by Liv Rider
Cameron raised his eyebrows at Parker’s outburst. He agreed, but why would Parker care this much, heart-warming as it was? “True.”
“That’s too bad,” Joel added.
“Nothing we can do about it.” He couldn’t help the note of bitterness in his voice.
“What have you tried?” Parker asked.
“We just found out this afternoon, so, um, nothing.”
Parker smiled at that. “Then it’s far too soon to say there’s nothing you can do.”
That smile was enough to light a flicker of optimism inside of him too, but he also wondered why Parker was so determined. There was no reason for him to care about Halloween Fest. “Maybe?” He looked at Joel, who’d been looking at Parker.
“I’m gonna see what’s keeping Thomas and Mitchell.” He walked away.
“Sure.” Parker kept his eyes on Cameron. “So.”
“Yes?” His mouth felt dry. If he didn’t know better, he’d think Parker was flirting with him. But why would Parker even flirt with him? He was still dressed as a zombie, and unless Parker had some weird kinks, Cameron didn’t see why someone who didn’t care about horror movies would flirt with him of all people.
“Um,” Parker started, “Well…what did you think of the game?”
“What game?” Did he mean the apple bobbing in the barn?
“The sports game.”
Cameron stared at him. “What?”
“What?”
“Why are you asking me about sports?” He’d never been interested in following any kind of sports or sports team. Colleagues and hotel guests would sometimes mention it, and he’d mutter something noncommittally.
“That’s what you like, right? Talking about sports?” Parker sounded confused and a little panicked again.
“Do I look like I like talking about sports?” He gestured at his face.
“Maybe?”
“I’m not.” This was quickly turning into the most confusing conversation of his life. “Was there something you wanted?”
“Your phone number.”
His heart skipped a beat at Parker’s immediate reply, relieved he hadn’t been imagining things, but he also felt confused. “Why?”
“To talk to you again, of course.”
Cameron let out a laugh. Parker sounded so confident, like he hadn’t even considered Cameron might turn him down. Which, well, if he looked like Parker, he wouldn’t worry about that either. “About what?”
“Doesn’t matter. Anything. Oh!” Parker’s face suddenly lit up. “How we’ll make sure there’s another Halloween Fest next year.”
Cameron shook his head and grinned, feeling giddy. “I have seriously never met a guy like you.” He’d met guys this confident, who were so sure of themselves, especially about things they didn’t know anything about. But those guys didn’t bother to pretend they liked the Halloween Fest, and Parker hadn't sneered once at his zombie outfit. He genuinely sounded interested. Cameron wanted to know more about him, and not just what he looked like without that jacket, or that shirt.
“Well, of course you haven’t.”
Cameron burst out laughing at Parker’s confident tone. “Has that line ever worked on anyone before?”
“Line?”
There was something adorable about Parker’s puzzled frown. “You know, the whole ‘well, of course you’ve never met a guy like me before’ thing.” Cameron felt a little bad now about laughing. Parker sounded so sincere. “Does that ever work when you’re trying to get a guy’s phone number?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it before.”
That figured. “Yeah, men are probably falling over themselves to give you their number.” He tried not to sound bitter. It wasn’t like he was lacking in dates. He just hadn’t been on one in a long while.
“Oh, not really.” Parker glanced away, and that shouldn’t be oddly adorable either. “I don’t, um, date a lot.”
“Ah,” Cameron managed, feeling like he’d been punched in the gut again when Parker met his eyes. “Right.”
Why did a guy who didn’t date a lot want to date him? Cameron really hoped it wasn’t because of a zombie kink.
“I’m not entirely sure how it works,” Parker continued, “but I’ve been informed it involves going to the movies, or drinks, or having dinner together.”
“It can.” Cameron’s brain was still stuck on someone like Parker wanting to date someone like him. “But you’d like to go on a date? With me?” He wanted to make extra sure.
“Yes! As soon as possible. Does tomorrow night work for you?” Parker pulled out his phone.
Cameron wasn’t sure if he should laugh at Parker’s eagerness or feel flustered at his enthusiasm. “I’m working in the Maze tomorrow night.” Cameron watched as Parker’s face fell in disappointment.
This guy was serious. For some reason, he really, genuinely wanted to date Cameron.
And Cameron was intrigued. The guy was attractive, sure, but it was the sincerity that made Cameron want to talk to him again. He wasn’t slick or smooth, and the only way he was trying to impress Cameron was by insisting he definitely enjoyed Halloween Fest when every fiber of Parker screamed that this place was the opposite of where he wanted to be. It was sweet. “I can meet up during the afternoon or lunch, if you’d like.” He wanted to see Parker again as soon as possible.
Parker frowned at his phone. “I’ve got a thing at noon, and then that other thing at two o’clock, and…wait, that meeting is tomorrow? Why?”
“If you’re busy, we can always meet up some other time.” Cameron watched Parker prod away at his phone. “My weekend’s pretty busy with the Halloween Fest anyway. I’m in the Maze tomorrow night and Sunday night.”
“There!” Parker looked triumphant. “We can do lunch from noon until about one thirty.”
“I thought you had a thing?”
