Something Borrowed, Something Boo

by Shane Morton

  “I think that can be arranged,” he grinned at me.

  I pulled the car into a parking space and turned off the engine. “Let’s do this.” He opened his door and got out. When he shut it, he leaned against it, waiting for me. I walked around and stood in front of him.

  “We’re gonna get a lot of shit, you know,” he warned me. I knew it was true. Evan could be a bit of a dick, and I wasn’t sure how he would feel about Danny and me together. I was convinced that Everett wouldn’t like it. I got the feeling he preferred Danny right where he was.

  “Do you care?” I tugged on his blue polo pulling him towards me. “I don’t.”

  “You don’t have to live here,” he groaned. “But, the hell with it, Hollywood. We have to take our chances when we get them, don’t we?”

  I leaned our foreheads together and could feel his sweet hot breath against my face. We stood there for a second, and I reached up and ran my fingers gently through his hair above his right ear until my hand found itself placed behind his neck. I could feel my heart beating loudly. This was it, I knew it.

  “Danny!” a girl’s voice from behind us screamed shrilly. He pulled away. Fuck!

  “Hey Crystal,” he said sheepishly. I could tell he was embarrassed and didn’t know what to say.

  “Well…well…well… Hi, you two…” Her voice dripped with innuendo.

  “Hello, Crystal,” I said, turning around, I tried to stop the daggers from jumping out of my eyes at her. It wasn’t her fault… I was so close to finally tasting him. Our moment would come. Patience, I reminded myself.

  “Shit. Sorry about the bad timing. Looks like you two are getting along, finally.” She winked at Danny, who turned his head away. I did notice a sly grin appear, good he wasn’t too embarrassed.

  “Oh, I think we are getting along pretty fucking spectacularly,” I winked at her.

  “Does Everett know? Please let me be the one to tell him,” she gasped, the thought of it bringing some kind of dark joy for her. She must have taken Danny’s side in the whole mess. Maybe it was a whole lot messier than they let on.

  “No, Crystal,” Danny said sternly, yet still lovingly to his friend. “That will be mine to do when the time comes.”

  “You’re always taking away my fun, Danny,” she cackled. “Come on the groomzillas are waiting.”

  We followed her out onto the main street that had been closed down. There was an apple bobbing booth, a pumpkin carving booth, and a magician entertaining some kids at the entrance. Rows of tables were set up with people selling arts and crafts, baked goods, and mulled cider. It smelled heavenly.

  “You gonna do the haunted courthouse this year?” Crystal asked, yelling over her shoulder as she zigzagged her way through the crowd.

  “No way. That’s a total waste of time,” Danny said, shaking his head violently. He apparently had strong feelings about the haunted courthouse.

  “Danny hasn’t been inside since we were sophomores in high school,” Crystal confided to me. “He got scared.” She slapped him on the back, laughing at him. “We’ve been trying to get him to go back ever since.”

  “Hell no,” he said, shooting me a warning. “I don’t ever need to go back in there again. And, just for the record, I wasn’t scared. I was petrified, even if I found out later it was just Ben Master’s fucking with me.”

  “Okay, so what happened?” I asked. Danny didn’t seem like the type who got scared easily.

  “Spiders happened, Blake! Ben Master’s had set up this fake web and Danny got pushed into it. He had put a ton of these rubber spiders on it, and Danny was covered with them. The strobe lights made it look like they were moving all over him and Danny… Well, let’s just say that he lost his shit!” Crystal enjoyed telling this tale. Her face was lit with excitement.

  “Hey! That makes it sound like I shit myself,” Danny objected. “That did not happen. I just lost my mind. I’m terrified of spiders to this fucking day.” He shrugged. “Seriously, I am not going.” He glanced over at me, and I could tell that this was a line he was not going to cross.

  “No problem. I hate haunted houses too,” I smiled, letting Danny know that I would not insist we go inside.

  “Scaredy cats,” Crystal giggled. “There are the boys,” she pointed up ahead where Evan and Everett were playing one of the many carnival games that were set up at the end of the street. They were playing the ring toss, and if the look on Evan’s face was honest, they were not having a good time.

