“Perhaps.” Arze grinned wide, his cute face twisting into an even cuter display that Ireallywanted to decorate with kisses. “Like I said, I just want to get everything in order before I tell you.”
“Well, I look forward to hearing about it then.”
“Good.” Arze leaned forward, lowering his voice to a whisper, just in case the nearby tythwig were close enough to listen. “And if you’re agood boyand wait, I’ll reward you for it.”
My dick stirred in my jeans, my cheeks flaring in sudden arousal. I gave him a smirk and a slanted smile. “Yes, sir.”
Laughter blurred between us, and Chase came walking up, so we silenced anymore talk about what surprise could be in store for me. I was determined to enjoy my last official day of work before the festival. And knowing that I had a surprise from Arze to look forward to made the reality that I was leaving Phoebe a little more bearable.
Chapter 29
Dusk transitioned in the sky,oranges turning to purples, purples turning to dark blues as Halloween night came to fruition. Work the night before had gone by without a weird goodbye with all my co-workers because we had plans after the haunts to meet up at the festival. While the haunts didn’t end until their normal time around nine, the festival itself started around six. Myers and I wanted to experience every single second that the festival had to offer.
I thought I’d been prepared for what Hell-O-Ween had to offer, especially considering I had worked adjacent to the setup of the event itself, but I was sorely mistaken.
Jane’s land was massive enough to house most of the festival along with the haunted house and maze. Police littered the streets, the main street that led to her house having been blocked off to accommodate the various vendors and such, creating a walkway for all those in attendance. It worked out that the lot across from Jane was just a vacant field that had yet to be purchased. Jane herself was thinking about purchasing the land if the town didn’t so that they’d never have to worry about whether they would have enough space for Hell-O-Ween for the foreseeable future.
There were booths lining each side of the street as well as on the field, creating a makeshift walkway between them. The amount of things to do and see and purchase were overwhelming. There was everything you could imagine. Some booths were filled with homemade halloween confections, sinister themed cocktails, and other food that screamed the holiday for all it was worth. Others were selling spooky decor, candles with scents like ‘vivid nightmare’ or ‘paralysis demon’, and even a booth that was selling DVDs of horror classics, both vintage and modern, for a discounted price.
Booths with candy, booths with apparel, journals, literally anything and everything. It was overwhelming in a way that made my senses happy to be assaulted.
Aside from the haunted house and haunted maze, the festival had other littles games and things to participate in. There was a costume contest over by the massive erected dance floor that was in the center of the field, bobbing for ‘poisoned’ apples (which were just covered in candy coating), and even horror movie trivia. Myers had brought along Larsky, so the three of us had been able to hang out and have some fun together. I’d even been able to walk with them through both the haunted maze and the haunted house, saying hello to Arze in the house and smiling wide when he said he’d join up with us once his shift at the haunted house was over.
It was nice to enjoy the haunts as a guest instead of an employee, but I still felt guilty that I’d left. I loved those idiots, and I wanted to be right alongside them. My heart hurt at the thought of leaving Phoebe at this point. It was a painful reminder that I wasn’t going to see most of these people ever again.
Including Arze.
I couldn’t stomach that, not with my third mixed drink, ironically named ‘dearly departed’, sloshing around and makingme feel worse than I already did. I needed to focus on the night at hand, not the fact that tomorrow was the day I was exiting Phoebe for good.
The sound of Taylor Swift’sLook What You Made Me Dostarted playing on the dance floor as we happened by it, making me turn to my sister, as it was one of our favorite Taylor songs. Myers was smiling underneath the arm Larsky had draped over her shoulders, and I grinned at the pair. She nodded back at me. This festival was exactly what we’d been hoping it would be.
She unfurled from her favorite stellymn’s arm and grabbed my hand, dragging me to the dance floor and beckoning me to dance. I laughed, but joined in pretty easily. Larsky barked about being left out before he chuckled and started dancing along with us, running a hand through his spiked navy hair.
Dancing to Taylor Swift was a nice reprieve from my thoughts, the song progressing until Myers was doing the choreography that matched the music video in the final chorus. The only thing that could have made the moment better was having Arze grinding up against me.
Night faded around us, and I’d lost track of time until I felt a confident squeeze on my shoulder. I turned to see Arze’s smiling face and his wild orange eyes that drove me insane with lust. I wanted nothing more than to throw my arms around him and kiss him and force everything I’d buried in my heart about where things with us could go if I was staying, but I couldn’t for many reasons. Tythwig could be listening, I needed to wait for Arze’s surprise, and mostly importantly, Iwasn’tstaying.
“How was work?” I asked as I left Myers and Larsky on the dance floor, walking with Arze away from the dancing so we could converse without the new song interrupting.
“Good, but not the same without you, of course.”
Blush warmed my cheeks, and I smiled. “I wish I could have been there.”
Arze nodded. “The others were wanting to meet up with us at the fireworks, if you want to head over? Myers and her companion are more than welcomed to join us.” He gestured with the tilt of us head behind me, where I turned to see that Myers was holding Larsky’s hand as they approached.
Myers gave Arze a nod that paired well with her familiar smile. “Nice to see you again, Arze.”
“You as well, Myers.”
Larsky threw on his cute and sloppy grin, holding out his hand in front of himself, hovering toward Arze. “Hey man, nice to meet you. I’m Larsky.”
Grabbing a hold of Larsky’s red hand, Arze shook it with his purple one. “Hi Larsky, I’m Arze. I’ve actually seen you working at the movie theater, it’s nice to officially meet you.”
“Thanks, man.” Larsky’s smile was as wide and genuine as Arze’s, and I caught a glimpse from my sister that told me she loved the thought of our guys getting along.
If they were our guys, that is. God, why was it that anything and everything reminded me that we were leaving tomorrow?
“The others from the haunts wanted to meet up with the fireworks,” I said, interjecting in an attempt to forget that more thoughts of our departure were just skimming underneath the surface. “You two want to join us and you can meet everyone?”