“Nothing important.” Parker gestured at his phone. “Nothing that can’t wait.”
Something squirmed in his stomach at the implication that he was what couldn’t wait. He hadn’t felt that something in a long while. “You’re sure?”
“Of course I’m sure.” Parker sounded almost insulted. “We’ll do lunch. Does that count as a date? It’s not dinner, but it’s close enough, right?”
“Right.”
There was no other description for Parker’s expression except beaming. The thing that had squirmed in Cameron’s stomach did so again.
He was going on a date. His first date in years that wasn’t with someone he’d met volunteering for the Fest or through a dating app. What was he doing? Why had he agreed to go to lunch with a man he already knew he had nothing in common with?
One look at Parker’s happy, relieved face told him why.
“I guess you’ll want my phone number, then.” Cameron hoped his voice sounded steadier than he felt as he gave Parker his name and number. They’d only just met. He’d be lucky if Parker recognized him tomorrow at all.
“Thanks! Do you have anywhere in particular you’d like to meet?”
“Not really.” His brain could barely focus on anything beyond having a date. “We can message each other. It’ll be fine. And I’d really like to get this makeup off.” He gestured at the fake wound on his face. He did need to get rid of it, but he also needed some time to think away from Parker and his distracting words and face and everything.
“Oh, of course, I’m sorry. Yes, you go and do that. Will, um, will that take long?”
“It can take a while,” Cameron replied from experience, trying not to reel at that hopeful look in Parker’s eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow? For lunch?”
“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Parker gave him a firm nod, then walked back to the smaller barn.
Cameron watched him go for a moment, then shook his head and went over to the farmhouse.
Stacy would never believe this.
4
Parker
We should go back to our mate!
Even with the zombie makeup, the white lenses, the fake wounds, and the rat’s nest that was his hair, Parker thought he was the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen in his life.
He hoped Cameron thought the same about him. Humans did feel the attraction even if they didn’t feel the pull of mating bond as strongly as shifters. Hadn’t Joel said that once? That he’d definitely felt attracted to Thomas from the start, even though he hadn’t understood why?
Speaking of which, Parker sighed as Joel came walking up to him with Mitchell and Thomas in tow. He knew this was coming the moment Joel had left him alone with his mate.
“Is what Joel said true?” Thomas kept his voice low as he stood close. “Did you meet your mate?”
Parker gave Joel a brief glare. “You told them?”
“I told them you were talking to one of the guys from the maze and being very happy about it. They drew their own conclusions.”
“You have to admit,” Mitchell said, standing close as well, “it’s not exactly normal for you. I knew something was up.”
“I’m happy to talk to humans! I’ve done it before.”
Thomas snorted, Joel studied his shoes, and Mitchell frowned at him. “Voluntarily, though?” Mitchell asked.
“Yes.” He couldn’t remember when or why, but he must have. “To, um, partners of people in my district.” Shifters having relationships with humans was getting more and more common, especially in a city like Lewiston. Most of the shifters in Thomas’ district hadn’t even been that surprised when he announced his fated mate was human.
How would his own shifters react? His council?
Worse, how would Cameron react?
“You know him,” he said to Joel. “You’re completely sure he…doesn’t know about people like us?”
“Not completely,” Joel admitted, “but it is unlikely. I don’t remember anyone like you at the Fest when I volunteered for it.”
That did complicate things. “I’ve got lunch with him tomorrow.”
“Congratulations.” Mitchell clapped him on the shoulder.
“You’re already more successful than I was,” Thomas added, “getting him to agree to a date only a few hours after meeting him.”
“Hey!” Joel elbowed Thomas. “I agreed a few days later!”
Parker watched as Joel and Thomas teased each other about their dating mishaps, the love in their eyes so obvious for anyone to see. Had he looked at Cameron like that? Would Cameron look at him like that? It had been hard to tell with the contact lenses, but Parker was pretty sure Cameron had mostly looked confused for most of their conversation. His shoulders sagged. He’d met his mate, and they had absolutely nothing in common.
“What’s wrong?” Mitchell noticed, of course he had.
There was no point hiding it. “I don’t know why we’re fated mates. If Joel hadn’t suggested we go here, I would never have met him. Even if I’d heard of Halloween Fest before, I wouldn’t have come anyway. This—” He gestured at the barns, the people, the bonfire around them. “—isn’t what I like.” He rarely went out for fun in the evening. When he did, it was either dinner with his friends or an event organized by shifters where he felt he had to be present as Keeper of the Peace.
“That doesn’t matter,” Thomas told him. “I met Joel by chance too.”
“You’re destined for each other,” Mitchell added. “You have to trust the bond. Just be honest with him and take it slow. If he doesn’t know about shifters, you can’t dump things like fated mates on him tomorrow. Tell him bit by bit, and give him time to get used to it. You don’t want to come across too strong and scare him off.”
That was easy for them to say. “Maybe we simply met too soon.” People changed during their lives. He wasn’t the same man he’d been ten, twenty years ago. “Maybe we weren’t supposed to meet for another couple of years.” Maybe they simply weren’t meant for each other now.
