Page 60 of Flirt
Great.
“Okay,” his mother answered easily. “Breakfast, then. I assume you’ll have to come up for air at some point.”
“Mom! Jesus Christ.” Taking Asher’s hand, he backed away, afraid that if he turned to run, she might pounce on him. “Goodbye, Mother.”
“Bye, baby! Have fun! Do you need condoms?” She opened her purse and began to dig around in the endless depths. “I think I have some in here somewhere.”
With a low groan, Cameron turned to hand his ticket to the attendant, hoping that if he ignored her, she’d give up and go away. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered to Asher. “I completely understand if you want to leave.”
Dipping his head, Asher chuckled against his lips. “I like her.”
Of course, he did. Asher seemed to love anything that made Cameron squirm and blush. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He was never going to live this down.
~
Following Cameron into thehaunted house, Asher couldn’t stop laughing. Sarah Stone was unlike any parental figure he’d ever met, and he could now say for certain that Natalie had come by her outspokenness honestly.
Realistically, it was way too early in their relationship to be meeting Cameron’s parents. Then again, it had probably been too early to drop the whole ex-prostitute thing into the mix as well. Asher didn’t have much experience with relationships, but they didn’t seem to be following any set guidelines. In a strange way, he found that comforting. He’d never been one to conform, so making up their own rules as they went suited him just fine.
He had expected to panic when Sarah had arrived. At least when he’d met Natalie, he’d been prepared. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he knew Cameron had parents. He’d even spoken about them once or twice. When he’d introduced Sarah as his mother, he may as wellhave said she was his alien overlord, because that would have registered on about the same level.
Asher had been grateful for Cameron’s distraction, because for a brief moment, he’d been utterly paralyzed. Then, she’d pulled him into the warmest, tightest embrace, a real mom-hug, like the ones he’d read about in books and seen on family sitcoms. It didn’t matter to her if he liked men. She didn’t care how much money he made, or how well his latest book had been received by critics. As long as he made Cameron happy, that was good enough for her.
From that moment on, Asher had been completely besotted.
Cameron’s hand tightened around his own, pulling him out of his reverie, and he grinned when Cameron moved closer to his side. “I’ll protect you,” he promised. “Stick with me, kid.”
In response, Cameron muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like “asshole,” but he didn’t move away.
Asher had expected black lights that made everything glow neon, fake blood, and maybe a few cobwebs for effect. He even guessed people in cheap costumes would jump out at him to try to startle him. What he found himself looking at was nothing like that.
Flickering torches lit a path through the main lobby of the courthouse to a long corridor drenched in blackness.Someone pressed against his back—Natalie he assumed, judging by the size of the person. Cameron squeezed his hand even harder. A little farther back, someone cursed.
Nothing had even happened yet, but Asher’s heart pounded inside his chest, and his throat grew tight, making it difficult to swallow. Nothing like he expected, and he had to admit, he was impressed.
The hallway opened into a spacious, circular room, this one filled with the black lights he’d anticipated. Instead of fake blood or faker zombies, every inch of the far wall had been covered in glow-in-the-dark hockey masks, each one gleaming a stark, pale green against the black background.
“Okay,” he muttered. It was weird, he’d give them that, but not what he’d call terrifying.
Following the markers toward a door at the back of the room, he kept waiting for something to happen, and the longer it didn’t, the more he began to sweat. He’d lost track of how long they’d been inside the courthouse, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute, possibly two. It felt like an eternity.
Someone behind him screamed.
Before he could turn to see who or why, one of the masks on the wall moved, and a person dressed in solid black, apart from the mask, reached out to touch his arm. Asher didn’t scream, but he nearly lost his lunch.
“Fuck!” Cameron shouted, reeling backwards. “Fuck, fuck, shit, fuck.”
His reaction was enough to loosen the knot in Asher’s stomach and force a laugh up through his lips. Next year, he’d bring Luke. His best friend would love this.
Next year?
Just like meeting Cameron’s mother, the idea that he was thinking that far into the future should have freak him out, but it didn’t. Watching Cameron move ahead of him through the door and into the next room, he knew he’d follow anywhere the man wanted to lead him, for however long he was willing to navigate.
Yeah, next year, he’d invite Luke.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
