The King of Halloween, page 23
“It’s the fun run,” Adam damn near growled.
“Oh, right, you hated being on track.”
“I can handle jogging for five kilometers, thank you. It’s more that I’m expected to do it while peering one eye at a time through the nose of a giant pumpkin that’s spinning around my head. Such fun.”
He sounded so miserable, Raj reached over to take his hand. They held each other like that, not saying a word, both breathing the other in and being together. Raj started to slip his fingers higher up Adam’s forearm.
“Ah. I know. The run,” Adam suddenly exclaimed. “There are always business booths at the start and end. Why not promote your hotel there?”
“It’s free?” Raj asked.
“Well, there’s a donation to the committee, but the mayor loves you so much he’d waive it, I’m certain. That gas station of his was dying without the hotel. You’ve really gotten on his good side.”
“I, uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why? Free publicity is free—”
“It’s just not,” Raj snapped.
The warm kitchen froze over. Silence slammed into them until only the slow drip from the sink punctuated every passing second.
“Look, I’m…I’m grateful for all the help I’m getting. Really. If not for you, the haunt would still be broken.”
“Please, tell me how handsome and brilliant I am,” Adam deadpanned. Damn it. Raj didn’t mean to hurt him. He was just under a lot of stress, treading water and…
“I want, no, I need to do this on my own,” he said.
Adam stared at him. “Why?”
A sputtering breath slipped from Raj’s lips. He pulled on his cheeks as he stared at the ceiling. Emotions tumbled in his chest, but he couldn’t give them form. Jealousy, shame, regret, pride, outrage, loneliness, fear—it became a seven-layer dip of family trauma.
“Do you come from a competitive family?” Raj asked.
“My sister lives on a goat farm where she spends her free time finding ways to scare the living to death. That would be a no.” Adam crossed his legs tightly, and he looked about to shove away from the table in disgust.
“My siblings and I were pitted against each other. Who could win the most medals, get the best grades, excel at science, medicine, business. I couldn’t keep up? They were the doctors and the accountant. I just played with silly movies for a very tenuous living.”
Raj took a steadying breath. “There was this chart. The ‘Best Choudhary’ chart that hung in the living room. You had to see it just to go out the front door. My parents had our names and pictures on removable stickers, and they’d rank all of us. I was never at the top.”
“Damn.” Adam gulped. “When I gave my mother a bag of mud for her birthday, she kept it on the mantle for years. It hardened to a rock in the end.”
That sounded sweet. Raj’s face fought to smile and also cry at such a simple thing like a mother loving the only gift her kid gives her. “I know you’re just trying to help, and I’m grateful, but I need to do this alone. I have to prove that I can make it work. I can be someone.”
Adam bowed his head. “Okay. I’ll leave all the brilliant marketing ideas up to you. But, Raj, from someone who’s done the alone thing for a while now, you don’t have to wall yourself up. The amontillado’s just as good out here. Probably better because it won’t smell like a decomposing corpse.”
He took Adam’s hand and held it so tight he didn’t want to let go. Adam spun his fingers, sealing them together while they stared into each other’s eyes.
A cuckoo shot out of a clock on the wall. As it bobbed in the air, Raj stared at the numbers, disbelieving the hands. “Is it…? What time is it?”
“Ten. Well, nearly. That thing’s always early.”
“It’s ten o’clock!” Raj shouted. He stood, shoving the chair back, and crammed the rest of his cooling pancakes into his mouth. “I have to get back. Checkout’s already happening. Oh, shit.” He drenched the pancakes in the coffee too good to pass up and tried to swallow.
“I had a wonderful night, we should do it again…” Raj reached over to kiss Adam on the cheek when the man laughed and pointed down.
“Are you really going to walk into your hotel wearing my Evil Dead pajama pants?”
Raj stared at the pants he’d put on without a thought. Tiny chainsaws, demon-possessed deer heads, murder hands, and the Necronomicon stared up at him. His clothing was stained with his cum. Damnit. “I can get a new shirt on the way—”
“Here.”
