Page 89 of The King of Halloween
“That’s…very sweet, but why are you telling me?” They all knew about their dad’s infatuation with blueberries. His teeth were always a slight shade of purple.
“I thought you found your blueberry pie, but it seems like something’s wrong.”
Oh, fuck him, no.Adam was not having the hookup discussion with his mother. He would die happy if she believed he was a virgin, as there would never be any evidence to the contrary waddling around. “Ma, it’s…it’s fine. Okay. Love? We’ve only known each other for…”
Adam winced, realizing he just walked into her carefully laid trap. “Well played, mom.” She was the sweet, kindly old lady who gave out butterscotch discs—but could also tear a man to pieces and rebuild him in a single sentence. It was terrifying and awesome to watch.
“What happened?” She passed her handbag to her other side as if she’d suddenly need to reach for her bag of tissues.
“Nothing happened. Well, okay, a lot of…things happened. But it’s only been three dates. We’re keeping things casual. Easy.”
“Is that what you want?”
“What I want? What I want is…”
Adam’s entire body gave out with that confession. He collapsed onto a bench, his mother being the one to help him. She perched beside him, her purse to the side and at the ready.
Staring at his toes wedged inside of shoes that always pinched, Adam kept waiting for logic to take control. It didn’t matter what his heart wanted; his brain knew the answer. Sex without feelings—that was supposed to be easy. Baked into the Y chromosome. Men didn’t care, men took. Men didn’t cuddle, men fucked. Men didn’t love, men…
“I like him, Mom. Enough to get a slice of blueberry pie, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t think he wants to walk me down the street.” Damn it, why was he tearing up? This was stupid. They weren’t in love. Most of the time that they’d known each other was spent in hate instead of like. “Maybe it’d be best if I just let him go. Isn’t that what they say to do with love? Let it go and, if it’s worth having, it’ll come back?”
“That is a load of horse hockey, excuse my French!”
“Mom!” Adam gasped at her nearly cursing.
“Love isn’t some paper butterfly you toss to the wind. It’s got battle scars, it’s withstood hurricanes. It’s the best and most terrifying thing in the world and worth fighting for every damn day.”
“He told me…”
“What he wants.” She rapped her knuckles on the bench between them like shots fired through love’s bullet-proof chest. “But you have to ask yourself, what does he need?”
“I don’t know.” He’d seemed so dead set on running the hotel on his own and for good reason. But even on the outside, Adam could see it was wearing on him. If he’d just accept a little help from a few hands, then…
“Yes, you do.”
Why didn’t I think of that?Adam shot up from the bench. He nearly took off down the street before turning back to his mom. “Are you okay here?”
“Of course, love. I’ve got these.” She pulled out her six-inch knitting needles that could pierce a man’s heart. “Where are you going?”
“To get a shit ton of blueberry pies!”
?CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
?
WITH HALLOWEEN LOOMING, Raj lost all track of time. Not just the passage but its mere existence. He could be drinking coffee, watching the sunrise—then blink—and find himself passing out complimentary nightcaps to the guests. Instead of taking a power nap or cramming in three days’ worth of food, he stood in the ballroom pretending to care.
“No, we need to have the banquet table here. If you put it too close to the door, people will nick everything and run. Too deep in and we’ll have the dreadful beef liver fiasco all over again.”
A question hung on Raj’s tongue, something to do with spleens? No, another organ. Eh, it would pass, just like everything else in this world.
“Mr. Choudhary? Hello!”
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