Page 16 of Goblin Candy

“My hostess was introduced to me as a spider demon by the faun that begrudgingly left me on her step. And I’m telling you right now, there is a whole lot of spider going on. You might want to rethink your date,” I offer sympathetically. “I know you. You’ll feel terrible if you react badly to him and then spend days beating yourself up over it.”

A conflicted look crosses her face, but then she squares her jaw and shakes her head.

“I think… I’m going to give him a shot,” she says slowly. “I really like him, Candy. I liked him before I even saw his face or knew what he is. I don’t think I could forgive myself if I don’t at leasttryto give whatever this is between us a chance just because I’m a little afraid of spiders.”

I can’t help but admire that.

“Lottie, I hate to remind you, but you nearly had a heart attack when I took the lid off Wynx’s habitat and he’s smaller than my hand and didn’t even climb toward the lip of the terrarium. That’s more than a little afraid. Are you sure you want to do this?”

She nods stubbornly, and I smile.

“Okay, I’m one hundred percent in your corner. Do you need me in your corner when you meet? I’m sure Grimsal could be persuaded to make a detour from whatever we have planned.”

A look of relief crosses her face. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind? I don’t want to ruin your date, but it would help having someone with me so that I don’t put my foot in my mouth the second I meet him. That you’re already familiar with his species makes me feel a bit more comfortable.”

“Sure. Are you meeting at the portal hub or here in town?” I ask curiously. The portal hub that the elves opened for our region is a two-hour drive away, but I would make the commute with her even if it means dragging Grimsal along for the long ride.

“Actually, we are going to meet at the festival. In front of the pumpkin stand where they have the carving contest. It is the first thing that Lyrax and I are going to do together. I thought a bonding activity might be nice.”

“Awww!” I clutch my hands tightly to my chest. “That’s so fucking cute. I wish I had thought of that!” Doing something sickeningly adorable with Grimsal after last night would be so sweet, and couple bonding activities always give me major feels.

She perks up. “You could. Why don’t you and Grimsal join us and we can do it as a couples thing?”

My lips twist in an apologetic grimace. “I don’t know what he has planned. He really seems excited to be choosing our next date, so I really don’t want to pop his balloon. This is the first time a man has wanted to impress me with spooky shit…”

“And you’re totally eating it up,” Lottie finishes with a grin. “I get it. And I certainly don’t blame you. Maybe we can hook up afterward if it’s not too late.”

“I would like that,” I agree. “Speaking of which, I’d better start getting ready. I have a feeling he’s going to show up pretty early, and I want to at least look hot when he arrives.”

“Shit, you’re always hot, Candy.” She laughs and blows me a kiss. “Slay him.”

I blow her a kiss and deactivate the mirror before draining my coffee in two gulps and returning the mug to the sink. I both love and hate the fact that I don’t know what Grimsal’s plans are. I love it because it is an unknown—and adventure—and summarily hate it because I don’t know what to expect. Exactly what do I wear to a date when I don’t know anything about where we are going or how I should be dressed?

I wander back into my room and pull out a black dress from my closet. It is simple and black, with elbow-length bell sleeves and a midi-length bell skirt that extends from the empire waist that can barely contain my breasts. Witchy-casual, I call the dress, and as far as I’m concerned it can fit just about any outing. Except maybe hiking, but I don’t hike and he’s going to quickly find himself on that trail alone if he thinks to surprise me with that. I’m thoroughly urban and prefer to admire the work of my gods from the comfort of a cozy nook somewhere.

Somehow, I can’t see him pulling that, though, unless it is to chase me through the woods with a little Red Riding Hood action on his mind. Now that’s a brush with the wild that I can get behind. I chuckle to myself as a shiver of excitement overtakes me and put on my best dark purple matching bra and panty set, this one emblazoned with twining snakes. My dress brushes my skin as it goes on over that and it’s followed by black knee-high socks adorned with skulls. I complete the look with a chain belt with a clear lunar theme in its design and lace-up leather boots just in case I need to do a little walking.

I feel sexy as hell as I turn and inspect myself from every angle in front of my full-length mirror. Last night Grimsal saw me at my most casual and relaxed, but tonight my goal is to drive him wild. I decide to keep it light on the makeup, though, and settle for a muted eyeshadow and a streak of fuck-me red lipstick on my lips. I’m giving myself one last inspection when I hear the knock at the door, and I grin at my reflection—my mirror self showing far more excitement than I can remember seeing on my face in some time.

Grabbing my purse, I hurry to the door and nearly forget to breathe when I see the goblin lounging against the door jamb. His eyes look me over with heat, and a soft growl of lust rumbles from him. I almost expect him to push me back into the living room and declare our date canceled. It’s not like that hasn’t happened before. To my shock, however, he steps back and offers his hand, a wicked smile on his face.

“You look ravishing. Shall we go, my sweet?”

The pet name is ridiculous and one that I’ve rolled my eyes at in the past. Coming from Grimsal, with his obsession with sweets, there is a charm to it that it doesn’t have coming from anyone else. Still, I acknowledge the silliness of the name with a smirk as I place my hand in his and enjoy the warmth of his fingers closing around mine.

“Thank you. I think I’m ready, though I still have no idea where it is you are taking me,” I observe.

His grin widens. “Check your phone.”

I arch an eyebrow because I didn’t hear my phone ding, but I dig it out of my purse and open the page lock to see that I have a waiting message—one that just came in a minute ago. I give the goblin at my side a suspicious look but his tail practically dances behind him as he watches me with excitement. Clicking on the message, my eyes widen in surprise as I see the reservation tickets for the haunted house that is set up right down the street from the autumn festival. The haunted house is a huge deal, one that pulls visitors from neighboring cities and towns to visit every year. The tickets are also not cheap—far more than I can afford on my wages—and hard to come by so close to Halloween.

“How?” I squeak, my fingers clutching my phone with a vise-like grip as if I were to loosen them at all that the reservations might disappear. “How did you get this? I’ve been wanting to go to this for years!”

His smile widens, a gleam of mischief in his eyes. “It helps when you know the crew. The goblins who own this also have another major setup in an orc village. Apparently, they decided to branch out and make coin in your world too. They were more than happy to hook a fellow goblin up.”

With another squeal, I throw my arms around him. Am I shocked that the most raved-about haunted house is run by goblins? Not really. Am I completely stoked that he somehow anticipated the one thing that would truly make my Halloween exceptional—and even more so to experience it with him? Hell yeah! Stop the presses, but I may just be en route to falling in love.

CHAPTER12

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