Page 52 of The King of Halloween
“Really?” Adam choked on his torte in shock.
“And the last one’s an accountant, leaving me very much the black sheep of the family. ‘Raj, why do you waste your time with that silly pretend? Asha’s residency is at Johns Hopkins. You’re wasting your talents.’”
“I…” Adam bit his lip. “I want to commiserate, but my mom would be fine with me selling hand-rolled cigarettes on the side of the road as long as I was happy.”
“She wants what’s best for us, all of us. And that best reflects back on her and my father.”
“But isn’t he in the movies?”
“He’s an accountant. That is a respectable career that doesn’t require frivolous months spent painting arms and hands to be fed to a mechanical dumpster with teeth. For a time, they’d tell people I was studying programming at college. Not a total lie given the CGI shift in the landscape, but it never looked as impressive as heart surgeon or C-suite business tax…guy.”
Raj had clenched his jaw so tightly, he looked about to bite through his tongue. Mad for kicking up this hornet’s nest, Adam brushed the back of Raj’s hand. “Well, now you’re out here, running a haunted hotel. That’s got to be Christmas letter worthy, right?”
He chuckled mirthlessly. “We don’t do Christmas. We’re Sikhs, sort of. As you can tell by my lack of a beard, I’m not practicing.”
“Well, I don’t technically do Christmas either. Jewish.” Adam watched, waiting for anything other than the grateful smile at their shared otherness. “I’m not much by way of practicing either. We doRosh Hashanah andYom Kippur at my mom’s request. She also makes latkes whenever we ask, but that’s it.”
Raj leaned back in his chair, his smile widening. “Now I understand your need for incessant debate.”
Adam shrugged. Maybe he had more of the chosen people in him than he’d thought. The idea seemed to please Raj, who sipped his coffee like a countess who had just destroyed her enemies with a single glance. Watching Raj’s tempting fingers curl around his cup, the sharp cut of his eyes peeling Adam down to his soul tore down every wall Adam had bricked up.
This was supposed to be a first date. Something simple and cute in public, where they’d get to know each other.
Anything other than banging out a quick one, pretending they’ll get together again, then losing each other’s phone numbers. But he was staring at that sweater, wondering how the pattern would feel knotted in his hand as he pulled Raj across the table.
“This place will be closing soon,” Adam said.
“An hour is so—” Raj started to laugh when Adam brushed his fingertips from Raj’s wrists up the back of his hand. “-ooon?” he moaned.
“Do you want to get out of here? I could plug the drain and flood my bathroom?”
Raj’s eyes went darker than his coffee. The cup clattered in the saucer, then he turned, slipping his fingers around Adam’s. “Ye–”
“Adam. What are you doing here?”
He jerked, ripping his hand away from Raj’s. Setting his face to neutral, he turned to find Marianne standing there with her clipboard.That’s odd.
“It’s warm,” he said to give himself time.Why is she here? The clipboard means it’s official, but what the hell am I...?
“The King’s meet and greet.” Marianne jerked toward the center of Main Street, where a throne surrounded by flickering jack o’lanterns waited for him. “Remember?”
“Of…course I remember. I was just…uh, waiting for you. I’d rather not pace about in the cold with the plebs growing impatient.”
Shit. He forgot. How the hell did he forget? This was…okay, it was like the tenth most important duty of the King of Halloween. But he had to be there.
“Where’s my head?” Adam asked, rocketing to his feet.
“On the chair. Try not to break it this time.”
He rounded up his coat and scarf before remembering he was supposed to be in costume. Well, at least he’d dressed up for this date. A Halloween King would hardly seem regal in jeans and a flannel shirt. So he picked the oaken green tie instead of his orange and black one, but it was a bit pumpkin-like. It’d work.
Raj.Adam froze.Shit.“There’s this tradition, a bit like Santa. The kids all gather round the throne and—”
“Tell you what they want for Halloween?”
Adam laughed. “More I hand out treat bags full of promo swag from local businesses while we pretend it’s for the kids. But I…I’m so sorry. I have to do this.”
“Okay,” he said. Adam started to bolt for the door when Raj pushed back his chair.
