Page 71 of Not Another Dark Romance

“I can’t believe you haven’t brought him here sooner,” Grant says pointedly to Zane.

“We’ve been busy,” Zane explains with a laugh.

“Hey, man!” A guy in a Michael Myers mask approaches with a very pretty blonde at his side.

“Sup, Eric?”

He pulls the mask off. “Can you believe we did it!”

Zane lets out another laugh, probably thinking about how he thought I’d turn him in and ruin the reputation of the brewery. As if.

He manages to sound confident with his answer. “I never doubted us for a second. Eric, this is my boyfriend I’ve been telling you about, Mason.”

“Hey, man, good to meet you. This is my girlfriend, Annie.”

“That costume is everything,” she says to me. “Very Sleepaway Camp meets Wet Hot American Summer. You pull it off so well.”

Zane wraps his arm around me and pulls me in close. “Told you.”

“That’s exactly what I was going for.” Sort of. Has she never seen Friday the 13th?

“Can I steal him for a second?” Annie asks Zane. “I want to introduce him to my friends so he’s not stuck while you talk business all night.”

Zane’s fingers tighten slightly on my hip, and I love the reminder of his possessive side. “Don’t corrupt her too much, Little Psycho,” he mutters quietly near my ear just for me before releasing his grip and winking.

She leads me farther into the brewery and guides me toward a group near the bar. “So that’s Peter and his boyfriend, Dev,” she says, pointing at two guys in vampire costumes. “They’re both super sweet. And that’s our friend Jenna—she’s dressed as Carrie—and her husband Rich is around here somewhere. He’s a zombie.”

I nod, trying to commit names to faces, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already forgotten. My attention keeps flicking back to Zane and his promise of another chase through the woods. He’s standing with Eric and Grant by the tap wall; all their masks are pushed up, and when my eyes meet his, he mouths something that looks like “behave.”

I smirk. I’ll be good here, but there’s no way I’ll be good when we get to the woods.

“How about a drink?” Annie suggests, nudging my attention away from Zane. “The fall beer is really good. I had one the other day.”

“Sure, that sounds great.”

The bartender fumbles a little bit behind the counter, which is understandable since this is technically their first shift before they fully open next week.

We sip our beers, and Annie tells me about how she and Eric met and how wonderful he is. It’s kind of nice to have conversations like this since my friends clearly aren’t friends. Not one of them has even texted me to check in since I got hit by a truck, was kidnapped, and became a slutty house pet. Oh well, I think I could like Zane’s friends more anyway. They already seem more interested in my life, and they all immediately followed me on social media when I mentioned I’m an artist. And if things don’t work out with them, at least I’ll have Zane. I never feel lonely around him.

“You doing okay?” Zane asks, sliding his hand around my waist as he sneaks in beside me.

“Yeah, Annie’s great and so is everyone else.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet. You’re great too, Mason! I’ll leave you two for a second while I go grab Eric,” Annie says before scurrying off.

“Have I mentioned how fucking incredible you look?” Zane compliments, and I laugh as I shake my head.

“No, I don’t think you’ve said that at all,” I tease.

“Mmm, is that so? Do I need to remind you?”

“Yes. I think I’m very ready for that.”

Of course, at that moment, Grant calls out to give him our attention. “Hey, everyone! Gather round. I want to make a toast.”

I’d yank Zane away—I’m that eager for what he has planned—but it is his night, and he should be here for this. Besides, I feel way more comfortable here with him and their friends than I was expecting.

The crowd converges and quiets as Zane keeps me tucked into his side. Grant launches into a speech about dreams and hard work and taking risks. He talks about always looking up to his big brother and how he’s so excited they get to do this together. It’s sweet, actually, watching him get emotional like this. I can tell he’s got a big heart and he’s not afraid of his emotions.