Page 35 of Wicked Temptations
“Thanks for actually showing up.” She grinned, leaning back in her seat. “Thought you were going to bail when you stood there looking like a drowned rat.”
Two performers from the Asylum zone appeared beside the table, their necks still stained from the fake blood. I was glad I didn’t have to worry about that stuff.
“Ash! You made it!”
“Finally getting to know the real crew.”
They clapped my shoulder and introduced themselves properly. Kent. Sienna. Names I’d only half heard shouted over screaming guests before tonight.
Riley waited until they drifted toward the bar.
She leaned back, surveying the group. “You settling in okay? I know the crew can be intense.”
That was the understatement of the fucking century.
Getting accepted onto this team had been harder than any of the actual physical work. They were all tough performers, stage fighters, and martial artists who’d trained together and developed routines over multiple seasons. Most of them worked together throughout the year as well. Just because the ScreamScene died at Ridgeway didn’t mean the performers faded away. They did gig work for bands and movies, taught classes and competed in competitions. They had inside jokes and shared history that I couldn’t crack no matter how well I performed.
And they were all loyal to Jude. He’d taken them from the sidelines, nameless and faceless in twisted carnival outfits, and right into the face of the public. He might not have been the creative genius behind the thirst trap social media posts, but he was the reason peoplewantedto look.
“It’s been good,” I lied, taking another drink.
Riley gave me a look that said she wasn’t buying it but wasn’t going to push. “Well, you’ve been doing great. And that shoot today? Caught the end of it. Those shots will be killer.”
I thought about Jude’s throat under my palm, the way his pulse had jumped when my thumb brushed his lip. “Yeah. Mia has a real eye for it.”
A guy I recognized from the scare maze, tall with a nose ring, leaned across the table. “Ash, right? You’re the one who keeps making Jude lose his mind on stage.”
Several people laughed. My stomach tightened. “I stick to choreography.”
“Sure you do.” He grinned, but there was no malice in it. “It’s fun to watch. Jude needs someone to shake things up. He gets too comfortable. King of Halloween that he is.”
That was news to me. Everything about Jude screamed controlled and deliberate, like he’d planned every move three steps ahead.
Riley signaled for another round. “Ash is fitting in fine. Anyone giving him shit can answer to me.”
The casual declaration surprised me. Riley and I hadn’t worked together much, but apparently, she’d decided I was worth keeping around.
Conversation flowed around me after that. Shop talk, mostly—who’d gotten the best reactions tonight before the storm hit, speculation about whether management would extend the season since it was so popular this year.
I nursed my whiskey and tried to look engaged while my eyes kept drifting toward the door.
He’s not coming.Maybe Jude had changed his mind. Gone home instead. The smart choice, really. I couldn’t even blame him for it. Not when my intentions were so clearly manipulative.
Except then the door opened, letting a gust of wind into the pub, and Jude walked in.
I forced myself to look away so he wouldn’t catch me gawking.
I took a drink and counted to five before letting my gaze slide back.
He’d changed into dark jeans and a fitted black shirt that clung to his lean frame. Either he’d washed the gel out of his hair, or getting caught in the rain had done the trick, because it curled across his forehead in that messy way that made him look younger and less aggressive.
I watched Jude scan the bar until he found our group, and maybe I was hoping for something not there, but I was sure his expression shifted when he saw me. Not quite a smile but close to it.
The crew erupted with greetings as he approached. Jonas, the nose ring guy, shoved over to make room. Jude slid into the space, accepted the beer Riley handed him, and the entire dynamic of the table changed.
Fuck.I’d known Jude was good with people on stage, but this was something else. Watching him with his crew, seeing how they naturally gravitated toward him, was like witnessing a wartime commander bond with his troops.
Jude launched into a story about a kid who’d tried to climb the scaffolding last week.
