34. Braden
Chapter 34
Braden
I stand in front of the full-length mirror of my bedroom, frowning at my reflection. I look like a deranged Easter bunny.
“I don’t like this,” I holler.
I hear Bella laugh from the master bathroom.
“Oh, come on. I bet you look great,” she says.
I scoff. “Not even close to great. Disturbing is more like it.”
I tug on the sleeve of the light blue rabbit suit I’m wearing. One of the bunny ears attached to the hood over my head falls in my face. I push it up and sigh. At least I don’t have to wear a mask with this.
I glance down at my socked feet, grateful that this thing didn’t come with rabbit feet so I can just wear sneakers. I’d look even more stupid than I already do.
“If any kids see me in this, I’m gonna give them nightmares,” I holler.
Bella’s melodic laugh floats through the door, making me smile. Honestly, I don’t care what I look like. I just like that I’m making her laugh, making her happy .
“It can’t be that bad,” she says. “I picked it out for you myself, remember?”
“I’m still not sure what our costume is.”
A second later, the door opens. I turn to look at her. My eyes bulge out of my head, and my jaw unhinges, plummeting to the floor.
HOLY FUCK.
My eyes go straight to Bella’s boobs, which are spilling out of that sparkly strapless red gown she’s wearing. The glittery fabric puddles at her feet. She looks so glamorous and so fucking sexy.
I rake my gaze along the length of her body. Her makeup is glamorous too. She’s wearing deep red lipstick and purple eyeshadow. And her eyelashes look way longer than normal.
She swipes her golden-brown hair, which is styled in soft waves, over one shoulder. Then she juts out her hip and rests her hand on her waist before holding up her other hand. She smiles. “Can you guess what I am?”
I walk over to her, grab her by the hips, and pull her against me. When I capture her mouth in a kiss, she moans.
I drive my tongue into her mouth, kissing her hard until we’re both panting.
“Insanely hot,” I say when we break apart.
She chuckles and wipes at my mouth. I probably have her lipstick all over me. I don’t care.
“I’m Jessica Rabbit. And you’re Roger Rabbit.”
“Cool,” I say against her mouth while I kiss her again.
She chuckles as I kiss her, then playfully shoves me. “You’re gonna end up with lipstick all over you.”
“Good. I want everyone at the party to know that Jessica Rabbit is with me.”
Her head falls back as she laughs. She leans over and grabs a tissue from the box on my nightstand and wipes my mouth.
“Come on. We need to get going so we’re not late,” she says.
I make a frustrated growl noise when she steps out of my hold and walks off.
“What if I just want to stay here and keep you in bed all night?” I say. I drop more food in Maizie’s bowl. She trots over and chows down. I give her a pat on the head.
Bella steps into a pair of sky-high red heels. She walks up to me and slides her hands up my chest. With those shoes, she’s still shorter than me, but she doesn’t have to tip-toe up to kiss me.
I drop a kiss to her smiling, lush mouth.
“Tempting,” she murmurs. “But we promised your teammates and friends that we’d show up tonight.”
“Fine,” I groan. “But the second we’re back home, I’m ripping that dress off you and taking you to bed.”
She winks at me. “Can’t wait.”
When we walk into the door of Del and Ingrid’s house, dance music hits us in the face.
Bella scans the space, her eyes wide. “Wow. This looks like something out of a Pinterest board.”
“Yeah, Ingrid’s really good at decorating.”
The remodeled craftsman-style house that Del and Ingrid just moved into is covered in Halloween decorations. There’s a cluster of pumpkins spray painted gold in the foyer. Fake cobwebs dangle from the ceiling. When we walk into the living room, skeletons are posed everywhere. Two are against the wall flashing peace signs. One’s sitting on the couch holding a beer can. Another is propped up against the white marble kitchen island dressed like a mummy.
“This is so cool.” Bella laughs as she points to a giant fake spider and bat in the corner.
“They really went all out.” I take Bella by the hand and guide her through the crowd of people drinking and chatting.
“You guys made it!” Ingrid runs up to us and hugs Bella. “Oh my god, you look amazing!”
