Page 31 of Carnival of Crows

LUCKY CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The VIP tent had transformed from elegant reception to something resembling a family gathering. The chandeliers still glowed overhead, but the formal atmosphere had long since disappeared.

The actors who had been working the VIP tent all evening had changed out of costume and drifted home, leaving only me, Luci, my family, and Luci’s friends scattered around the mismatched vintage furniture. Laughter bounced off the canvas walls.

Jack was halfway through telling the story of how he’d accidentally scared a state trooper so badly during our second season that the man had pepper-sprayed himself.

“It was self-defense!” Jack insisted.

“You were driving as a six-foot pumpkin with an axe on your seat,” Cassie reminded him.

“It was a prop axe!” he defended himself.

“Yeah, because the state trooper would definitely know that,” Sam chimed in with such snark that you’d think we’d all known each other for years.

I felt Luci’s quiet laughter as her back shook on my chest. When we joined everyone, I, very smoothly if I do say so myself, took a seat and in one fell swoop pulled her right onto my lap. And that’s where she’s stayed settled in as if she’d always belonged.

One of my arms rested loosely around her waist. She absentmindedly traced little circles over the tattoos on the back of my hand while everyone talked around us. Comfortable. Easy. Like we’d skipped months of awkward first dates. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this relaxed. Probably before Graves Park reopened. Maybe even before then.

“I think,” Mary announced, setting her empty mug onto the coffee table, “we should probably head home.”

A comment was made about not realizing how late it was and that seemed to set everyone in motion. Everyone slowly began gathering jackets and bags. Luci shifted slightly against me as if she was hesitant to get up. Lord knows I certainly wasn’t remotely ready for her to leave just yet. Who knew what would come of it. It’s not like we walked into this night planning what happened… and we certainly haven’t talked about it.

Sam seemed to notice the hesitation because she looked from me to Luci and then smiled.

“Luce, you ready?” she paused, and her smirk grew. “Unless,” she dragged the word out just enough that I knew trouble was coming. “you want to bring her home.”

Luci froze. Every muscle in her body tightened against mine. Then…

“Samantha!”

Her voice climbed nearly an octave. She buried her face in one hand while her cheeks turned the most spectacular shade of pink I’d ever seen. The entire tent dissolved into laughter. I couldn’t help joining them.

“I would be more than happy to give you a ride home,” I told her, loud enough that everyone could hear. Then another thought followed immediately. I lowered my voice before I continued. “Or, you could come to mine if you want.”

The tent suddenly became very interested in pretending not to listen. Jack found something fascinating about his donut. Cassie took a very deliberate last sip of cider. No one fooled me. They were all listening. Every last one of them.

I’d hooked up with women from dating apps who knew from the very start that it would be nothing more than one night and sex plenty of times over the last five years, but I’d never shown an interest in anyone beyond that. Especially not a guest from the park that could probably make or break my business with a single social media post. But there was something about the spooky woman sitting on my lap… I wasn’t quite sure what it was that was drawing me to her but it was magnetic and I was not ready to say goodbye just yet.

Luci leaned closer until only I could hear her.

“Are you sure?” Her voice had softened. “You don’t even know where I live.”

I blinked, I hadn’t even thought about that.

“We could be from Connecticut,” she continued. A pause. “Or Rhode Island.”

I smiled. “Are you?”

She could have lived in California for all I cared. I still think I would have said yes at this point. Luci studied me as if trying to decide whether I actually cared where she lived, but then she let out a little laugh.

“No, we’re from New Hampshire.” She grinned. “Prescott Hollow, actually.”

Prescott Hollow neighbored Butcher’s Bay. It took fifteen minutes to cross the town line from the park.

“Wait,” Cassie interjected, clearly not caring about looking like she was eavesdropping anymore. “This whole time the coolest person on the internet has lived in the next town over from me?”

Luci chuckled. “Yeah, we try to keep that under wraps. It took one scary stalker situation for me to understand that no one on the internet needs to know where I live.”