Page 171 of Love at First Fright

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you going to explain yourself to me? Explain why I found you in a cupboard getting your dick sucked by some pale twink in eyeliner and a leather collar?”

“Umm…” I started, trying not to laugh at Bat, who had now started miming Brad’s expression with exaggerated outrage. “I was on my way to meet you, but then he persuaded me into the cupboard, and I just sort of went with it…”

“But you’ve been talking to him. This guy.”

“A bit.”

“And what has he been telling you?!”

“Well, that our witch wasn’t a witch, for one. Could have saved us a lot of trouble if we’d listened. And that the thing in the basement needs to stay in the basement.”

“Ah-ha!” Brad’s face lit up as his phone caught signal.

I dutifully sat beside him as we searched for garages to ring. Though being in the middle of the countryside, there weren’t that many options.

The first three calls couldn’t do it today. The fourth quoted eight hundred pounds for four new tyres plus delivery service.

Brad exploded at the poor receptionist. “Eight hundred fucking pounds?!” he screeched into his phone. He turned to me, eyes wild. “You need to pay half. I shouldn’t have to pay it all when I drove you here.”

“Why do we need to pay? You told me it was a company car, a gift for being Gerald’s star employee.”

Brad snorted. “There’s no way Gerald is coughing up for this. I get no maintenance budget in the deal—just the shit car with the logo plastered on it. So if you want to go home, you need to send me half.”

I opened my online banking app and showed him the screen. The balance that was very much minus a very large amount of pounds.

Brad’s eyes widened like saucers. “Jesus,” he muttered. “You weren’t kidding about being broke.”

He rang back the very first garage and agreed for them to come tomorrow, though they couldn’t arrive until the afternoon.

My heart almost exploded with joy as Bat squeezed my hand. A whole extra night together!

“Harrison and Evelyn will just have to live with us here another night,” Brad mumbled.

We found them downstairs to deliver the bad news.

Harrison’s face could have curdled milk. “You have got to be joking.”

“It’s out of our hands,” Brad said, straightening his spine.

Harrison rubbed his temples. “Fine. We’ll stay at the bed and breakfast in Grimthorne town, but we’ll be back tomorrow morning.” He shot us both an icy glare. “And you need to clean up that mess you’ve made in the corridor by then.”

He stormed off, Evelyn offering us a guilty smile before she followed him, leaving Brad and me standing in the lobby. The front door slammed with enough force to rattle the windows.

“What an asshole,” I said.

“For once, Chaz, I agree with you.”

twenty-four

Bat

The Lancasters were long gone, yet the words you’re fired still echoed in my head, each syllable a dagger twisting deeper into whatever passed for my ghostly soul. When Harrison had said that, I’d felt like I was dying. All over again. But worse this time, because I could remember it, and I knew exactly what I was losing.

It was silly, really, but in my head, Charlie and Brad were going to be here for weeks, getting the runaround, whilst Charlie and I spent the evenings talking, laughing about Brad, playing my guitar, cuddling, watching rom-coms, eating crisps, and of course, having mind‑blowing sex. I’d imagined lazy mornings where Charlie would wake up reaching for me, afternoons reading in the library or messing about in the piano room, nights where I’d learn every sound he made when I touched him just right.

Now it was already over. They’d be gone tomorrow afternoon.