by Liv Rider
“Ah yes, I heard that some of the people involved are worried about what this’ll mean for them and the Fest.”
“Oh, I’m not worried,” Cameron told him, moving forward. “That’s not what I am at all.”
“Cameron, don’t,” Stacy told him.
He felt a hand wrap around his own to give it a reassuring squeeze, and somehow he felt some of that bitter anger melt away. He wasn’t alone.
Everett’s polite smile stayed exactly the same. “Look, I can assure you that you can use the barns for storage for as long as you need. I’m not demanding that you move everything out as soon as possible. That would be ridiculous.”
A pit opened in his stomach at those words.
He hadn’t expected Everett to say he’d host Halloween Fest here again next year, but he’d held a small flicker of hope regardless.
It had been pointless to hope. He should’ve known. There was no chance, not even a tiny, remote chance that Everett would agree to it. He already thought he was being generous by letting them use the barns to store everything.
Everything they’d worked on for the past years, all the effort they had put into it, and soon it would be over. Just like that.
“So, you’ve signed the papers?” Parker asked. “The farm, the barns, the land…it’s all yours?”
Cameron was jerked out of his miserable thoughts by Parker’s questions. “What does it matter?”
“It matters a lot.” Parker ran his thumb across the back of Cameron’s hand. If it was meant to be reassuring, it missed by a mile. Oh, sure, it distracted him from feeling angry at Everett, but now he was getting frustrated because this simple touch wasn’t nearly enough.
“He’s right.” Everett shot Parker a curious look. “And no, we haven’t signed the papers yet. There’s some final checks we need to do in order to draw up the papers. You know, all the boring bureaucratic reports, but we’ve got to do it right! I’d hate to get into any disputes with my new neighbors about the exact borders of my land. We won’t be signing for another couple of weeks.”
“Gosh,” Parker replied. “All that bureaucracy delaying the sale. What a shame.”
“We have a verbal agreement.” Everett narrowed his eyes at Parker. “The papers are just a formality. We all agreed to wait with everything until the Halloween Fest was over.”
“How kind of you,” Cameron snapped.
“It was the least we could do after all the effort you’ve put into it over the past years,” Everett told him. “It would’ve been a shame to have to cancel it last-minute. You’ve been lucky. Very lucky.”
He doubted Ted and Dorothy would’ve sold the place before this year’s Halloween Fest. “Trust me, we appreciate everything they have done very much.”
“So, were you planning on staying for tonight’s Fest?” Stacy’s tone was cheerful, but Cameron knew her well enough to recognize the undercurrent of annoyance in her voice.
Everett looked away from Cameron. “Of course. It all looks very impressive. I can’t wait to see the inside of that Maze of Terror, I believe you call it.”
He couldn’t wait to see Everett in there either. He’d have to plan something good.
“We look forward to hearing what you think of it,” she replied. He hoped she was thinking up ways to scare him as well.
“Yeah, we’d love to incorporate your feedback for next year’s Fest,” Cameron added.
“Oh, you’ve got a new location already?”
“You know very well that we don’t.” He’d almost prefer it if Everett would straight-up say he didn’t want them back next year. It would be honest, at least. “You know that Halloween Fest is over, thanks to you.” His voice wavered, and he felt Parker squeeze his hand.
Everett held up his hands. “Didn’t you just say there were plenty of other farms? Sounds to me like there are some potential new locations around. This place was going to be sold anyway. If I hadn’t bought it, someone else would have.”
“You know, you never did say why you bought it.” Parker went back to running his thumb up and down Cameron’s hand.
Cameron was trying not to think of how that touch would elsewhere on his body.
“You’re right. I didn’t.” Everett turned to Stacy. “Tell me more about the Maze of Terror. Are you two both in it?”
“How about you tell us more about your farming plans?” Cameron demanded. Why the hell didn’t Everett give them a straight answer?