Adam yanked back an accordion door and pulled out a pile of perfectly folded clothes on top of a dryer. As Raj took them, he stared at the washed and fluffed sweater. “You had time to do laundry?” Then he noted the sharp pleats on his pants. “And iron?”
He responded with a shrug, but grinned as Raj turned around his clothing, realizing Adam also starched his underwear. This man would make a gay socialite very happy. He’s Jeeves and a hot ass all in one.
“Please tell me you’re showing off, and you don’t do this every morning.”
Adam shrugged, then he winked. “A little. Your phone and keys are in a basket by the couch. Don’t forget them, or I might think you intend to stay over again.”
“Well, I do, but I also need them for my job, so…” Lifting his clothing, Raj tried to find a way to slip out for the bathroom to get dressed without making this weirder than it was. “I had a wonderful evening. I love your place. Your eggs are fantastic. And your cock is perfect. See you later.” With that, he turned to bolt out of this fantasy into his dreary reality.
“Oh.” Adam’s sudden cry twisted him around. “Every year for Halloween, there’s a masquerade. The committee’s been texting about it like crazy for some reason. It’s part to celebrate the end of a season, and also where the King is voted on.”
“Ah, your crowning moment.”
He blushed. “Yes. Anyway, I was thinking, as we’re no longer trying to destroy each other for the throne, why don’t we form a united front and go…together?”
Together to a ball? That sounded very serious. Leaving toothbrushes serious. “I…I’m not sure if I can.” Raj’s face crumpled as he expected Adam’s to do the same. For a second, it flickered, but then he went to stone. “It’s the busiest day, and I have no idea what’s going to break.”
“No, of course. You’re right. That makes…sense.”
“We should just keep things casual.”
“Casual?” he repeated, nearly spitting the word.
“Until things calm down, anyway. You’re busy. I’m busy. The whole town’s busy.” Why did he feel like he was saying the wrong thing? They’d only known each other for a few weeks. This wasn’t a make-or-break time.
“You’re correct, again.”
Raj glared out the kitchen door, his legs itching to run. He was halfway through it when he looked back at Adam, who hadn’t moved an inch. “I wouldn’t want you to lose your crown because you’re too busy with me.”
As the words hit him, Adam looked about to argue, then he draped his hands behind his back. In a soft voice, he said, “No, we wouldn’t want that.”
“I’ll text you later,” he called, letting the door swing as he hobbled into his underwear and pants. Ramming his sweater on, he called back. “Have fun at the run.” He couldn’t hear Adam’s response as he was already out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
HARRIED, EXTREMELY LATE, and willing to bite his own leg off to get away was how Raj stumbled onto the mayor. More specifically, he caught Raj fishing under his car for the keys he stupidly dropped while his phone blew up.
“Good morning, my boy,” the mayor called. Then he hunched down beside Raj, who was nearly face-planted on the cement.
How in the hell did those things bounce so deep under his car?
“Problems?” the mayor asked.
Ah ha! He caught his keychain and yanked the infernal things out. Nearly spinning it on his finger, Raj looked to the man, then smiled. “Nope. All good. Nice to see you.” He reached to unlock his door when the mayor stepped in closer.
“What brings you to this part of town?”
“Oh, you know.” Raj peered back at the little blue townhouse with the white trim. “I’m here to do Adam.”
“Huh?”
Raj’s eyebrows shot up at his tongue ramping over his brain. “Errands. I’m taking care of a few errands, but I’ve got to get back to the hotel. Right now.” He gave a quick wave, then pried open his door and sat inside.
That should have been the end of it, but the mayor knocked on his side window. Gunning it seemed the easiest solution, but running over the mayor’s foot would not endear him to the city. And he couldn’t afford to spend Halloween in jail. Rolling down the window, Raj looked at the mayor.
“It’s fortunate I ran into you like this.”
Late for my job after a night of hot sex?
“Every year, Anoka hosts a masquerade ball…”
“Oh yeah, I heard about that,” Raj interrupted.
