Page 77 of The King of Halloween
It was the last one that’d kept him pacing until Logan had told him to get out before he drove the guests mad. He’d stood in the liquor store staring at the wine for so long that a clerk had come over and offered to call someone to help. So that was how Raj, dressed in his best sweater and too tight jeans, wound up walking down the streets of Anoka carrying a bottle of wine, waiting for the clock to hit seven-thirty.
He wanted this date to go well. No, he needed it to go well to distract him from everything else in his life going miserably wrong. “What, um, what’s for dinner?” Raj asked.
Lucky for him, Adam’s face lit up. “I hope you came hungry,” he said. “I’m making gnocchi in a pomodoro sauce.”
“A what?”
“It’s like tomato sauce, but thicker. Tastier. Clings to your throat as you swallow it.”
Raj felt that bass drop in his blood. He reached a hand out to cup Adam’s waist and pull him in. “Then I’m surprised you didn’t make a cream sauce instead.” Just as his palm was about to land, Adam jerked in shock.
“Is that what you like? Not tomato sauce?”
The moment imploded, and Raj thumped himself mentally. “No, it’s... I was… I like both. It sounds good. Delicious. I can’t wait to try your sauce.”
“Well.” Adam left the wine bottle on a table by the door that held miniature replicas from horror movies. With his hands freed, he approached Raj like a bull sniffing another in heat. As he circled his palms over Raj’s waist, he pulled back the sweater until his hands locked behind Raj. Stunned, Raj didn’t think to return the embrace. All he could do was gaze up at Adam with a dumbfounded but grateful look on his face.
Adam leaned closer until his forehead brushed against Raj’s. Dropping his voice to a whispering thunder, he said, “I’ve already tried yours. Though…” Adam stared deep into Raj’s eyes. “I wouldn’t mind seconds.”
The hands at Raj’s back locked in and pushed him up just as Adam dove. Raj rocketed into a kiss that threatened to yank him right to Adam’s mysterious bedroom. Always needing to show off, Adam coaxed out Raj’s tongue and began to suck on the tip. Sure, it was hot, but the idea of his phantom tearing off his pants and sucking him off right then caused Raj to moan.
Slipping free of Adam’s talent show, Raj tried to kiss his smooth cheek, but dug his teeth in a bit. Panting and slightly biting, he begged. “Can dinner wait?”
“Dinner…?” Adam craned his head back, his head lifted.
Raj started to look around, wondering if he’d heard something, when the smell hit him. Burning, ash. Fire!
“Oh, shit!” Adam ran for the kitchen. As he threw open the swinging door, smoke gushed into the living room.
“Adam?” Raj leaped in after, prepared to carry his twink to safety.
“No, no, no!” A shadow dashed through the smoke, filled a basin with water, then threw it all into the pan. That only kicked up a thick plume, drowning both of them in fog.
“What’s wrong?” Raj called out. “Where’s your fire extinguisher?” He pawed around the walls, hoping to come across it or a cabinet by mistake. Chairs dragged on the vinyl floor just as he got his hands around something.
“It’s the gnocchi!” Adam cried out. The smoke thinned enough, Raj could find Adam just as he spun around. Holding a pan of charcoal briquettes, Adam groaned. “They’re burned!”
The fire alarm blared.
Both men winced and tried to shield their ears with their shoulders. “Where is it?” Raj shouted.
“In the hall!” Adam snarled. He hurled the pan with the crispy gnocchi into the sink. It rang like a funeral bell. “All I wanted was a nice dinner. One damn good date.”
Raj slipped out through the doorway, unleashing more smoke. Through the haze, he spotted the flashing red light blaring the worst sound. At first, he tried wafting his hands in front to clear the smoke, but he’d swear it only got louder.
The kitchen door blew open, but Adam was still muttering to himself. “One date where we didn’t almost drown, or I was a jack O’lantern, or we have to put on a show to save Grandpa’s farm.” He kicked open the front door to let the smoke out, but the alarm wasn’t slowing down.
Taking drastic measures, Raj tugged off his sweater. Using that, he fanned more of the smoke away until, finally, the ear-shattering screams came to a stop.
“Adam…” Raj wanted to reach out and hold the man who looked about to break, but the second he stopped waving his sweater, the alarm started again.
“I just want to be with you. Spend some time where everything isn’t catching on fire, or being haunted by the ghost of the town scarecrow. Be normal!” He pulled a face at that, then whispered to himself, “For once.”
“Hey.” Raj stepped away from the alarm, waited to see if it would start again, then walked to him. “Do you know what I want?”
“I’m guessing it’s not potatoes charred to the bottom of a pan.”
In his rage, or maybe all the steam, Adam’s hair had fallen. Raj teased the ends, trying to get them up, then he took both of Adam’s hands in his. “I want to sit on that couch with you, watch the best obscure horror movies you own, and eat pizza.”
