Chapter 4
Do You Like Scary Movies?
“You’re taking me to the haunted apple orchard?”
“And corn maze,” Thrakh added. We’d rode in uncomfortable silence for most of the ride, and I wondered if the whole date would feel this awkward.
I almost turned the radio on at one point but managed to keep my hands in my lap.
Was it awkward? Or was it the fact I hadn’t been on an actual date with a new partner in…
years? How did people do this constantly?
I’d had my time on the apps, and all the swiping and matching and praying none of the people I’d met were serial killers or some type of weird hobbyist, like a doll eyelash collector?
I shivered at the thought, thankful I’d decided after a few weird dates that I would save my dating for real-world meet-cutes.
Which were apparently rare when you didn’t leave the house much.
Doll eyelash collector was a good description for the types of freaks I tended to attract.
I wanted a sex-crazed freakalicious kind of freak, my kind of freak.
Not that I’d yuck someone’s yum if they’re into the doll eyelashes.
It just wasn’t for me, you know? Like taxidermy?
Not into it. But good for you, hes, shes, and theys who like to taxiderm.
Is that a verb? I pulled my phone to check when my date reminded me he was in fact here.
“You’re thinking awful hard over there, peaches.”
I tried not to smile at the endearment. Normally a nickname from a dude was a red flag, mostly because for me they all centered around my orange-red hair and often felt pervy in a gross, unwanted way.
“You don’t collect doll eyelashes, do you?” I asked.
Thrakh huffed out a laugh and his joy was contagious. He was a different kind of beautiful when he laughed, especially since he was so severe and serious looking most of the time.
“Can’t say I’ve ever been asked that before, but nope. My only collections are steins and mitts.”
“Steins and mitts?”
“Yeah, like beer steins from Germany. I’ve always wanted to go, but I’m not fond of leaving Maplewicket unless absolutely necessary, so I haven’t. And mitts because, well, occupational hazard.” He shrugged.
I nodded.
A coach.
A fancy beer drinker.
There had to be more to the hot orc than baseball and beer.
Hopefully I’ll find out tonight.
We pulled into a long gravel driveway that was lined with cars with license plates from all over New England.
Fishing’s Farm was known for their year-round holiday activities, but mostly for their haunted corn maze and apple orchard in the fall.
I’d always visited my sister in October so we could see the farm, get some apple-flavored treats, and laugh at Declan jumping like a scared mouse all in one go.
I was one of those weirdos who loved to be scared.
I’d been the kid who asked the librarian for the scariest book they had.
I always bought opening night tickets for any gory slasher film that came to town.
And I always found at least one decent haunted house during October, and if it were an especially good year, I’d get to go to several different ones so I could soak up all the spookiness while it was available.
Thrakh found a parking space in the big gravel lot and gave me a stern look that told me if I tried to open my own door, he’d make me pay in some naughty way.
After closing his door, I rubbed my thighs together at the thought.
The apple scent swirling in the cab of his truck was thicker, more potent, and I wondered if he sprayed his cologne in the cab before coming to get me.
Regardless, his presence combined with the delicious smell had me frustrated and excited in a way I hadn’t felt before. Something about his huge frame and the way he carried himself with this confidence that didn’t seem too ass-holey did something to me.
He opened my door, offering me his hand. I ignored it, jumping down without the assistance, instantly regretting it as the height, even though I was a tall woman, was enough to cause a ricochet of pain up my calves.
“Stubborn girl,” Thrakh grumbled before locking his truck and wrapping an arm around my shoulders as if he always walked with me this closely.
“I didn’t say I’d make it easy for you.” I pointedly ignored the way my body wanted to curl into his big, warm embrace and stay forever.
“Peaches—” He’d stopped us in the middle of the pathway filled with other folks looking for a scare.
“Hey, coach!” someone interrupted, but Thrakh only gave a cursory wave and kept his focus on me.
“In case it wasn’t clear.” He put his index finger under my chin and lifted so I was staring directly into his brown eyes. Fuck did dudes actually do this in real life? “I didn’t ask for easy. I asked for a date. And by the end of it, I hope you’ll want to keep me around.”
He swiped his thumb across the upper part of my cheek, then leaned in and kissed my forehead before placing his own against mine so we were forced to share breath.
For several seconds, it felt like we were in our own bubble of solitude.