“Did a local beauty invite you?” The mayor snickered, his brows bouncing in case Raj didn’t get that he meant a comely lass.
Over the quiet air of a suburban neighborhood in late morning came the slam of a front door. Raj peered through his rearview mirror to catch a familiar peacock coat. He shifted in his seat, watching as Adam locked his door then walked down the path. At his mailbox, he paused, glancing down both streets.
Damn. The streams of sunlight turned his mahogany hair into a rich auburn. An autumn breeze tickled the ends and tugged out his scarf. Adam shivered and pushed it back into his coat. Seemingly happy with whatever he was looking at, he took off the other way, becoming a dot in the distance.
“Yes, very handsome.”
“How quaint,” the mayor said. “Well, we have a bit of a problem. See, we always host it in the VFW gym. Lots of room, great price. Everyone has a blast. But dang it if they didn’t have a fire there. The whole place is out of commission thanks to smoke damage. We’ve been scrambling to find a new place to host it for days.”
Oh no. Raj swiveled his gaze away from Adam’s retreating form to the mayor.
“And here I remembered this kind, new young man in town, who’d be more than happy to loan us the use of his ballroom.”
“You want…”
“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble. Most of the setup will be handled by us, of course. Decorations, food, security, entertainment.”
Raj bobbed his head to all of those until he jerked. “Security?”
“Children who think it’s hilarious to dress as Stitches and pull fire alarms, drop cherry bombs into toilets…drive a tractor through the front door.”
“What?”
“That’s why we have security. They do an excellent job of keeping the mischief to a minimum. Naught. It’s nothing. So, what do you say?”
No. Halloween was in a week. They reserved the ballroom for a fancy dinner for the guests. Or were supposed to, but Raj forgot to contact any caterers, and now it was looking more like cheese and crackers.
“I’m sorry, but…” Raj reached into his pocket as if he’d find an excuse there. To his confusion, what fell out was the invoice from the fire marshal. Didn’t Logan take this?
The number, an arbitrary amount that really equaled a bribe, taunted him. Play ball. Give in to their demands. Well, two could play at that game.
“We’re having a bit of trouble with the fire marshal.” Raj put on his biggest smile. “Despite passing all our tests, he’s demanding we pay for more.”
The mayor sighed. “That sounds like Roger. He thinks he’s stopping the heathens from taking over this city. If I see what I can do to get him to back off, will the ballroom be open?”
Raj folded the invoice in half. “Yes,” he said, tearing it down the middle, then once again. “We have a deal.”
“Wonderful.”
Raj started his car, and the mayor had enough sense to step back to the other side of the street. “I’ll get Marianne to call you and set everything up. Can’t wait to see you at the ball. And don’t forget.”
Just as Raj started to pull out, he looked over as the mayor formed two Vs over his eyes with his fingers, then drew them apart. “It’s a masquerade.”
Casual.
He wants to keep things casual.
I can do casual. Sunday brunch on his ass. A quick matinee and hand job on Saturday. Bumping into each other in the grocery store on Thursday before bumping my cock down his throat in the parking lot.
Simple. Easy.
None of those feelings getting in the way of just sex. Good, hard, so damn incredible, I feel like I could die in his arms, sex.
“Adam?”
So what if I like the way he fits in my arms and my pants? That’s not casual. That’s what people in relationships do. They stay at each other’s houses, see each other’s houses. Even learn their boyfriend’s damn address. Bring over a toothbrush, get a drawer. Have their favorite creamer in his fridge.
But it’s not easy. Or casual.
“Dear?” His mother leaned over, jerking him from staring a hole through the remaining cranberry scone. “Ethel asked if you wanted the last one?”
He jerked, rattling the cold cup of tea in his hand. “No. Please. Be my guest.”
The way she snatched that scone like a cobra going after a baby rabbit told him he’d have lost even if he had wanted it. Adam tried to sit back and find a comfortable view of the tea house. He didn’t join his mother often, but today he hadn’t wanted to spend his lunch hour alone.