Everett gave him a brief glance, but ignored him. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about it from the Wilsons. When does it open?”
Stacy looked at him, then at Everett. “We start in about an hour, depending on whether or not everyone’s ready in time.” She gave Cameron another significant look.
He knew he was supposed to go and finish his makeup, but how was he supposed to leave while Everett was still out here being a smug, non-answering asshole? “Hey, I asked you a question!”
“Yeah, let’s check on that Maze of Terror.” Parker gave a gentle tug on his hand. “Come on.”
Cameron let himself be led away, still glaring at Everett. He knew he wouldn’t get an answer out of the man, and walking away was for the best before he really started yelling at him.
Parker held his hand as they quietly walked around the larger barn, towards the exit of the Maze of Terror.
“I’m sorry about that.” Cameron looked at him, feeling incredibly embarrassed at the way he’d lashed out at Everett.
“Sorry about what? You asked him questions. It’s not your fault he didn’t want to answer them.”
“I was acting like an asshole.”
Parker shrugged. “Kind of. So was he.”
That made Cameron laugh. “Is this you getting even for me calling you an asshole this afternoon?” He didn’t know how Parker managed to make him feel better by agreeing with him he’d been an ass.
“Maybe.” Parker smiled as well, then looked over at smaller barn as he let go of Cameron’s hand. “I feel I should apologize for dragging you away like that, but I don’t think staying would’ve helped.”
“It really wouldn’t have.” Cameron sighed, glad for Parker’s sense of timing. “Sorry, if I hadn’t been so rude he might’ve actually answered your questions.”
Parker shook his head. “Whatever his plans are, he wants to keep them secret. I’d be frustrated too if I were you.”
Frustrated was one word for it. “He just ignored my questions.”
“I know.”
The silence between them did more to ease Cameron’s frayed nerves than anything Parker could’ve said, and Cameron was relieved he was here, even if he didn’t know why Parker wanted to be here in the first place. He edged closer to Parker, letting their shoulders and arms brush against each other. “This probably isn’t the evening you were hoping for at all. We still don’t know anything about Everett we didn’t already know.” And worse, they’d barely had any time alone together.
“We know a couple of things. It hasn’t been a complete waste.” Parker smiled at him. “Right?”
“I guess not.” Cameron didn’t know what he’d done to deserve a guy like Parker. After the way he’d acted around Everett, he wouldn’t have blamed Parker for making a hasty retreat.
It was weird.
It was weird like several other things about him, and yet Cameron knew deep in his bones that he could trust Parker. He found himself leaning closer and watching the heat grow in Parker’s eyes. There were only a few inches between them now. Their shoulders and arms were pressed together, and Cameron couldn’t think of anything but having all of Parker pressed against him.
“Cameron….” Parker’s low voice sent a shiver running down his spine.
Cameron’s heartbeat sped up at the thought of finally getting to kiss him. “Yes.” All they’d done so far was hold hands. How the hell was he already feeling this hot and turned on?
Parker’s eyes darted down to his mouth, and Cameron could feel the heat radiate fro
m Parker’s body. He closed his eyes before bridging the last few inches.
“Ah, there you are!”
Stacy calling out was like a bucket of ice being dumped right over his head. He swore under his breath as he moved away from Parker.
“Here we are,” he replied, unable to hide the grumpiness in his voice.
6
Parker
They’d been so close. Their noses had already been brushing when Cameron’s friend appeared.
Destroy her, his dragon hissed, but Parker was certain Cameron wouldn’t want him to.
Then again, going by the way Cameron was glowering at her….
“I can come back later?” Stacy offered.
“It’s fine.” Cameron gestured for her to come closer. “Did Everett say anything useful?”
“No, just a bunch of smiling and nodding while I told him more about the Maze.” Her eyes darted from Parker to Cameron and back. “You, um, feeling better?”
Cameron shrugged, folding his arms across his chest. “I still think he’s a smug asshole.”
