Fake Bite, Real Feelings

Steve’s Halloween night was supposed to end with candy wrappers, couch cushions, and bad horror movies — not with Eddie Munson’s fake vampire fangs pressed against his throat.

It’s a joke, at first. Eddie being Eddie: all dramatic cape and gothic talk about eternal love. But when the teasing turns soft, slow, and real, Steve feels something twist inside him that has nothing to do with fear.

Now there’s a mark he can’t stop touching — and the next morning, a room full of kids who can’t stop teasing.