He is our mate! Ours forever! His dragon roared in disagreement, and Parker was taken aback by the fierce certainty.
“That’s ridiculous,” Joel said. “That’s not how it works, right?” He looked up at Thomas, who was shaking his head.
“I’ve never heard of anything like that. Parker, you’ve met your fated mate. You’ve got a lunch date with him tomorrow. I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Thomas told him. “It’s not like he ran away from you.”
“I had a great reason for that!”
Parker ignored Thomas’ and Joel’s affectionate teasing and turned to Mitchell. “I’m definitely ready to go home now.”
“Excellent, we can talk about it some more in the car. What exactly did you two talk about just then? Maybe I can give you some advice for tomorrow. I know a couple of nice, romantic places to take him!”
While Parker still had no idea where he was going to take Cameron to lunch, he definitely didn’t want or need Mitchell’s enthusiastic advice. But it was either that, or spend more time around Thomas and Joel being adorable and lovey-dovey in a way he couldn’t imagine for himself and Cameron, so listening to Mitchell give him conversation tips and restaurant suggestions it was.
And maybe, he thought to himself as they walked back to their cars, maybe he could use some conversation tips. His usual tactic of asking about sports when he talked to a human had failed completely. A flush of embarrassment went through him when he remembered how annoyed Cameron had looked when asking Parker why he wanted to talk about sports. But humans liked sports, didn’t they? Every human Parker had talked to in the past had replied with some comment about a football, baseball, or basketball game, or about some important tournament Parker had never heard of.
He’d barely managed one or two sentences talking to Cameron without embarrassing himself or confusing his mate. All he wanted was to impress his mate and let him know how he important he was, but every attempt at complimenting Halloween Fest or the Maze had made it more and more obvious the two of them couldn’t be more different if they tried.
What would they talk about tomorrow over lunch? How Parker didn’t watch horror movies? How he’d never heard of this Fest that meant so much to his mate?
The disappointment and anger in Cameron’s voice when he mentioned how there wouldn’t be a Halloween Fest next year had awakened the same feelings in Parker. He refused to have anything upset his mate like that, and he was determined to figure out a way to stop that land developer from ruining things. He’d promised Cameron there’d be a Fest next year without even thinking about it.
This wasn’t like him. He didn’t make rash decisions. He definitely didn’t make promises about things he knew nothing about.
His dragon was still simmering with rage. We will challenge him to a duel. We will be victorious as our mate watches. He will learn never to cross our mate again!
That land owner’s probably not even a shifter. Besides, he had to tell Cameron shifters even existed first.
His heart sank as he realized how much time this would take. He’d already had to move his appointment with Isaac, one of his council members, to go over the finances. He didn’t have time to look into this land developer and this farmhouse and figure out how he and Cameron were supposed to fit together. His work as Keeper of the Peace was the most important thing in his life.
And yet, the thought of not helping his mate made him sick to his stomach. He couldn’t stop wanting to help Cameron just like he couldn’t stop being a dragon shifter. He’d met Cameron, and therefore Cameron was now the most important thing in his life.
You couldn’t have two most important things in your life, but how was he supposed to choose?
The r
estaurant he’d suggested to Cameron hadn’t been one of the ones Mitchell had recommended, because on Saturday morning Parker had looked at the websites of those restaurants, and they’d all been far too obviously romantic for his taste. Maybe Cameron liked lit candles on the table and roses everywhere, but Parker doubted it. Cameron had seemed like a no-nonsense kind of guy last night, but what did Parker know? Maybe Cameron loved having rose petals scattered across the table as they ate.
In the end, Parker had chosen a restaurant based on it not being in his district, not being owned by shifters, and having an appetizing looking menu along with good reviews. Having his friends know he’d met his mate was bad enough. He didn’t want any other shifters seeing him with Cameron yet. He knew how some shifters loved their gossip, and Mitchell and Thomas had had a point last night. Him happily talking to a human who had nothing to do with shifters would raise eyebrows, especially in a nice restaurant.
He looked around, wishing he hadn’t come in fifteen minutes early. Now he had to sit here and politely explain to the server that the other party would be here soon, and that he’d love a glass of water, yes. While he knew no one else was looking at him, he still felt awkward, sitting here by himself and pretending to read the lunch menu.
He kept looking at his phone and wished time would pass faster. He hadn’t been able to focus on anything else all day, which meant he hadn’t been able to deal with all his emails yet. He could do that later, though, after his lunch with Cameron.
Oh, wait, he was supposed to meet with his council at two o’clock, and talk with the manager of his community center about the complaints. Tonight Cameron would be working in the Maze again, and Parker still wasn’t sure if he should go to Halloween Fest or not. On the one hand, he wanted to spend as much time with Cameron as possible. On the other hand, would Cameron want him to? Would it come across as weird or too much?
Besides, he had work to do. He’d be too busy to go to Halloween Fest again, even if Cameron wanted him to.
He tried to distract himself from those thoughts by reading the menu, but he couldn’t focus on the words. Any minute now his mate would come walking in. Parker’s stomach was squirming nervously. He couldn’t wait to see his mate again.
