belongs?”

“Nope.” Gemma grinned, walking around Mariam to grab three glasses from a cabinet. “I’ll make the margaritas. Mimi will get the ice and you, my friend, are going to tell us exactly what happened between you and everyone’s favorite sexy boy next door at the reunion. We’ve been waiting since May to hear about it and the suspense has been killing me. I can’t take it anymore”

I groaned, but I had promised them four months ago that I’d catch them up when I saw them again, and it seemed they’d taken it literally, as in as soon as I saw them again.

My heart gave a little flutter as I thought back to our ten-year reunion and, more specifically, about what had happened between me and Leif McIntosh—also apparently known as everyone’s favorite sexy boy next door.

The past decade had been good to him, but he’d always been sexy to me. These days, it was simply that he was more va-va-voom sexy and less cute . His previously boyish features had matured into sharp lines with high, visible cheekbones and a strong jaw. His formerly gangly swimmer’s physique was now toned with defined, rippling muscles I hadn’t been able to get enough of.

Those blue eyes were a color I’d otherwise only ever seen in pictures of the Mediterranean Sea, and they’d been haunting my dreams since the reunion. I even still woke up panting sometimes, memories of pushing my fingers into his thick, light brown hair getting me all hot and bothered while I slept.

I still couldn’t believe it had actually happened, but I’d finally spent a night with Leif and it had been amazing.

Growing up in our little corner of Austin, he’d always been around. Once upon a time, he was the guy whose last name I’d doodled next to mine in my notebooks, and when we’d run into each other at the reunion, the spark between us had set fire to my veins.

Mariam cleared her throat, a devilish smile on her lips as she broke me out of my trip down memory lane. “Details, woman. What happened?”

“We, uh, we kissed,” I admitted to their squeals of excitement.

“What else?” Gemma asked eagerly, pressing an icy drink into my hand. “I saw the way he was looking at you that night. There’s no way you stopped at just kissing and you never made it back to my place, so I already know you found a bed somewhere else. Was it his?”

I took a massive gulp of my margarita, but not even the mountain of ice in it cooled the heat in my blood as I thought about him. I shrugged at my friends, not really wanting them to know that I was still affected by the night we’d spent together nearly five months later.

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell, but I did find another bed, and yes, it was his. Are you happy now? Can we move on?”

“Noooo.” Mariam widened her eyes at me, taking my arm and dragging me to the sofas. “You had a one-night stand with Leif McIntosh . You can’t just tell us that and not give us any details. Was it good? Was it great? Is his penis as big as we thought it would be?”

Gemma’s nose wrinkled as she laughed. “I don’t think anybody calls it a penis in this context. Have you not read any of those books I’ve given you?”

“You mean the trashy ones?” Mariam blushed and averted her gaze, giving Gemma a one-shouldered shrug. “I started one, but I, uh, might’ve been a bit too embarrassed to keep reading. Do you even know how many times the word cock was used in the first few chapters?”

She whispered it like she was afraid someone might overhear her talking about something so scandalous, but I understood. None of us were exactly the type who spoke about this kind of thing easily or openly.

We were—and always had been—the good girls. Those who had been part of the never been kissed crowd for way too long. The ones who’d gone to the library instead of parties. The ones who’d organized the charity drives and the bake sales.

Gemma rolled her eyes at Mariam, but then gave her a pointed look. “If you’re going to get through your portion of the list, you’re going to have to be able to read a couple of books at least. You’ll never complete your items if reading scares you.”

“The list is something we made up in the ninth grade,” Mariam argued. “How trashy can it really be?”

I arched an eyebrow at her. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but we made the list because if we weren’t married with kids by our reunion, then being goodie-goodies hadn’t worked out so well for us and we wanted to challenge ourselves to mix things up.”

“Exactly,” Gemma said. “I don’t remember everything we put on it, but I do remember a lot of giggling while we were tossing out ideas and writing down the most outlandish things we could come up with at the time.”

“Didn’t we even call it the naughty list ?” I asked, my brow furrowing as I thought back to the sleepover where the list had been born. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be trashy.”

