Chapter 89
Aiden was afraid of the dark, yet he was still trying to protect her.
That thought alone made Valerie feel utterly useless.
She felt a pang of guilt and tugged gently on his collar. “Are you scared?”
Aiden didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
The actors in ghost costumes who had just been scared off by his glare were thinking, ‘Yeah, sure. Like hell we believe that. We’re the ones who should be afraid of you.‘
But Valerie believed him without question. She whispered, “Then… let me down. It’s probably gonna get even darker ahead. I promise I won’t get
scared.”
“You won’t?” Aiden asked, raising an eyebrow.
Of course she was scared–terrified, in fact.
But come on. He was scared too. Why should someone who’s also afraid have to protect someone else? That wasn’t fair.
Valerie shook her head. “Nope. Not scared.”
“Really?” His smile deepened as he gently let her down.
Once on her feet, Valerie cautiously squinted left and right. Surprisingly, there seemed to be fewer ghouls around than before. Relieved, she clutched Aiden’s arm and said, “Let’s-”
Before she could finish, he suddenly pulled her right back into his arms.
In the exact spot where she had just been standing, a wig–no, a whole bundle of tangled, human–like hair–dropped from the ceiling.
Valerie saw it and instantly froze, her scalp tingling, her face draining of color.
Aiden calmly kicked the hair aside and looked down at her with a teasing smile. “Still not scared?”
She paused a beat, then nearly burst into tears. “Can we please go now?”
Instead of replying, Aiden bent down and kissed the corner of her lips.
Valerie blinked, stunned.
Then he kissed her properly, softly murmuring, “Distraction helps. You won’t feel as scared.”
She stared at him, a little dazed.
That… kind of made sense? But something felt a little off…
Before she could figure out what exactly was wrong, he slid a hand around her waist, spun her to face forward, and pressed himself flush against her
back.
There was no space left between them.
It was still pitch black ahead. So dark it was almost suffocating.
But Aiden’s presence was overwhelming his warmth, the steady beat of his heart pulsing through her spine. Valerie’s own heart was thundering.
1/2
Chapter 89
The ghost actress in front of them froze
What… what are they doing?‘ she wondered. ‘Hello? There are ghosts here. Could you maybe give us a little respect?
Flustered and offended, she let out a loud, menacing scream.
Aiden shot her a cold glance and muttered, “Scram.”
The ghost glared at him, full of resentment, but wisely slinked away.
Valerie watched the ghost retreat with her tail between her legs and immediately felt a little safer.
By the time they exited the haunted house, Kelly and Angelo were already waiting outside, looking mildly annoyed
As soon as she saw them, Kelly blurted, “What took you guys so long? Okay, I get that it’s scary in there, but seriously? We thought we took forever, and you still came out after us!”
Valerie didn’t dare make eye contact with anyone. She brushed past them quickly, head down.
Aiden, on the other hand, looked as composed as ever. He gave Kelly a sideways glance and ordered, “Go get water.”
Kelly huffed dramatically, then grabbed Angelo’s arm. “We should’ve just left them. Hmph.”
Angelo smiled, trying to smooth things over. “It’s their first haunted house experience, right? A little extra time is totally normal.”
Up ahead, Valerie’s face was burning. ‘Never again,’ she
swore.
She grabbed a few bottles of water from a nearby vendor, picked out the coldest one she could find, tossed it at Aiden, then stormed off.