  “Hey guys,” Everett waved crazily. “Come play. Evan is trying to win me that stuffed black cat, and he is losing big time.”

  “Do you want that cat or not?” Evan stared slyly over at him. It was playful, but I knew Evan, and he was pissed that he hadn’t won it yet.

  “Want me to try?” Danny asked happily as he walked over and gave Everett a quick hug.

  “No,” Evan snapped. He looked over at Danny, and sheepishly gave him the rings he held in his hand. “Yes, I mean… Please? I suck at this.”

  Danny laughed and gave Evan a quick hug too. “We used to practice this in Wally’s basement when we were younger. We hated losing too,” Danny got a solemn look on his face as he turned around and faced the booth. He held up a ring in his right hand and studied the bottles. He tossed one in a small arc, and it landed around one of the bottles in the middle.

  “Yes!” Everett screamed, throwing his hands up in the air as if he tossed the ring himself. Danny showed no emotion, he kept his concentration and palmed the next ring. I watched him focus, his eye was on the prize, and he ignored all of the yelling and squealing being done by his friends.

  He tossed the second ring, and it landed with a clink around another bottle. He palmed the third ring, and I could see his shoulders rise with a long sigh. In his concentration, his tongue was placed up against the side of his jaw. It only made him hotter.

  “You got this, bitch!” Crystal yelled. A small child who was walking by turned to look at her aghast before she ran away into the crowd.

  Danny threw the ring, and it landed with precision around one of the bottles in the front with a clear clink against the glass.

  “Winner!” the old man shouted behind the booth. “Which do you want?”

  Everett pushed himself up to the front. “The black cat!” he screamed. It was pretty funny. Everett was usually really put together. This game had turned him into a little petulant child. “Thank you, Danny! You never lose this game.”

  Danny turned to Evan. “Next year, we’ll practice,” he said as he patted him on his arm. “Trust me that took years of cursing and practice. We were banned from the games one year because Crystal called the man behind the booth a mother fucker.”

  “He was a mother fucker,” she said snidely. “He kept teasing us and calling us losers. Fuck him.”

  “What’s next?” Danny said as he walked back over to me.

  “You two seem to be getting along,” Evan said happily. “Is everything going…”

  “Nope,” I stopped him. “I’m just gonna put this conversation on mute. The two of you do not get to ask us about anything. Let’s just say you have nothing to worry about and leave it at that.”

  “Well, that’s not exactly fair, is it,” Everett huffed. “It is our wedding, after all.”

  “And we are planning it,” Danny chimed in gruffly. “Hollywood and I are on it, and you two can show up on Saturday and check it out,” he laughed. “Now, what’s next?”

  Everett and Evan glanced at each other. “Okay…” Evan tried to suppress his grin, and Everett elbowed him in the side.

  “Let’s play the strong man game,” I grinned over at Danny. “Want me to win you a prize?”

  “Oh hell no, Hollywood,” Danny beamed, his face lighting up with the challenge. “It’ll be me who wins you one.”

  “They’re winning each other stuffed animals,” Everett whispered. Evan shushed him. I heard it, but Danny did not.

  We walked over to the Strongman game, a
nd each of us picked up a mallet. There were two sides to the game and two bells placed on either side for challenges just like this. We stood facing each other, and at the same time, both of us stuck out our tongues at each other, which made us both break into laughter. Evan looked perplexed, and Crystal looked like she had just eaten the canary.

  “You boys got your tickets?” the carney asked.

  “Here use mine,” Evan said quickly, handing two tickets over to the gentleman.

  “Step right up ladies and gentleman, step right up and let’s see which of these two guys are actual he-men? Will it be the man in the blue shirt?” Danny raised his hands and pumped his fist in the air. “Or will it be the larger of the two, the man in the black t-shirt?” I raised my mallet in the air like Thor’s hammer. Damn it was a little heavier than I thought.

  “Are we ready? Get to your places gentleman and let’s swing on the count of 3,” his voice rang out, and we were starting to get a crowd around us. Danny’s tongue was placed firmly against his cheek as he prepared to swing. I got into position too.