“Oh, agreed,” Stacy immediately said. “I have to admit, it looked kind of satisfying to watch you yell at him.”
“Not that it helped.”
Parker took a deep breath, trying not to focus on how close Cameron was and how good it had been to hold his hand to comfort him, and instead on the problem at hand. “We still don’t know why he bought the farm.” There had to be a reason for it.
“Maybe he didn’t want to risk pissing Cameron off further by saying he was going to tear the place down. That’s the most likely thing he’ll do, right?” Stacy asked
“That’s not it.” Cameron shook his head. “I’ve met guys like him before at the hotel. They know that as a receptionist I’m supposed to make sure their stay is to their satisfaction, so they like to rub it in that they’re so much richer than me. Everett has all the cards, and he knows it.”
“I still don’t get how you’ve never lost your cool at work.” Stacy cocked her head. “I mean, the way you talked to Everett….”
Parker wondered about it too. He couldn’t imagine Cameron smiling politely behind the desk at a hotel.
“Why do you think I always take the night shifts?” Cameron laughed. “It’s the quietest. I know what I’m like. I wouldn’t last a week without telling some rich idiot where he can shove his Mercedes. But yeah, I agree Everett is probably going to tear it down, but I don’t think he cared about whether or not I got angrier at him.”
“Agreed,” Parker said. “I think he wants to keep it a secret. He’s a land developer, right? Whatever he’s planning, it’s to make him a profit, and he doesn’t want word getting out.” And there were a lot of people involved with Halloween Fest to spread that word.
“He did seem very annoyed at you asking questions, did you notice that?” Cameron frowned at him. “More annoyed than when I did.”
“Maybe he thinks you’re a rival land developer.” Stacy nodded at Parker’s clothes. “You don’t exactly look like you’re part of Halloween Fest. You’re dressed far too nicely. You’ve never even heard of Carrie.”
“I’m working on that,” Cameron told her. “On the horror movies.”
At least his mate didn’t seem to mind, but Parker vowed to finish watching all three movies from Cameron’s list as soon as possible. He wanted to be able to keep up with their conversations.
“That’s a good point.” Stacy looked at him. “What is your favorite scary movie?”
Cameron sighed. “He hasn’t seen Scream, so he won’t—”
“Psycho!” Finally, a question about horror movies he could answer.
“What?” Cameron’s head snapped up to look at him with a wide-eyed stare.
Had he said something wrong? He’d enjoyed the movie, and Cameron had been the one to recommend it to him.
“Really?” Stacy’s drawl was suspicious, and Cameron was frowning now.
“Yes, really. The whole thing was so tense.” After getting home from his meetings, he’d planned on having a little break before answering some emails. He thought a short bit of Psycho could be that break, enough to give him an idea of what horror movies were like and what Cameron was into. But before he knew it, he’d watched the entire film and arrived at the farmhouse later than he’d planned. “I didn’t see the twist with Mrs. Bates coming at all.” He’d sworn at his TV screen at the reveal, wondering how he’d been so blindsided.
Stacy gasped at that. “Wow, you got to see it unspoiled? I wish I had that experience. I mean, it’s a great movie even if you do know, but still.”
“I kind of want to watch it again,” he admitted. “To see how it all makes sense.” There had to be hints that he’d missed.
“Oh yeah, it’s a great movie for re-watching!” Stacy was nodding along. “Have you seen the sequels?”
“There are sequels?” Cameron hadn’t mentioned those. Parker looked at him, and Cameron was shaking his head.
“They’re best left ignored, believe me,” Stacy told him. “You know, if you liked Psycho, I can give you tips on other movies like it, depending on what you liked about it.”
“Did you come here to talk about Everett, or to talk about movies?” Cameron asked.
“I’d rather talk about one of my favorite movies than Everett,” she replied.