Despite the fact Thrakh was almost a stranger, and we were literally blocking traffic in the busiest season of the busiest attraction Maplewicket offered, I felt more comfortable and at ease in his presence than I had in anyone else’s… ever.
Except maybe Dolly, but even then, she was my sister, which was wildly different than what I was feeling now.
Thrakh eventually pulled away, leading us into the chaos of Maplewicket townies and visitors who had descended on the farm, but not before inhaling deep again. I was going to ask about his constant sniffing of me before the night was done.
What did I smell like to him?
Hopefully it wasn’t bad, and he was trying to think of a way to ask me what my deodorant habits were.
I attempted to subtly take a whiff of my pits and didn’t smell anything unusual.
Did I remember deodorant? I went through my routine, but my memory was never reliable in the self-care area.
I had an app that reminded me to do things, like brushing my teeth and hair.
Which was probably wild to neurotypicals who built habits, while my habit building center had been corrupted by the need to look up what the kink name for someone who collects eyelashes was.
Get a grip, Stevie. The dude clearly likes your smell, whatever it is.
I smiled at a few folks I recognized from my previous visits and more recently at the town meeting Dolly and Declan were supposed to attend where I repeatedly reassured everyone that I was capable of planning and hosting the Carew Haunt my sister was known for executing without flaw.
Briar and I had worked on a “killing-them-with-kindness” plan that I thought was going well, but judging by some of the sneers I still got from randos, it wasn’t going as well as I’d thought.
I wasn’t going to let them ruin my night.
I did however make a note of their appearance to tell Briar so we could figure out what their issue is.
To my surprise, Thrakh was more sociable and looked to be in his element as we got closer to the ticket booths.
He was a quiet sort, but very friendly. He made time for each person who stopped him, gripped me tighter in a claiming sort of way when introducing me as his date, and seemed to have personal anecdotes for everyone who stopped us.
“This was a mistake,” he huffed after the tenth time we’d stopped for a chat with one of his player’s families.
“Getting scared already?” I winked at him as he rolled his eyes. “We have at least another thirty-minute wait until we get into the maze, big guy.”
“Yeah. Scared that I’m going to have to talk to one more person when I only want to talk to you.”
I blushed.
“Okay, charmer,” I replied. “Why do you only want to talk to me? Especially with how you came at me yesterday? We have to unpack that whole situation before we get too much further.” I hadn’t planned to bring it up right away, but his words from last night wouldn’t go away anytime soon.
Little girl.
What changed his mind about me so suddenly?
“Why wouldn’t I want to talk to my beautiful date?
I apologized for last night, and I will continue to do so, trust and believe I’m nowhere near done with the apologizing I have planned.
It was a mistake, and despite me being an ass, I am desperate to get to know you, peaches.
That’s the whole point of a date, isn’t it? ”
He stopped to give me a cocky smile, the orange and purple lights decorating the cornstalks along the walkways flickered off the gleam of his tusks, making me focus on his mouth.
His large mouth.
That was extremely inviting.
“One minute you’re degrading me in front of my house, insulting my ability to take care of my niblings, and the next you’re marching into the café looking at me like I’m—”
I lost the words as I looked into his eyes, seeing—no, feeling—the look of pure hunger, desperate need, and intense possessiveness on his face.
“Like you’re…?”
“Like I’m…” I paused, shaking my head. “Like you’re going to eat me whole, bones and all.”
He didn’t answer, only smiled, showing off his tusks again as he did.
“Sounds like I might scare you.” I didn’t answer but shifted on my feet.
Thrakh didn’t scare me, but the intensity of my feelings so soon after meeting him did.
I’d been through enough therapy to know I latched onto relationships, romantic or platonic, quicker than was normal.
It’d led to a lot of heartbreak in my past, and while this felt different and more natural than the other times, I wasn’t so na?ve to believe this orc I’d known for a day was somehow meant for me.
“So, tell me, peaches, do you like to be scared?”
I swallowed my retort, instead looking up at him while smiling slowly at the question.
“You have no idea, coach.”
Then I walked away from the orc who made me blush, letting him stare his fill of my ass in the tight silver, sparkly bodycon dress I knew showed off all my assets. If he could make me a puddle of goo with one swipe of his thumb and a forehead kiss, I was going to have to up my game.