He brushes a stray hair from my face and captures my lips with a kiss. “Let’s get through this fast so I can get back inside you.”
I don’t move—I don’t want to do anything but stay here with Hayes.
“Come on, gorgeous. It’ll only be an hour or two, then the rest of the night is all ours. I promise.”
I reluctantly nod. I’m breathless and aching for more. I almost want to cry.
I watch him dress quickly, my stomach twisting into tight little knots. Every fiber of my being screams in resistance, but my voice is silent, trapped somewhere in my throat. My hands tremble, and I clench my fists to keep them steady. I came to Hayes’s room to get out of my head, to feel good, and now I’m frustrated and even more angsty.
“Hey,” he says, cupping my face in his hands. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah…I’m just in a…Hayes haze,” I say, forcing a smile.
He laughs and kisses my forehead. “You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” He swoops down and picks up my pants and hands them to me. “I’m sorry, Tori. I honestly didn’t think I could stay hard with Tessa’s voice screaming at us.” He looks at me for a bit, eyes fixed on my breasts as I move. “Maybe we can sneak out of the escape room, and you can ride me on the Ferris wheel.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I say, mustering another smile. I dress quickly, trying to shake the anxious feeling creeping back over my skin.“How late are we?” I pat my back pockets down and realize I don’t have my phone. “Damn it, I left my phone in my room, didn’t I?”
Hayes glances at me. “I don’t know, sorry, all I saw were tits when you came in.”
He opens the door, and Tessa is pacing the hallway, her fingers at her lips, biting at her nails. When she sees us, her tense posture softens slightly.
I hold up my hands. “Sorry,” I say, feeling a pang of sharp guilt. “I just have to run and grab my phone and we can go. How late are we?”
“It’s 11:58,” she says, her voice wavering.
I brush past her, confused; that’s not late at all. “Okay,” I sigh, “give me two seconds and I’ll be right out.” I use the keycard to unlock my room door. I shouldn’t even have my own room, should I? I should just stay with Hayes. I’ll talk with him about that while we walk to the park.Now, where did I leave my phone?
Right on the counter in the bathroom next to all my wet clothes and the?—
But that’s not where my phone is right now. No, instead, it’s sitting on top of a neatly folded stack of all my clothes. Every piece is perfectly arranged, meticulously folded—and bone-dry.
Chapter
Thirteen
The walk to the park is cold, the air biting through my sweatshirt, each step a crunch of dry, dead leaves. An enormous hunter’s moon hangs in the sky, big and bright like a floating orb, casting eerie shadows that stretch and twist across the ground. Hayes holds my hand. It’s the only warmth I feel.
"This is going to be so much fun," Tessa says, her voice trembling with excitement. Her eyes dart around, reflecting the moonlight.
I nod, trying to ignore the knot twisting tighter in my stomach. Some deep, instinctual part of me is screaming to turn back, to leave, never come back here, but I push out a smile and keep walking. Behind us, Griffin yawns loudly, mumbling something about jump scares.
“Jump scares?” Marissa’s tone is high-pitched, grating. “I thought this was just an escape room, you know, where we solve riddles and find our way out.” Her eyes widen, and she clutches her sweatshirt tighter around her neck.
“It’s like none of you read any of the emails I sent,” Tessa sighs, crossing her arms as she picks up her pace.
“Which one was it in, the first or the fifty-sixth?” Jonathan says, laughing.
“I think it was the seventeenth,” Griffin chimes in with a chuckle. “You know, Tess, I’d pay more attention to your emails if they included some nudes.”
“Ugh, just shut up, Griffin,” Tessa snaps back.
I glance around at my friends and realize we’ve probably outgrown these trips and these friendships. But no one wants to be the first to admit it. We’re all stuck in old habits, clinging to childish rituals. It’s starting to feel toxic.
Lyle stands at the ticket booth. Tessa is the first to see him and excitedly kicks up her feet. “Hi, Lyle!” she calls out, waving her hand in the air.
“My God, she really doesn’t get out much, does she?” Marissa mutters under her breath. Jonathan mumbles something back, but I’m too far away to hear.
Lyle approaches us slowly, deliberately, a disturbing smile playing on his lips. Creepy-like. His uniform is disheveled, like he dressed in a rush, his zipper still undone. He greets everyone in a low whispery voice, rambles on about something, some rules to follow. My head feels foggy, his words distant. He keeps glancing at me, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. It’s disconcerting. Then he’s saying something else and holding out a clear plastic bag toward me.
