Page 180 of Bake the Town Red

Before I have a chance to tell him that yes, yes, it is, and also, yes, I’d very much like him to feed it to me every minute of every hour of the day, we’re being stopped by two people.

Teenagers in Gomez and Morticia Addams costumes. Their makeup is on point, the outfits too. They’ve beenwalking in our direction, holding hands, and now they just stand in front of us.

Tyler’s grip on me tightens. He bristles, primed to murder them if either of them so much as makes the wrong move.

“Hi, excuse me, I was wondering—” the girl starts.

Tyler growls. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t even heard what she said. He just growls. Possessive, over the top, and hot. That’s my man.

“Hey, no need to get defensive.” The Gomez guy takes a step forward, protecting his Morticia. “We wanted to say your masks are cool. We were supposed to go as serial killers this year, except we didn’t find anything good enough.”

“Ty.” I nudge his side. “They’re asking where we got the masks.”

Tyler’s violent energy doesn’t diminish at Gomez’s explanation or mine. It’s hot. It’s also not the kids’ fault that Tyler’s still wired from murdering Johnathan and fucking me like crazy.

The teenagers stay in place. I guess they’re really curious about the masks. I don’t tell them getting them won’t do them any good. Tyler and I are the ones that bring them to life. The serial killer inside us, that’s what does it.

“Hey.” I pinch his waist. Then I giggle, thinking how awesome it is to wear these masks and show the world our true faces.

My laugh brings Tyler back from his fight-or-fight-harder mode. He tilts his head, his dark eyes gazing at me through the thin slits of his black mask. “You were saying?”

“Where’d you get the masks? They want to dress up as serial killers next year.”

“That.” He huffs a laugh. The things that run in my head most probably run in his too.

He squeezes my arm and tells them where they can find our masks.

Then we keep walking home, where my man loves, protects me, and cherishes me forever.

For fucking ever.

EPILOGUE

Tyler

It’s been ten months since Dahlia and I got back together.

Ten of the happiest months of my life.

I won’t sit here and tell you I haven’t been scared throughout.

There were moments of sheer terror.

Like the time when Dahlia woke up one night screaming from a nightmare. My anxiety kicked in. I thought she was having a heart attack. I thought she was dying.

She wasn’t.

But shit like that threw me back into the past. Dahlia, my beautiful woman, had been gracious about it the week after each incident. Since I couldn’t keep her home with me, where she’ll be protected, she let me move my office to a desk behind the counter of Sweet DeNights.

Her customers know me by name already. I also help her choose the bad ones for the coming October.

She has it ready, though.

“What are we going to do about Byron and Lily?”

Our children.

Yes, what started as Dahlia’s period being late turned out to be twins.

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