Page 70 of Not Another Dark Romance

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“Ican’t believe I’m wearing this,” I say, looking down at my costume.

“I can. You look hot. Everyone at that party is going to be drooling over you, Little Psycho,” Zane assures me.

I laugh as I look at myself in the mirror once more. The ridiculously short red shorts barely cover my ass, and the tight-fitting T-shirt that says “Camp Crystal Lake” stretched across it is basically a crop top. I’ve got a whistle hanging around my neck and knee-high socks pulled up my calves. I’m the gay slasher movie camp counselor come to life, and Zane can’t take his eyes off me.

“Come on, as much as I want to pin you down in that slutty costume and fuck you right now, we should head out, or Grant will be pissed I’m late.” Zane picks up the Jason mask from the dresser, then looks back at me with a hungry look as he promises, “Later.”

Turning to the mirror one final time, I run my hand through the pink strands of my hair. The outfit really does show off my toned legs and lean frame, so I exhale and hope I don’t look too much like a slut in front of Zane’s friends, but he’s assured me over and over that I look great, even if he did just call my costume slutty. Oh well, I’m sure I won’t be the only one dressed in a skimpy outfit. It is Halloween, after all.

We head outside, and he opens the truck door for me before helping me in, even though it’s completely unnecessary.

“Are you nervous?” I ask when we start the drive.

“Not really. It’s just a soft opening with friends, so it shouldn’t be overwhelming, and if something goes wrong, we’ll work out the kinks.”

“I’m nervous,” I admit.

Zane reaches a hand over to my bare thigh and squeezes. “How come?”

“Well, I’ve only ever met Grant. I don’t love being in crowds of strangers,” I admit, especially since I haven’t left the house really since Zane kidnapped me in the first place. It’s strange to casually leave the safety of the bubble I’ve been in for so long. Even when I pretended to escape, it felt like a game. This is Zane bringing me into his life outside of his house.

“Eric is really the only other close friend I have here, but he’s excited to meet you,” Zane reassures me. “Grant’s been bragging that he’s already met you though.”

I laugh. “Really?”

“Mm-hmm, and I’m really happy that you’re coming with me. How about we make a deal?”

His suggestive tone has me immediately intrigued, and I perk up, sitting taller in my seat. “I’m listening.”

“If you want to leave at any point, we can leave, of course, but—” He takes a quick pause. There’s no way I’d ever ask him to leave his own soft launch, that’d be awful, and I’m so excited for him. I’m curious what he’s going to say, though, so I don’t stop him. “If we stay long enough, after all the introductions and when I’m sure that they won’t need me, we could reenact our own Friday the 13th. I think I finally found some woods that aren’t too far away where we could have some privacy.”

I suck in a sharp breath. “Oh fuck, yes, that sounds fun.”

“Let’s see how the night goes when we get there.” He chuckles deviously. “But I’d love nothing more than to chase you through the woods and fuck you while you’re dressed like that.”

“Fuck, you’re giving me a very obvious boner in this jock, Zane.”

His fingers start dancing up my thighs, and I shiver. “Good.”

I snort a laugh. “Not good! That is not the first impression I want to be giving the rest of your friends.”

We pull up to the brewery a couple of minutes later, and the whole time I’ve been trying to calm my body down by focusing on all the strangers I’ll have to meet, not the fact that Zane wants to chase me through the woods while we’re dressed up like characters from one of my favorite horror movies.

When we park and walk inside, a handful of people are already there.

“There he is!” Grant shouts, approaching us as he pulls up his Scream mask. I’ll have to tell Zane he should borrow that for our next role-play session. That’s another fantasy of mine.

“We’re here. I couldn’t stop looking at this one; took everything in me to walk out that front door,” Zane says, thumbing my direction.

Grant laughs. “Damn, Mason. Love that you two are really committing to the bit. I wanted my girlfriend to do a couple’s costume, but she wasn’t feeling well and had to skip tonight.”

“That really sucks, man. I was looking forward to meeting her,” Zane says.

“Yeah, next time,” Grant assures him.

“It looks great in here!” I compliment while looking around. The space is industrial but warm with exposed brick walls, Edison light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, and steel fermentation tanks visible through the glass partition. It’s got a cool, artsy feel. It’s the exact kind of place I’d want to hang out in even if I weren’t dating the owner.