“Cameron is right.” He was here to learn more about Everett and help Cameron save Halloween Fest. “We can talk about Psycho another time.” He definitely wanted to talk to Cameron about the movie, about the tension between the characters, about the reveal that Mrs. Bates was long-gone, and what Cameron thought about it as a hotel receptionist. “I want to help you make sure that Halloween Fest continues, and we need to stop Everett first.”
“The Wilsons will just sell the farm to someone else, though.” Cameron sighed, and Parker reached out to take his hand again, longing to hold him and reassure him.
“True, but we know for sure that Everett doesn’t want another Halloween Fest. Maybe whoever buys it next is fine with it, or will let you guys organize it for one more year before making you find another location.”
“One more year would already be great.” Cameron looked at the exit of the Maze of Terror. “It’d give us more time to find somewhere else. If we can’t do it here next year, we really don’t have much time to find some place else.”
“We have an entire year,” Stacy said. “It’ll be fine.”
“We don’t have a year.” Cameron let go of Parker’s hand to move towards her. “Think about it. Let’s say Andrew has already started looking. Do you know how long it’ll take him to find another suitable location? Because there aren’t a lot of those around. And let’s say he finds another farm or a warehouse. We’ll still need to make a lot of arrangements and deal with a whole bunch of paperwork. Then we actually need to move everything to that new location, and we have to re-build everything from scratch.” Cameron was ticking off his fingers one by one. “It already takes us a couple of months to prepare everything, and here the Maze of Terror is already set-up and we know where everything goes. We still need to clean everything, fix everything that fixing, paint everything that needs painting, and create at least one new room.” He’d started ticking off the fingers of his other hand. “Imagine having to take down the entire Maze, move it, and build it in another barn. And that’s just the Maze of Terror. We’re all volunteers, Stacy. People have other commitments. We already need to be thinking of next year’s Halloween Fest if we want to make it happen. We don’t want to rush it. We can’t rush it. Not if we want to throw a Halloween Fest that everyone can enjoy. A Halloween Fest people have come to expect.”
Parker was impressed with both the passion in Cameron’s voice and how he’d managed to list all the things that needed doing in a logical manner. “Do it right, or don’t do it at all.”
“Exactly.” Cameron smiled at him, and Parker had to resist the urge to kiss him.
This was it. This was what they had it
common.
It wasn’t about Halloween or horror movies or councils or shifters. It was about doing what you were passionate about, and doing it to the best of your abilities. Parker’s worst nightmare was disappointing the shifters in his district. Cameron’s worst nightmare was disappointing the people who came to Halloween Fest.
“Okay, that’s a good point.”
Oh, right. Stacy was still here.
“I guess I hadn’t thought of the entire time-line,” Stacy continued. “You’re right. Moving everything, re-building everything, that’s going to take forever.”
“It would definitely take us a long time. Speaking of….” Cameron looked at his watch, then at Parker. “I should go and do my makeup.”
“Good point, I should see if mine needs touching up. See you later!” Stacy waved at Parker as she left.
“Do you have to go and do your makeup already?” He knew he’d have to let Cameron go at some point, but they were finally alone again.
“Did you actually see it? Psycho?”
Parker blinked at the sudden change of topic. “Yes, of course. This afternoon.” He didn’t add that he’d now have to spend the rest of his evening catching up with work.
“Oh.” Cameron’s cheeks reddened as his smile softened. “So, um, it’s the only scary movie you’ve ever seen?”
“Yes. I guess that automatically means it’s my favorite.” He moved closer, noticing Cameron’s sharp intake of breath and the way he leaned forward too. “And I really did enjoy it.”
“I’m glad.” Even with the white contact lenses, the way Cameron’s eyes darted down to his lips was obvious.
Parker reached out to wrap his hand around Cameron’s neck, wanting to savor the moment. Cameron’s hand rested against his chest, warm and solid, and Parker’s heart felt like it was about to burst out. His mate was here, in his arms, and they both wanted the same thing. He finally closed the distance between them, pressing his lips against Cameron’s.