Page 41 of Fright Night
“I planned on wearing it again, butsomeonecut the ties that keep the top together.”
His grin expands. “That’s right. ’Cause as much as I love the costume, I love you naked more.”
My eyes dart to the approaching family and back, lowering my voice. “Look around, idiot. Don’t say things like that.”
“Why not?” Something dark flickers in his eyes and he leans off one elbow to bring his face closer. “It’s the truth. Why shouldn’t everyone in this town know you’re mine? That I literally only came back to this godforsaken place foryou.”
Unfortunately the chorus of three children shouting, “Trick or treat!” interrupts us, and I jerk away so quickly, my head goes light. The two younger boys turn back to their parents, but the girl lingers, darting her gaze between Knox and me.
“Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“No!” I practically shout while Knox drawls in that calm tone of his, “Yes.”
The mom, halfway down the pathway, chuckles and wiggles her hand for her daughter. “Seems you two have some things to figure out. Come along, we have more houses to get to.”
Before flouncing away, the girl looks me straight in the eye and says, “You should. He seems nice.”
Knox isn’tnice. He’s a tormentor. This kid has a fucked-up way of regarding others. Hopefully, her skill improves or life will be hell for her.
“Don’t li’l kids always speak the truth or something? You heard her.” Knox gets into my space again, this time slipping his hand inside the candy bowl and retrieving a cherry lollipop, despite my hissed complaint.
As he’s pulling away, candy in his grip, I notice what I embarrassingly didn’t when he sat down. The knuckles of his right hand are cut up, scabbing with dried blood. I nearly drop the bowl in my abrupt jerk to rest it to the side and grab his hand for closer inspection.
“What happened to you?”
Instead of answering, he reaches into the pocket of his hoodie and brings out a crushed piece of metal. It takes a moment to decipher it’s a smashed cell phone.
“Julian won’t bother you again. If you’re even a passing thought in that coward’s head, he’s a dead man walking—a fact I wasveryclear on. The picture is gone. Cody took a bat to his laptop until the hard drive was destroyed in case there was a backup of it. You should have gotten an email with a thirty-thousand-dollar deposit; forced him into some deeper debt for that, nothing less than he deserved. He claims he didn’t share the picture with his buddies and given how broken he was at that point, I’m inclined to believe him.”
“You…”
I force myself to look at his face but quickly am drawn back to his hand. His hand which I bring onto my lap, stroking over the cuts like I used to in the past when he’d get into fights with his dad.
“I’m the only one allowed to frighten you, Trickster,” he says with a wave of his hand, watching as a group of teens bypass the house—thankfully, since I don’t know if I can be a cheery neighbour until this conversation finishes.
“You shouldn’t have. If he presses charges, you have a record, Knox. They’d nail you harder this time and I?—”
Knox slides off the step and crouches by my feet, his position primal in a way that isn’t appropriate for the surroundings. But I don’t have it in me to chide him.
“Finish what you were going to say.” His head tips as it often does when he’s in his mask, a slight tick that’d be supernatural worthy if such things existed.
The admittance slips out in nothing louder than a whisper, tainted with the chance of everything Knox and I could be if I let us. “I don’t want you to get in trouble, especially for me. Especially over this.”
“This?”he growls, reaching for the candy bowl he rests to the side. “Oakley,this—you—is all that matters. If the law wants to get me in shit and send me away for good this time, then I don’t give a fuck. At least that asshole will leave you alone. Come on.”
Hand around my wrist, he hauls me to my feet and yanks me for the door.
“But trick-or-treating…”
“Fuck them.”
Knox throws open the front door, pulls me inside, and shuts the door at my back before slamming me up against it. His hand finds my throat and it’s with a gentle pressure he tips my face up to his.
His lips brush mine and he whispers, “You’re the only one who’s ever truly cared, Oakley. Now let me show you how much I care for you.”
NINETEEN
KNOX
