Page 17 of Waiting For Fate

“Claws away til we’re home, Darlin’.”

Ah, gross.

A second later they disappear behind the cloth covering the entrance.

When it’s finally our turn Tank gives me a nod, we walk in, and the strobe lights start just like always. They’ve extended the entrance and added more jump scares from the looks of it, but the rest is pretty much the same. The nine of us are bunched together so tight I can smell the mixture of body spray and the lack thereof.

There’s fake cobwebs, torn tapestry, and costume blood in every inch of the small entrance, but as soon as the same creepy ass clown pops out from the corner, all the girls take off screaming. They’re out in a matter of seconds leaving Tank, Tucker, and I lagging behind laughing.

“Why do they come if they’re so fucking scared of this shit?” Tucker laughs as Tank grabs a mask off one of the mechanical dummies.

“No clue.” Tank subtly hands me the mask before we leave to catch up with the girls.

“Hurry up. We’re gonna get murdered out here or something.” Taylor waves Tucker over dramatically.

One benefit to coming to this maze every Halloween for five years straight, I’ve memorized every little detail and pattern of the actors. No matter how many new employees there may have been over the year, the routine is still the same. Every jump scare has the girls shrieking and the more Leah grabs onto Jackson, the more I want to shove him into the corn and hope for a real life Scarecrow moment to occur.

When we get to the area that has been cut to look like a crossroads, the chainsaws start up and several groups cross each other, trying to find the path away from them. Tank shoots me a playful grin before dramatically scrambling our group with fake screams, giving me the opportunity to slide the mask we took from the entrance on. I wait for my chance to snatch Leah from the group and take off running down the empty path behind us.

She’s kicking her feet wildly, like she stands a chance at escaping my grasp, and in an effort to keep her from screaming anyone’s name but mine, I cover her mouth with my hand. When she bites the inside of my palm it sends a wave of excitement straight to my dick that I try to ignore. When I find an opening big enough, I dip into the corn stalks and spin her around to face me. Her breaths are coming so quickly I think she might be seconds away from passing out. Her eyes grow wide just as I remove the mask and reveal my face.

“Gotcha, Dove.”

“Sawyer?! What the hell is wrong with you? You scared me to death!” Her small hands slap at my chest repeatedly and I can’t help but smirk at her failed attempt to hurt me.

“Something funny?” She stops her assault on my chest and huffs, glaring up at me.

“No. Nothing at all.” I hold my hands up defensively.

“Fantastic. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date to get back to.” She rolls her eyes and turns to walk away from me, but I grab her wrist and pull her back because I did not go through all of that just to let her walk away.

She trips over an unearthed root beneath her feet and falls into me with a gasp. I wrap my free hand around the nape of her neck and let my fingers glide through her soft brown locks as if on instinct. Her eyes bounce between mine and it takes more restraint than I realized it would to not lean in and kiss her. To tell her everything I’ve never had the chance to say without uttering a single word. I swallow past the urge to do so, pulling my gaze from her lips and smirking.

“You know, the last time we were here you screamed my name similarly to how you did tonight.” She visibly swallows and as much as I hope I’ll get a smile; she rolls her eyes instead.

“The only difference is I’m pretty sure I was glad to see you the last time we were here,” she scoffs, but makes no effort to remove herself from my grip.

“You saying you’re not glad to see me, Dove?” I slowly move my hand down around her neck as her eyes frantically search my face.

“Quite the contrary, actually.” She’s trying to appear unphased and it makes me want to prove that she is that much more. So, I press my luck and lean in closer, bringing my lips to the shell of her ear.

“Then why is your heart beating so fast?” I feel her shudder against me, and if I was a betting man, I’d bet there were goosebumps covering her arms right now. I barely catch her eyes fluttering back open when I pull back before she swats my hand away and stands up straighter.

“Probably because you scared me, you Sasquatch.”

“C’mon. You know you’re safe with me, you’ve always known that,” I remind her, seeing any hint of desire disappear.

“No. Maybe I used to feel that way. But I don’t know anything about you anymore. Come to think of it…maybe I never did.” She’s careful not to trip again when she takes a step back, and I miss her the second she’s out of my reach.

“Leah…” My voice is low as she turns to walk away.

“I have to go, Sawyer. I’m not going to leave my date wondering where I am.”

Fuck.

If she meant for that statement to hurt the way I think she did, then mission fucking accomplished.

“Will you ever give me a chance to apologize?” When she turns around this time there’s a calmness about her that terrifies me.

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