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“I don’t want to do this now. I came here to have fun, not fight with you. Can we please just—”
His grip on my shoulders tightens and I wince.
“Hey!” a deep voice calls out, and both our heads snap to locate where it came from.
It’s the employee taking tickets at the entrance of the fun house. He’s seated in a metal folding chair, his black boots propped up on the railing.
“You got a problem, buddy?” Travis calls back to him, and I think I can tell before he can that this guy isn’t someone he wants to mess with.
“No problem, buddy.” Something wicked drips from his words as he repeats the sentiment back to Travis. “Looks like she has a problem with you grabbing her, though.”
I wish I could melt into the ground beneath me. This is mortifying.
“Just stop. Walk away,” I plead, trying to tap into whatever recesses of reason are still firing in my ex’s primate brain.
“Walk away? That guy just—” he starts, but instead of finishing his sentence, he just throws his hands up and storms off.
I can’t make out whatever he’s mumbling under his breath as he leaves me standing there, but I don’t really care.
I turn back to the man, intent on thanking him for the intervention.
I don’t get the chance, though.
The chair is now empty, his Styrofoam cup still placed on the ground beside it.
My brain is screaming at me to go back to Mallory and the others, but my feet are already walking toward the fun house. I’m not sure if I’ve shut off my own reasoning and am operating on autopilot, but the curiosity about the mysterious man wins out.
He didn’t look like any of the other carnival workers I’d seen so far.
He was young, maybe a few years older than me.
His dark hair hung in his eyes, and it wasn’t hard to tell that he was a tall guy. His limbs were long but not scrawny, like he’d be able to pick up just about anything without much of a struggle at all.
There aren’t many places he could have gone. I would have seen if he’d walked back toward the commotion of the carnival. That left either inside the fun house or behind it.
My money was on the latter, or at least, that’s where I hoped he’d gone.
I wasn’t exactly jumping at the idea of walking inside the creepy clown mouth.
CHAPTER THREE
jackson
Behind the fun house is dark and quiet, and I need to take a minute to calm the fuck down before I get myself fired.
The last thing I need is to beat some frat boys ass on the job.
I shouldn’t have said anything, but it was obvious the girl was uncomfortable. I’m not entirely sure why I gave a fuck, but by the time I’d had enough time to process what I was seeing I’d already opened my mouth.
“Hey,” a small voice fills the dead space around me.
I turn and furrow my brow. “Employees only back here.”
She takes a step back, uncertainty painted on her face. “Sorry, I just wanted to thank you.”
“Not necessary.”
I turn to walk away, already dreading the ass chewing I’ll get from Sylvester if he realizes I’ve left the attraction entrance unguarded.
