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She’s given me this same warning every year since Ford first came to town. At this point, I should have it put on a shirt.
“You make my skin itch. Your new nickname is Itchybod Crane.”
“Did you seriously hide the M-80s from us? We crossed state lines to get those.”
“And wemeantto blow up that statue two years ago, you little bitch boy.”
With a shake of my head, I push up from the grass when Penny bends over next to Ford, yanking up the pantleg of her jeans.
“You should probably go over there and rescue him. Your sister still has the shiv hidden in her—”
“Already on it,” I cut my mom off, wondering if I’ll ever have a normal October in my lifetime.
Chapter 9
Ford
“Thanks for hammering my stones,buddy.”
“What the hell,Ford?”
Powering down the machine I’m using with the toe of my boot when I hear a shout over the noise, I turn and stare at the woman filled with hellfire and brimstone standing next to me with her hands on her hips. She went home to shower and change an hour ago, coming back here looking like a Halloween angel I want to defile a hundred different ways. She’s got on a short, black leather skirt, a headband containing two skulls with black heart eyes bobbing around above her head, and a long-sleeved crop top with two skeleton hands cupping her tits. The amount of time I’ll be imaging my hands where the skeleton’s are the rest of this evening is going to be staggering.
Acting like I’m surprised she’s pissed, I casually cross my arms in front of me and return Sidney’s stare.
“What’s the problem exactly?”
I knew she’d be ticked about what I’m doing, which is why I’m doing it. The last few days with her since the cemetery have been weird, and I don’t like it. She finally stopped trying to avoid me, but she’s been nervous around me. I like that even less.
Goddammit. I made her nervous with the shit I said.
It’s not like I can take it all back. It’s not like Iwantto take it back. I’ve just been walking around on eggshells with her, trying to see where her head is at with me. I know her well enough to realize she’s probably convinced herself I didn’t mean what I said, or it was all her imagination. And that just won’t do.
“The problem is that you can’t use a power washer for the pumpkins at the Gore House display.” Sidney scoffs, staring at the rows of pumpkins in the grass by my feet in the side yard of the property and glaring at the power washer I borrowed from Bill at the auto repair shop.
“They’re carved, aren’t they?” I shrug with a bored voice, just annoying her even more.
“They’re not carved. They’re mutilated!”
Christ, I want to kiss that frown right off her lips.
The low hum of need to taste her is always there, buzzing around at the back of my skull, but right now, with her standing here in front of me and itching for a fight, it’s like the wail of heavy metal screaming around in my head.
“Tell me this isn’t efficient. I’ve carved thirty in a half hour.” I smirk.
If we were in a cartoon, there would be flames shooting out of Sidney’s ears right now.
“It’s not a race!” she argues, her passion over pumpkins one of the many things I adore about this woman. “It’s like you’re new here and haven’t watched what happens every year on carving night. You’re supposed to take your time, come up with a brilliant carving idea, maybe use one of the hundred different stencils I set out on the table by the willow tree. Not drill scribbly holes into them with two thousand pounds of water pressure you can’t handle!”
“Baby, I can handle any hole I’m drilling; don’t you worry.”
That fucking hitch in her breath I live for fills my ears as she presses one of her hands to her throat, her eyes darting around nervously before coming back to me.
“All right, that’s enough,” she mutters. “What has gottenintoyou this year?” She’s licking her lips and suddenly staring at me like that drilling comment just put a whole bunch of thoughts into her head she doesn’t mind, making my cock feel like a fist just clamped around it and started stroking.
Taking a step closer to her until we’re toe-to-toe, for the first time in the last few days, she doesn’t move away from me. Ofcourseright when she finally brings up the elephant in the room, it has to be when we’re surrounded by the entire goddamn town as they start to file into the yard to kick off the night of carving. I certainly wouldn’t mind making myself clear right here in front of them, but I’m sure she would.
“You really want to talk about this right now?”