  “Alright everyone, let’s count them down. Ready, and 1…” The crowd shouted with him. “2… and 3!”

  Danny and I stared at each other, and we swung the heavy mallets over our head and smashed them down onto the rubber pad. Each of our bells chimed loudly as we each won.

  “It’s a tie, ladies, and gentlemen, and we have our first winners of the night. Meet your He-men! What prizes would you like?” he gestured over to the stuffed animals hanging on a small lattice beside the Strongman game.

  “Danny? I asked.

  “Blake?” he replied.

  I pointed to the Unicorn, and he gestured to the Giraffe. The man handed each of them to us, and we walked around to meet each other by our friends. He gave me the Unicorn, and I handed him the giraffe.

  “Congratulations, Lifeguard,” I smiled at him. His muscles were on full display as he flexed over at me. I flexed my chest too, giving a full-on show of the guns I worked so hard for.

  “You too, Hollywood,” he smirked. “You know, I think this is the first time that anyone ever won a prize for me. Thank you.” He blushed a little.

  “Okay, that was fun! It would have been more fun if one of you had lost though,” Crystal cackled. “Let’s go bob for apples or something. Besides, I want to look at the arts and crafts.”

  “Danny and I will meet up with you all a little later,” I suggested. I glanced over at Evan. “There’s uh… something we still need to do,” I shrugged. “We’ll text you when we’re done.”

  Danny looked like he was just caught red-handed doing something he shouldn’t have. I had to stop myself from laughing. It was fucking adorable.

  “Okay, then. You’re going to miss out on all the arts and crafts,” Everett shrugged.

  “Oh, I think I’ll survive,” Danny said sheepishly. “Besides, this is really important. We’ll see you guys later.”

  They all started walking to the front of the fair, and I grabbed Danny’s hand and pulled him through the crowd to where all of the rides were set up. I stopped at the ticket booth and bought $20 worth of tickets. Danny kept watching me, his eyes betraying the calm that he tried to reflect upon his face. He was as much a raging torrent as I was.

  “Do we have to go back and hang out with them?” I asked, staring at him, letting him know that I wanted to be with just him.

  “Well, eventually… I think we should. I mean, this is kind of their thing, right now. But… I might be persuaded.” He grinned.

  “Let’s go,” I grabbed his hand and held it all the way to the Ferris wheel. The sun had gone down, and it was dusk out. The sky was the perfect blend of orange and red as the sunset in the west. It was the ideal time to be at the top of this ride.

  No one was on the ride, and the line to get on was empty. So we might be able to get it all to ourselves.

  “Slow night?” I asked. He nodded. “If I give you all these tickets, can we just keep going for a while?”

  “At this point? Why not?” he shrugged. He didn’t give a shit.

  I handed the tickets to the operator, and Danny and I got on. We shut the side door to our car and strapped ourselves in. The operator threw the switch, and Danny, and I started to slowly rise up into the sky. The rides music echoing noisily as it bounced against the courthouse.

  I reached over and took Danny’s hand. We watched the color begin to fade from the sky and I turned to him.

  “I have the best view ever,” I said, my voice guttural, aching with my need for him.

  “It is beautiful,” he said breathlessly. I took my other hand and gently touched his chin, turning his face to mine.

  “It most definitely is. But the sunset can’t compare to you,” I said seriously. He reached over and leaned into me. Our lips were just a breath apart. I pulled him in, and when our lips met, we both could feel the electricity that we had pent up over the last couple of days.

  His lips were soft and pillowy, just as I had imagined. We kissed slowly, our tongues intertwining and exploring each other as our hands held on to each other as best we could. It was hot and romantic and one of the best kisses of my entire life. It ached with need and desire, and if we didn’t stop soon, I wasn’t going to be able to. I wanted him, and from the way his kisses intensified, he wanted me to.

  I wanted to rip his shirt off and to explore those muscles that I had wanted to touch. But, this was not the place for that. I might not be in LA, but there are still more people around than there should be. My body screamed to keep kissing him, but my mind told me that it was not the best of ideas. I ignored it, and we continued kissing as we went around and around.

