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“Making sure you’re paying attention. I’m not fucking around anymore.”
There it is. The same thing I saw and heard yesterday when I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. A glazed-over look in her eyes as she stares at me and a quick intake of breath, like she’s not sure if she wants me to shut up or keep going.
I can deal with confusion. It’s much better than repulsion. And right now, Sidney looks anything but repulsed the longer I can’t take my eyes off her mouth, wanting to taste her so badly I can’t think straight… wanting to hear that little hitch in her breath again so much I don’t even care about taking it slow.
“Looks like you won’t be able to avoid me anymore.” A guilty blush colors her cheeks even as her eyes narrow when I pop open the lid to the Tupperware container in my lap. “You know, since I plan on taking this volunteer jobveryseriously.”
“Don’t you dare,” Sidney whispers with wide eyes when I grab an apple fritter from the container and bring it up to my mouth.
“Oh, I dare.”
I take a huge bite, and she makes that little gasping sound again that has my cock swelling in my jeans, even when she follows it up with a string of curses and a threat to my life.
Chapter 8
Sidney
“Don’t make bad choices.”
“Did you hearsomeone bought the Gore House?”
My mom pauses from unpacking the cooler when Aunt Dawn asks her question, and everyone turns and looks at me.
“I saw construction workers there last night.” I shrug, trying not to be sadder than I already am today.
“Awe, that sucks, Sid. I really thought someday we’d be sitting on that front porch, making fun of all the tourists who walk by,” Penny consoles me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze.
“It’s fine. It’s not like I ever would have been able to afford it anyway. It was just a silly dream.”
The Gore House has been the star of some of the most popular ghost stories told around Harvest Grove through the years. Not to mention it was the main backdrop for a pivotal scene inThe Babysitter’s Last Halloween. The four thousand square-foot Victorian monstrosity with a pitched roof, turrets, and wraparound front porch sits at the end of the cul-de-sac on Cinnamon Way. Aside from the fact that the house is located on the best-named street in the entire world, it’s the coolest, creepiest place I’ve ever seen. I’ve dreamed of living there ever since I was a little girl, and the kids in town would dare each other to go up on the front porch and knock on the door. I was always the bravest one out of all my friends, because I never thought the house was scary. I just thought it was sad it had been empty and unloved for so long.
Even though the house itself hasn’t been lived in or maintained for at least thirty years, the four-acre plot of land it sits on is always kept tidy. The Gore House property is where the yearly pumpkin carving event is held, and after, it becomes one of the main tourist attractions here. The town of Harvest Grove comes together for an evening of carving two hundred pumpkins that are then lit up and put on display, taking up the entire front lawn of the home and lining the entire railing of the wraparound porch. It is the most amazing thing to see every year when you walk by after dark, and I am insanely jealous of whoever gets to live in that house now. Hopefully, the new owner will be cool about still allowing the town to use the property during the month of October.
The only thing that makes me happy right now is knowing Ford has to organize the event this year, and he is going to absolutely hate it.
“Why ishehere? This is bullshit.”
My heart starts racing when I look up from where I’m sitting cross-legged in the grass, picking apart an orange leaf that fluttered to the ground, to see Ford getting out of his SUV he parked behind our line of cars at the edge of the lawn. I watch him lean inside to grab a few items he brought with him off the front seat before he slams the door closed and walks this way, a lump forming in my throat when our eyes meet.
“He’s like a fucking rash we can’t get rid of,” Ginger complains when Penny gets up from the grass next to me to join her under the canopy.
“Is he just going to stand here with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face like he has been for the last three days?” my mom inquires.
It’s not like this year is any different than previous years with Ford being my shadow everywhere I go. The fact that I’m trying to avoid him and get my head clear enough to think straight, and he feels like he has to stick closer to me than normal because of this stupid volunteer job, is just ridiculous.
He showed up at the park while we were busy putting together treat bags to pass out at the Halloween parade.
He walked along with the crowd for all five movie tours I offered to lead through town when Noah wasn’t feeling well.
He sat at the bar staring at me during my shifts when he wasn’t on the schedule to work.
He flopped down right next to me in the booth at the diner when Aunt Dawn and I were having dinner.
Andhe barged right into my townhouse last night, making himself at home on my recliner, while Callie and I watched the newest episode ofHalloween Warson the Food Network.
The same as every other year, except back then, I invited him along, and we actually made plans to do these things together. The more I try to avoid him, the harder he makes it for me to do so.
“He comes with us every year,” I remind Penny with a bored sigh, even though there’s a fluttery feeling in my stomach watching him walk toward us through the grass, his boots crunching through fallen leaves as he moves.
