“You look like you’re thinking of something I might regret,” I said.
“Exactly.” He leaned closer, voice playful. “You sure you can handle that, Princess?”
Ethan was still watching the street where the kids had disappeared. “Let’s just keep walking,” he said quietly, and I fell into step beside him.
We walked like that, four adults in costumes that didn’t quite fit, down a street littered with candy wrappers and fallen leaves. I’d taken this job to rebuild my life, to play it safe for once. But tonight—somewhere between Miles’ teasing grin, Adrian’s careless charm, and Ethan’s impossible restraint—it didn’t feel like rebuilding anymore.
It felt like falling.
“Hey, we know this house,” Miles said, pointing to a looming black shadow on the street. He went up the path before any of us could respond, and there was nothing to do but follow.
We ducked through the black velvet curtains, and the haunted house transformed before us into a mix of cocktail party and creep-fest. Flickering candles lined the walls, cobwebs draped from chandeliers, and someone had placed a fog machine near the bar. Miles had immediately commandeered a flute of champagne, his cape fluttering behind him as if he was some dashing bad guy plotting mischief.
Adrian disappeared into the crowd almost instantly, waving a hand at me as he went to talk to someone dressed like a Victorian ghost. I trailed after Ethan, who looked like he was ready to battle the undead instead of sip a martini.
“Relax,” I said, linking an arm with his. “It’s Halloween, not a zombie apocalypse.”
He shot me a look that was equal parts stern and wary. “That’s exactly what a zombie would say before it tried to eat me.”
I laughed and pressed a kiss to the corner of his jaw. “I’ll protect you. Unless it’s a newt. Then you’re on your own.”
Ethan’s gaze lingered on me longer than necessary, a faint smile curling his lips. My heart stuttered, and I had to look away before I melted into the candlelight and his impossibly intense stare.
The first room we entered was a graveyard diorama. Fog swirled low across the floor, and tombstones leaned at precarious angles. A few college-aged ghosts floated around, holding wine glasses and laughing too loudly. Ethan stiffened.
“Oh no,” he muttered.
“What?”
He gestured vaguely toward a tombstone where a skeleton hand popped up from the ground. “Nothing. I just don’t like this shit.”
Miles peeked from behind a corner and snorted. “It’s a fake hand, genius. Why are you sweating?”
The skeleton hand jumped again—okay, this time it was definitely someone moving it—and Ethan yelped. I bit back a laugh and stood on my toes to give him a quick kiss as a distraction.
“There. Better?”
He swore under his breath, and I kissed him again, soft and teasing, just enough to calm him. “First the newt, now ghosts. What’s next?”
“I don’t even want to think about it,” he muttered, though he didn’t pull away.
Miles wandered over, leaning in close. “Seriously, Ethan, you’re a grown man. You can handle a haunted cocktail party.”
“We should dance,” I said, giving him a tug in the direction of the pumping bassline. “Ghosts can’t get you while you’re dancing. It’s a rule.”
Adrian blocked our path, the white paint on his face glowing ominously under the UV lights. “The first rule of a haunted house is to make it through all of it. Only survivors get to have fun.”
“Count me out,” Ethan said, already untangling himself from me.
I grabbed his hand. “No, we’re staying together. You’re not leaving me to fend off skeletons alone.”
He gave a resigned sigh, but didn’t pull away, and I caught the corner of his mouth twitching. Somewhere under all that intensity, he was amused.
We moved through the rooms, each one more theatrical than the last. Cobwebbed hallways, a room full of floating books and dim chandeliers, a witch’s library with glowing potions. I lost track of Adrian at some point, and Miles had disappeared to flirt with the woman in the masquerade mask. Ethan and I were left navigating the final room: a dark parlor filled with mirrors and smoke.
“Don’t let the mirrors fool you,” I whispered. “Some of these are angled to make you feel like the ghosts are right behind you.”
Ethan stiffened. “Yeah, I kinda figured that out.”
