Page 7 of M.M. Scrooge
I grab a towel and dry myself off. The last thing I want to do is put my sweaty gym clothes back on, but they’re all I have, so I shimmy into them. Gross. I’m going to need another shower when I get home.
By the time I’m dressed, so is Max, and he’s standing by the door, his hand on the light switch.
Have I done something wrong? We did just have a nice fucking time together, didn’t we? I mean, I get it. No need to get all sentimental after one quick fuck, but rushing me out like this is harsh.
When I’m feeling awkward, I crack jokes. Bad ones. “Is every session gonna end with a bang? ’Cause I’m down.”
Max doesn’t laugh. And yeah, the joke was stupid, but our steamy locker room just got icy, and I’m a compulsive icebreaker.
“You okay? You look spooked.”
He narrows his hazel eyes, brows furrowing, and tilts his chin. “Fine. Just need to get home.”
Right. I slip past him out of the locker room and back into the gym. No one is around. Daisy must have already left, which is great because I wasn’t looking forward to a walk of shame.
The lobby is now a picture of holiday cheer. Rainbow lights twinkle around the windows, and presents wrapped in shiny foils lie spread beneath a fake tree, its misshapen limbs stuffed full of ornaments and candy canes.
“Daisy must have been busy while we were, uh,busy, you know?” I laugh at my own joke before thinking better of it.
Max doesn’t. Awkward.
“Okay, well, see you next time, I guess. Thanks for the workouts. Both of them.”
“You bet. Night…”
He’s already forgotten my name. “Daniel.”
“Daniel.”
I nod, stuff my hands into my pockets, and spin on my heel. If that’s how Max is going to be, that’s fine. It’s not like I care. Okay, I do care, but I shouldn’t. We don’t even know each other.
I shoulder the door open. Damn, it’s sleeting outside. This is the fastest I’ve gone from hot to cold in recent memory. The urge to take one last look at Max fizzles. Whatever smug look he’s got going on, seeing it isn’t going to make me feel any better.
Merry Christmas to you too, Muscle Scrooge.
4
Max
The new guywas a decent lay. Eager enough. Not overly squirmy. It would have been even better in that tight asshole of his. Still, I lost myself in the heat of slamming his thighs…until the very end, when Danny was melting sweetly in my arms and that feeling returned. Like being watched. Chill bumps rose on the back of my neck despite the temperature and ruined my great mood.
Fucking creepy. And it keeps happening at the worst moments too, like when I’m supposed to be cuddling my latest one-nighter. I’d shoot for a repeat with him, but I’m fairly sure I pissed him off while covering up my panic.
I’m not a guy who panics, damn it, but lately, every shadow has a menacing presence lurking within it. And I’m done.
I push the glass door shut and whip out my keys to lock up. The fluorescent lights of this grungy shopping center—one that saw its prime way back in the nineties—flicker and buzz. Shivering, I glance forward.
Instead of seeing my own face reflected in the dingy window, I see a monster. My gut lurches. I stumble backward. It glowers back at me, half obscured in darkness. Black, beady eyes are sunken against the hollow of gray cheeks. Melted skin drips into the deep crevices of its collarbones.
I yelp like a little kid at his first horror movie. The image blurs and vanishes, replaced by my own face. Haunted. It takes every ounce of courage I can muster to lock the fucking door and get the hell out of here.
Am I seeing things that aren’t there? Is this how schizophrenia starts? I’m doomed to lose my mind and chase off hot guys with succulent thighs for all eternity.
Climbing into my car, I shake it off. Not real. It didn’t happen. No bogeymen in the window, no lurker watching me fuck, no spooks in the shadows.
A deep breath does little to calm my nerves, but turning the radio on full blast helps. I drive home, thinking of my name at the top of the leaderboard, a new gold client signed in the books, and the paycheck that’ll be waiting for me after the holidays.
The January rush will bring even more my way. All is good. No ghouls allowed.
