Page 11 of In The Dark
FIVE
MAX
“What are you doing tonight?”Skyler puts the finishing touches on her makeup and pulls away from the living room mirror where she’s been getting ready. “I’m so sorry if your shitty experience at Fright Nights on Thursday ruined the rest of your weekend. I feel so bad.”
“It’s not your fault I got turned around.” I smile at her from the couch, cozy under two blankets despite the temperature hovering around eighty degrees outside. “And my night is going to be lovely because no haunted houses are involved. I’m keeping it low-key: a movie. Popcorn. Maybe a face mask. It’s going to be lovely.”
“Will you be okay here alone? I can call out. I have plenty of PTO. We can have a girl’s night!”
“I promise I’m fine. If I get scared, I’ll start throwing books at whatever creepy things are lurking in the bathroom. I’m sure the ghosts are nice.”
“Since you’re not totally traumatized, maybe I can convince you to come back for a second round of Fright Nights?”
“We’ll talk when you get home.” I bring my legs to my chest, resting my chin on my knees. I smile her way, so proud of my best friend. “You were fantastic in the show, Sky. The way youheld yourself up on those silks was unreal. The arena was electric when you came on the stage.”
“Thanks, babe. It’s amazing how much fun you can have when you’re living out your dreams. Doing events like this? Feeling the crowd’s energy and their excitement? The joy I get going to work? People shit on theme park workers, but this is my calling.” Skyler grabs her purse off the hook by the front door and fluffs her hair. “We’re going to have to wait and talk about round two over coffee and pancakes tomorrow morning.” Her face lights up with a grin. “I’m going to Dustin’s tonight.”
“OhDustin,huh? Behave yourself.”
“I’ve never behaved myself before, and I’m not starting now.”
She blows me a kiss and disappears out the front door. When I hear her car backing up, I dig my phone out from where I’ve wedged it between the couch cushions. I pull up the Adventure Oasis social media page I’ve been scrolling, embarrassed to admit internet sleuthing has taken over my life the last seventy-two hours. It’s bordering on concerning behavior, and I can’t believe I’m letting a man occupy so much of my time.
Putting on my best detective hat and doing a deep dive into figuring out who the hell the hot scare actor—Hunter—is has yielded zero results. I’ve searched Adventure Oasis’s tagged photos. Fright Nights pictures and the accounts they follow. I’ve scoured comment sections, and while there’s been a mention ofthe guy with a dragon tattooed on his hand, there’s nothing with a full name or social media handle attached to it.
No matter how much sleuthing I do, I doubt Hunter remembers me.
In a room of a thousand people, I blend in rather than stand out. I always have, at five-eight with pale skin that burns when I’m in the sun for too long. Blonde hair that frizzes in the Florida humidity and thighs that brush against each other after years of playing high school and collegiate soccer. No special features,nothing unique, and when Brian used to call mecute, but not hot, I believed him.
I was hoping I’d see you again.
Hunter’s voice echoes in my ears, and my body suddenly feels like it’s on fire.
How many times has he used that line on a woman walking through his haunted house? Once a night? More? Is he a playboy? Someone who is secretly shy and hates the attention he gets?
I jump to my feet, desperate to know the answer. I march to my bedroom and pull a jean skirt and black halter top from my closet. The makeup I put on is enough to hide the bags under my eyes after a long week of teaching, and I grab my keys before I have time to talk myself out of my act of spontaneity.
So many of my friends have had one night stands. They’ve met a guy at the bar and hooked up with him in the bathroom to have a little fun, and for someone who has done nothing but dedicate her life to teaching, long-term relationships, and playing by the rules, I want to have a little fun too.
Seeing if I can track down Hunter a second time feels like a prize from a game I don’t know I’m playing, but one I want win. The drive to Adventure Oasis is fifteen minutes up the road, the traffic light for a Saturday night. After a quick detour to the admissions window to buy a ticket I didn’t budget for, I enter the park, my heart pounding with every step.
This is crazy.
Absolutely insane.
Did I really spend $100 to visit a guy who wasniceto me?
Am I really out late on a school night to see if this man remembers me?
Or is it because last night I had a dream about the knife in his pocket, the ways he could use it if it were real, and what it would feel like pressed against my throat?
God.
I wonder if the that stems from my parent’s divorce when I was ten, some deep-rooted daddy issues the reason for my fascination.
A therapist would have a field day with me.
I roll my shoulders back and keep my head lifted high through the scare zones, undeterred by the fake insects and actors walking around with machetes. I give myself a pat on the back for being a badass when I reach the house, spotting Dustin at the front of the line.