“But,” Gemma said loudly. “The whole point of it was to push us out of our comfort zones so we would be forced to do things we wouldn’t normally do.”

“To explore the other side of life,” I added. “So that we’d be able to decide who we wanted to be going forward. The good girl, the bad girl, or something in between.”

“This is ridiculous,” Mariam muttered, her head shaking. “Do we even still have the list? I know we talked about it at the reunion, but that doesn’t mean the thing still exists.”

“Of course, it still exists.” Gemma pressed her hand to her chest as if she was offended. “I swung by my parents’ place before our flight. It was still safely tucked into my old desk drawer. I have it right here.”

Bending over, she grabbed her purse and raked it over. Then she rummaged around in it until she brought out a small, plastic baggie. Inside it was a folded sheet of paper, the back of it decorated with loopy handwriting and skulls and crossbones drawn in glitter pens.

I laughed. “I can’t believe we thought pink, glittery ink would warn people against reading it.”

Gemma winked. “It worked, didn’t it? It’s still in pristine condition. No one has touched it since we put it in here for safekeeping.”

Mariam sighed unhappily. “If we’re really going to do this, I need to eat. Should we go into town and get some lobster?”

“Let’s divvy it up first.” Gemma took another big sip of her drink. “That is what we said we would do, right? We came up with twelve items and each of us would take four?”

“Right.” I nodded slowly. “Four dares to our future selves that would help us to be someone else for a season. Once it was done, we’d reconvene, talk about our experiences, and decide who we wanted to be. Those were the rules as I remember them.”

“I’m already selling my half of our company to Gemma,” Mariam protested. “Doesn’t that count as one of my items? I’m leaving my normal life to travel and chase adventure while living as a nomad and doing seasonal work. I think that’s about as far out of my comfort zone as I can get.”

“Nah,” Gemma said immediately. “I’m really proud of you for doing all that, but moving to Sun Valley, Idaho for the ski season hardly makes you naughty.”

I blinked hard, my eyes widening to the point of pain. “You’re what ? How did I miss this?”

Gemma and Mariam had stayed in Austin after high school and had eventually started an events company together. They were doing really well, and I honestly hadn’t known Mariam was even thinking of a career change, let alone that she was leaving Texas to get it.

My friends nodded, both of them smiling as they exchanged a look. Gemma tossed an arm around Mariam’s shoulders and pulled her in for a sideways hug. “We only did the deal recently, but yep. Showstopper Events is all mine now.”

I gaped at them. “Wow. That’s crazy, but awesome. I’m so proud of both of you. Congratulations?”

“Thanks,” Mariam muttered, turning bright red. She inhaled deeply and held out her hand. “Okay. Just hit me with it. Give me my part of the list. Then we can buy some boxes to keep them in when we go into town. Let’s just get it over with before we catch Laurel up on everything else.”

I was struggling to get my head wrapped around Mariam’s news, but Gemma shot us a nervous, excited smile and opened the plastic baggie. “I’m going to tear it into three pieces, each of us will take one, and then when we get back home, we’ll do a video call and we’ll all draw our first dare?”

“Agreed,” I said, trepidation rolling through me as I realized we were actually going through with this, but I held out my hand and closed my fingers around the small piece of paper she pressed into my palm.

This was it, the moment I’d been waiting for since the ninth grade. Although Gemma had been married before, all three of us had been single at our high school reunion, which meant our pact had kicked into operation.

This winter, we were all going to be challenged by our former selves to do things we never thought we would. It was September now, and by February, we would all have a big decision to make.

Either we’d go back to being the play-it-safe, goodie-two-shoes we’d always been, or we’d go forward as risk-takers. Daredevils.

Although I was super nervous about what I was going to end up having to do, a thrill shot down my spine as I traced my fingertips over the paper. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to completely break free of the shackles of my inhibitions, but I was looking forward to pushing my own boundaries at least a little.

Besides, Mariam hadn’t been completely wrong.

We’d made that list at fourteen.

Just how bad can it really be?