Page 125 of Forbidden Game

“This isn’t funny, Sydney,” he hisses.

More laughter spills from me.

“Fucking clowns, and dolls, and skeletons, and ghouls,” he mutters.

Parker continues to complain and curse until we come across a door with an exit sign. He practically body slams it to get out.

We spill into the cool night, the amber lights of the festival grounds a welcome brightness around us compared to the imposing darkness of the haunted mansion.

Parker releases me as he falls to his knees, bracing his hands on the ground.

“That wasn’t too bad, was it?” I laugh, crouching next to him.

His head whips up, and he rocks back onto his ankles, glaring at me.

“That was awful.”

“All of it?” I smile.

His shoulders drop, and a lazy grin spreads across his moonlit features. “Not all of it.”

He reaches forward and pushes my hair over my shoulder, the tips of his fingers grazing my neck. That warmth from earlier returns, stirring within me.

“Y’all dating?”

We freeze.

As one, Parker and I crane our necks to look up at Deanna. Her cool chocolate eyes have a calculating glint.

“Don’t be silly.” Deer sidles up next to her. “That’s just them.”

“Yeah,” Lee backs her up.

My eyes slip to Jackson hanging behind them. An unfiltered grin splits across his face. He’s more than enjoying the show.

Deer’s eyes bounce between us, and her pale brows furrow.

“Wait,” Parker cuts in. “Wwhere are Stevie and Aleks? They went in before us.”

We all pause, scanning the surrounding area.

As if we summoned them, the duo comes running out of the mansion exit. The creepy zombie clown from earlier is hot on their heels. We stare, confused, as the zombie clown stops in the frame of the exit door.

“Keep your horny hands out of our mansion!” he shouts before disappearing back inside.

My eyes narrow on the couple, zeroing in on Stevie’s smudged nude lipstick and Alek’s untucked cream top.

“Please tell me you did not have sex in the haunted mansion.”

“We didn’t have sex in the haunted mansion.” Stevie raises her hands in front of herself in defense.

“Not for a lack of trying.” Aleks grins.

She elbows him in the ribs, giving me a placid smile. I cock my head, assessing them further. It’s the faint remnants of glistening tears clinging to her bottom lashes that gives them away. They act like teenagers sometimes.

“That clown is a real cockblock.” Aleks snakes his arm around Stevie’s ribs, his fingers toying with the bottom of her bra top.

“Tell me about it,” Parker huffs, rising to his feet before holding a hand out to me. I sigh, taking it.

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