Page 51 of Bikers & Bars

“Never seen it,” I said as casually as I could manage. He was staring at the road and not at me, so he didn’t notice the pure terror on my face.

“Oh, it’s so good. It’s not even that scary anymore because it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that we have today, but it’s definitely creepy in its own right.”

I was almost positive that I would still find it scary, but I didn’t bother to say that. I simply let out a hum in agreement and looked out my window.

I’d never been to the small theater that he’d mentioned before, but it was every bit as adorable as he said it was. The man in the box office was wearing an old-style uniform. He had a big smile plastered on his face as he greeted each customer. The sign above the theater showcased all the upcoming movies.

“If you end up liking this, we’ll have to go see the others,” he said, gesturing to the sign and flashing me that adorable crooked grin of his.

He was going to hate me after this.

Romeo bought our tickets and led me inside as he continued chattering about the movie.

Since it was a theater dedicated to horror films, they’d gone all out. There were a few wax mannequins of the classics like Dracula and Frankenstein. Everything had a dark, Gothic feel with blood-red walls, black tile, and fake cobwebs strung up in the corners. They showcased vintage movie posters up and down the walls.

Even I could admit that they’d done a fantastic job. It was classy, creepy, and definitely had the right aesthetic.

Romeo didn’t bother to ask what I wanted, ordering an entire tray of treats—popcorn, soda, candy, and a big pretzel.

I had a feeling that by the time we finished this we wouldn’t be hungry for dinner, but I didn’t bother to say that as my stomach rumbled in appreciation.

I took the popcorn and soda from him before we headed down the hallway toward the theater.

It was fairly empty in there. I expected a whole lot more patrons. Romeo seemed to notice me looking around at the empty seats and shrugged.

“They get a lot busier right before showtime. They show newer horror films, too, so they get bigger crowds then. It varies each time I come in here.”

“Where do you want to sit?”

In my head, I just kept repeating,‘Not the first row, not the first row.’

“This is the best seat,” he said, leading me toward the middle. The seat he picked was right behind the railing, and once he sat down, he propped his feet up on it, balancing the tray on his legs.

I got comfortable in my seat and did my best to not look like I was dreading this entire experience.

Thankfully, Romeo was so excited he wasn’t paying attention. He started talking about the other movies he’d seen here and I listened dutifully, nodding, laughing, and agreeing in all the right places.

Seeing his blue eyes sparkling excitedly and his grin that hadn’t left his face, I knew I had to rein in my panic.

When the lights dimmed, I took a steadying breath and forced myself to look at the screen. Romeo started tearing into the candy, opening everything before the movie started so we wouldn’t be disturbing anyone who joined us.

I took a handful of popcorn and shoved it in my mouth, chewing intensely as the opening credits started.

“They don’t do music like this in horror movies anymore,” Romeo said with a grin before tearing a bite off his licorice and looking back at the screen.

He was in heaven and was loving sharing this with me.

Man, I had to get it together.

As the movie started, I found myself drawn into the storyline, curious about what was going to happen.

Then I had the first jump scare.

Thankfully, I gasped loudly instead of screamed. Romeo chuckled next to me before wrapping his hand around mine. It was probably the worst decision on his part. From then on, I kept my body tense, and anytime something creepy would happen, I would squeeze his hand and hold on for dear life.

Halfway through, I noticed anytime something was coming, he would glance at me, waiting for my reaction, and that was enough for me to brace myself and make it through the next bit.

At some point, as the poor girl on screen started getting creepier, I found myself more horrified with what she wasdealing with than terrified, though that didn’t mean I was out of the woods.

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