  By the time the ride ended, I knew that no matter what, I needed to find a way to make this work. I was utterly smitten by Danny Kincaid.

  We didn’t leave each other’s side until I dropped him off. I wanted to invite myself in, and I think he wanted it too, but before I could turn the car off, he said, “See you tomorrow. We have a long day,” and before I knew what happened, he shut the car door and took off towards his house. Danny was a mystery, and I knew that I had to go slow. He was going to be worth it.

  12

  Blake

  I awoke the next morning to a flurry of text messages. I ignored them. I didn’t want to know what was happening in LA and I was sure that they were either from the show or from my agent about my next steps when the show wrapped. He had been lining up auditions and apparently CW wanted me for a pilot. He told me the news right before I left. But right now, none of it mattered. I was in Point Pleasant and was trying to think of a way to stay here more often than not. Hollywood and my career would be there when I was ready to deal with them.

  I stumbled into the shower. Today was probably going to be a long day as I barely slept last night. I tossed and turned, thoughts of Danny Kincaid rolling through my head; his lips, voice, eyes, and body haunting me to the point of sleeplessness. I should have gotten out of the car and followed him to his front door. At least I would have been able to give him a goodnight kiss.

  I had no idea what held him back last night. Everything had gone wonderfully at the fair, and we both had a great time. Perhaps he was worried that if we went all the way, my eventual departure would be that much harder to deal with. I know it would be for me, but I was willing to take the chance on us. I liked him, hell I was falling in love with him and knew it the moment I laid eyes on him. Danny needs to be shaken up and allow himself to be open to the possibility of us.

  The warm water from the shower ran down my body and helped to wake me up. Coffee would do the rest. I washed my hair and scrubbed my body with my loofa before getting out. I dried myself and managed to get dressed. I really needed coffee bad.

  I had a few minutes before Danny was supposed to arrive. Thank goodness we had a late start this morning. The only thing we really had to do was to find Halloween decorations and twinkle lights for the wedding. Of course, we were supposed to load up all of the hedg
es in Danny’s truck at the end of the day, too. I really needed to plan that fucking maze, I had promised I would figure it out.

  My phone rang. Heart’s Barracuda blared out from my iPhone, which meant that it was my agent. Apparently, something was happening so I better answer, or he wouldn’t stop trying to contact me all day.

  I swiped. “Hey AO, what’s happening?”

  “Have you not read any of the messages that we’ve been sending you?” He screamed into the phone. “Jesus Christ, Blake!”

  “Sorry, I just got up. I’m helping to plan a wedding AO, and there’s a lot to do.”

  “Oh, we have seen,” he answered snidely. AO could be an asshole and… wait… What?

  “What are you talking about?” I sat down on the bed, something was majorly wrong.

  “There’s fucking photos, Blake! You and some hot curly-haired boy making out on a Ferris wheel and holding hands at some arts and craft shit! They got really great photo’s actually, and we need to get ahead of this, do you hear me.”

  “But, there’s no paparazzi here,” I was utterly stunned by someone taking photos of us. I mean, I wasn’t thinking about it, obviously because I was in Point Pleasant.

  “Yes, there is, Blake. There was someone on vacation apparently, and they just happened to get lucky. According to the Star, they saw you at the fair and followed you hoping to get a few shots of a celebrity on vacation. And boy did he get the shot! I sent you a copy of the fucking photo in the text!” he bellowed.

  “Hold on,” I put him on speaker and swiped up. I opened my text messages, and there they were. Damn, there were quite a few of them, and my tongue was down Danny’s throat in almost all of them. My hands are on his chest, and his hands are thrown around my neck. My face… the joy and ecstasy… for all the world to see. “Fuuuuuuck…” I said quietly.

  “Under no circumstances are you to go out today! Do you fucking hear me, Blake?” he said forcefully. It was his job to protect me, and I was sure that he and the PR team had been working since late last night on stopping these photos from leaking. They wouldn’t be able to, though. These photos were fair game.