Or worse, with the damn pumpkin head.
“Aren’t you supposed to be hosting some gourd ceremony?” Ethel asked.
“The pumpkin carving contest,” Joyce said.
“No, I believe it’s the pumpkin chucking,” his mother said.
“That’s a waste of perfectly good produce if you ask me. And it invites squirrels. Nasty things.”
The local birders’ society collapsed into a black hole circling enemy number one—squirrels. Adam didn’t have much of an opinion, but he nodded to every tree rat comment to keep the peace. Maybe he should wash his sheets once he got home. A casual hookup wouldn’t want to smell the man all over him as he slept. To bake in whatever heat remained trapped between those blankets and pretend for a minute that he was still there in his arms.
Casual. I can do casual.
When the society started in on kids and their ticking tocks, Adam had to excuse himself. “Sorry, ladies, but I need to return to my store.” The devil only knew what Chrissy was up to without him. “If you will forgive me.” Adam gave a deep bow to each woman, then he took his leave.
“Wait, love.” His mother slapped down a twenty. With her purse in her lap, she hustled out of her chair after him. “Why don’t I accompany you on the way back?”
“All right.” Adam stuck out his arm, and his mother took it. “But they’re going to get jealous.”
“Oh?”
“Of me having Anoka’s prettiest girl on my arm.”
She blushed to her dyed hairline and slapped him with a limp, “Stop.”
It was easy to make his mother happy. They didn’t even have to try. She just seemed excited to be alive. Even in the dark days after their dad passed, she’d sit in her favorite chair and hum the song he’d play on his stupid harmonica. He was terrible at it, but no one had had the heart to tell him.
Adam couldn’t wrap his mind around parents only bestowing affection on whoever earned it instead of whoever was in the vicinity. To think of siblings as competition instead of the girl with the soul of a Victorian serial killer who kept stealing his Legos.
“Do you have errands to run downtown?” Adam asked.
“No,” his mother said.
“Are you meeting up with someone?”
“No.”
Okay, now he was confused. “Don’t tell me, you’re learning poker from a card shark so you can fleece Joyce for all she’s got?”
She giggled and shook her head. “Of course I’m not.”
“So why…?”
“It’s a nice day, and I wanted to walk with my son.”
Adam couldn’t find an argument against that, so he held his tongue and took in the lingering leaves dancing on the branches. It was a beautiful day. The sky was as blue as it could be, with sunbeams striking at just the right angle to cast little rainbows down the sidewalk. A handful of cars whizzed past, but most people were at the fun run.
He’d silenced his phone hours back so no one could reach him. If they needed someone in a pumpkin costume to run behind people so bad, Marianna could handle it. After Raj had left in a flurry, Adam stared at his calendar with new eyes. He’d given damn near every last day to the committee. Not just the events, or the hosting gigs in the pumpkin, but the meetings, the plannings, the buildings. He made his whole life the Halloween king, because he didn’t have anything else to fill it.
And the one damn time he thought maybe that could change, he wanted to be casual.
“I’m casual, right, Mom?”
She peered over at him in his three-piece suit and perfectly folded pocket square. “No one’s more casual, dear. If anything, I think you could use a bit more formality. You don’t even wear a top hat or a monocle.”
He’d tried casual for years. He’d lived in hoodies, ratty jeans, tennis shoes. Every knot and bent nail that made him Adam Stein was sanded away in the hopes that one guy would look at him and think “I can put up with that.” And for what? Being who they wanted never worked, so why would being himself be any different?
“Your father used to walk me like this every afternoon.”
“He did?”
His mother smiled serenely to herself. “He would close the store and walk all the way to the diner. If my shift was running long, he’d order a slice of pie—blueberry—then escort me to the store.”
“Why?” It wasn’t like Anoka had roving gangs about to take out random women on the streets.
His mother patted his hand, then looked up at him. “Because he was so excited to see me, he couldn’t wait another two hours. The silly goose.”
