Page 78 of A Haunting at Keystone Manor

“Oh, I am so coming with. I need to watch this; I just wish I had popcorn,” I say and gleefully rub my hands together. Seth just rolls his eyes. We make our way up the creaky staircase and head down the corridor to Sasha’s room. We continue to head down the corridor. After what seems like an eternity, we continue to continue to head down the corridor. I throw my hands up in frustration.

“Who builds a house this big! Seriously! We’ve been walking all day, I should have called a fucking Uber. I’m tired Seth, can you carry me the rest of the way?” I ask dramatically.

“Shut up, no. We’re almost there,” he laughs.

“Finally,” I heave.

We stand in front of Sasha’s door and Seth turns to me. “Does my hair look okay?”

I give him a quick once over. “Seth, you’re hot as hell. Sasha won’t be able to resist your cute goth vibes. I’d date you.”

“You’re dating Jake,” he retorts.

“Exactly, so stop trying to flirt with me and get your man!” I knock loudly on Sasha’s door, since I know Seth is too shy to do it.

“Oh my god,” Seth whispers and looks around like he’s wondering if he has time to disappear before Sasha opens the door. He’s running his hand through his hair again when the door opens.

Sasha is there standing in the doorway, wearing nothing but grey sweatpants that are hanging low on his hips. Seth and I both stare at the lean muscle of his torso, and the tattoos scattered across his chest and shoulders. I knew he had the arm tattoos, but I didn’t realize the rest of his body was such a work of art.

“You’re a lucky son of a bitch, Seth,” I say under my breath. He jabs an elbow into my side.

“Ow, Seth!” I yell dramatically. “I thought you were here to ask Sasha on a date!”

Seth blushes bright red, and a look of surprise crosses over Sasha’s face. He softens a little bit, and I’m confused because I’ve never seen Sasha look like that.

“You want to go on date. With me?” he asks Seth.

“Uh, yeah.” He clears his throat. “I thought we really hit it off before. When we… anyway, I was gonna go see that new horror movie, the one with the, um, saws… and was wondering if you wanted to go with me?” I smile as Seth manages to choke out the last bit of his invitation. I pat his back in support.

Sasha looks Seth up and down as he considers. “You look very cute today. What time does this date begin?”

Cheeks blazing, Seth says, “Um, the movie starts at eight thirty, so I thought I’d pick you up around seven thirty so we have time to get there and maybe grab a snack before the movie starts.”

Sasha full on smiles at that, the first smile I have ever seen from him. It makes him look younger. “Okay, I accept. I pick you up at seven thirty.” He gives Seth one more look. “Wear exactly this.” Seth nods dumbly as Sasha closes the door.

“You did it!” I yell and jump up to give him a hug. He hugs me back with a laugh.

“Thanks, bro,” he says and sets me back on the ground.

“I just wish you’d planned for the date to be here. How am I supposed to spy on you if you’re at the movies?”

“You’re not,” Seth says with a playful punch to my arm.

“Boo,” I whine.

***

“Seth has a date tonight. With Sasha,” I gossip to Brandon. He looks up from his computer in surprise. Kayla is doing a video call with her lawyer, so Brandon is back at the reception desk. I know he loves it. I secretly hope Kayla gets locked back up soon.

“Wow, that’s awesome! Good for him. I’m a little surprised Sasha agreed to it though. He seems a little…intense.”

I study him for a minute, trying to determine his true feelings about this. “So, you’re not like, jealous or anything? Of Sasha?”

“Huh?” he asks in confusion. “Why would I be jealous? Seth’s his own man. If he wants to court Sasha, he has my blessing.”

“Hmm. I just thought that maybe you might be interested?” I say and scratch my head. I really thought they had a thing going on.

“Nah, I’m straight. But I love Seth like a brother.”