Page 119 of Sweet Temptation

“That’s because my hammer’s in the trunk.”

“Because a hammer will make all the difference.”

“It will!” he insisted.

If I were being honest, I wasn’t too concerned about how scary he looked. I was too distracted by how hot he looked wearing the molded silver armor that was strapped to his chest. Wes could have easily been mistaken for a long-lost Hemsworth brother, and the effect was a little overwhelming. He even had a wig to lengthen his hair, and it was impressively realistic.

“What did Sawyer think of your outfit? Is he still pissed you wouldn’t be Goose?”

“No, not so much. He came up with a whole other outfit.”

“And…”

Wes struggled to withhold a laugh. “Just wait and see. I couldn’t possibly ruin the surprise.”

“Okay…” I was officially intrigued. “So, any idea what’s got Cress so upset? She didn’t say much in her text to me.”

“I’m not sure. She called me and told me to come get you. She sounded stressed and hung up before I got a chance to ask her what was wrong.”

“I hope everything’s okay.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. You know Cress. She’s probably worried there aren’t enough fairy lights or something.”

“Yeah, probably,” I agreed.

We arrived at the farm that was hosting Halloween Fest, and my eyes widened as I got my first look at the event. It was insane. We passed a huge hedge maze and some kind of jack-o'-lantern village covered in glowing pumpkins. There was an ice rink splattered in fake blood and a whole field dedicated to zombie laser tag. There were carnival rides and games, but the best part was the huge spooky barn in the center of it all. Wes said that was where they were hosting the haunted house, and it definitely looked the part. It was completely covered in spiderwebs, and given how dilapidated it looked, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if there were rumors of real ghosts inside.

After we parked the car, we headed straight to where the dance team’s booth was being set up. Cress was pacing back and forth in front of it. She was already dressed up in her Black Widow costume, the fitted black one-piece suit hugging tightly to her body.

“Finally, you’re here,” she gasped when she saw us walking up. “It’s a disaster.”

“What is?”

Cress gestured toward her kiss or scare booth, and I could immediately see what she meant. Someone had sabotaged the booth by painting the word “French” in front of “kiss.”

“Oh no. Who would do that?”

“I don’t want to name names, but I’m guessing it was the cheerleaders,” Cress said. “I’ve heard a few of them complaining about all the fun changes we’ve made to the kissing booth this year and how boring their stand is going to be in comparison. Clearly, they’re jealous and want us to get shut down, because as soon as a teacher sees this, we’re done for. What am I going to do?”

I bit down on my lip as I considered the booth again. “Can’t you just paint over it?” I asked.

“Yeah, I was going to, but we’ve run out of the pink paint we used, and the hardware shop is closed already.”

“Well, I think it’s a great addition,” Anna said, coming out from behind the booth. She was dressed as Jessica Rabbit and wore a long red bustier dress with elbow-length purple gloves and a red wig. She looked incredible. “I reckon we’ll double the money we make from that one little addition alone.”

“Anna, I can’t ask anyone to French kiss strangers,” Cress scoffed. “And like I said, the school will lose their shit. This is supposed to be a family-friendly event.”

Anna sighed. “Spoilsports.”

“So, what should I do?” Cress asked, looking between us.

I had absolutely no clue. Thankfully, Wes seemed more optimistic.

“I have an idea,” he said, already backing away. “I just have to go find Sawyer.”

“And...” Cress prompted.

“And he should be around; he was helping set up the soccer booth. It shouldn’t take me more than five minutes to find him.” He turned and started jogging deeper into the fair.

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