“She does, doesn’t she?” I say.
Bella’s cheeks are rosy as she smiles at me. She turns back to Ingrid.
“Jessica Rabbit! I love it!” Ingrid says before turning to me and hugging me. “And that makes you Roger Rabbit, right?”
I shrug. “I guess. I’m just happy to be with Jessica.”
Ingrid laughs. She’s dressed in a slinky black gown. Her normally blonde hair is brown and styled in soft waves, similar to Bella’s hair.
“Did you dye your hair for your costume?” I ask. “That’s commitment.”
Ingrid smiles. “No, it’s a wig.” I notice there’s a long slit in her gown, revealing a garter that’s holding a small pink water gun.
I nod at the pink toy. “You’re packing tonight, huh?”
Ingrid laughs. “Definitely.” She looks between Bella and me. “Can you guess what I am?”
We both shake our heads. Del walks over and greets us. When I see he’s wearing a black suit and tie and holding the same small pink toy gun, I frown, confused.
“I still don’t get it,” I say.
Bella squints at him, then her eyes go wide and she snaps her fingers. “Mr. And Mrs. Smith!”
Ingrid squeals, “Yes!” while Del nods.
He hands me a glass of Scotch. I tell him thanks and take a swig. Ingrid offers to grab Bella a drink, so they head off to the kitchen, where there are dozens of wine bottles and liquor bottles lined up on the island.
We talk for a minute before someone hits me in the shoulder. I turn and see Xander grinning at me.
“Hey. Nice costume.” He chuckles.
I roll my eyes. “It was Bella’s idea.”
“I bet. Jessica Rabbit and Roger Rabbit. Clever.”
I frown at the black Jack Daniels t-shirt he’s wearing. He’s got on jeans and cowboy boots too. “What are you supposed to be?”
He tips the cowboy hat on his head before nodding at Sophie, who’s standing across the room, talking to Alanna from PR.
Sophie’s wearing a strapless red dress that hits just below her knees and red heels. When she turns slightly, I see the Coca-Cola logo across the front.
“We’re whiskey and Coke,” Xander says proudly.
I chuckle. “That’s pretty creative. Way to go.”
Xander takes off his hat and runs a hand through his hair. “It was all her idea. She’s the brains behind this whole thing.”
“No surprise there,” Del says. Xander elbows him, which gets Del to crack a smile.
“It’s Halloweeeeen!” someone shouts.
We all turn around to the front door and see Theo walking in while carrying a twelve-pack of beer.
All three of us stare at him, wide-eyed as he walks over to us.
“Um, dude.”
“Uh… ”
“What the hell are you supposed to be?”
We all speak at once. Theo just stands there, flashing his trademark cocky pretty boy smile. He’s wearing a headband with black velvet bunny ears, a black one-piece women’s swimsuit, fishnet tights, and black boots.
“I’m a Playboy bunny,” he says proudly before nodding at me. “Hey, we kinda match.”
I burst out laughing. “I guess we do.”
Xander pats his shoulder. “I admire how you fully committed to the costume.”
Del looks at him for a long second, like he’s both surprised and dazed. “Yeah. Wow, dude.”
Maya runs over and kisses Theo. She’s wearing a long, maroon smoking jacket, silky pajama pants, and slippers. Her black hair is pulled back into a ponytail and she’s holding a wooden tobacco pipe.
Theo slides his arm around her and pulls her against him. “Hugh Heffner and his favorite bunny,” he says.
We all laugh. The sound of Ingrid shriek laughing cuts through the music.
“Oh my god!” She runs up to Theo and Maya. “Okay, you guys win. Best couples costume of the night!” she announces to the party. Everyone cheers.
“What do we win?” Maya asks.
“The most expensive bottle of champagne that I have in the house. Here, let’s go get it.”
Before she and Maya run off, Ingrid turns and takes a photo of all of us.
“That will be going on the Bashers’ Instagram account,” she says before she and Maya run off.
Theo, Xander, Del, and I stand around, chuckling.
“We’ve never looked so stupid,” I say .
Del frowns. “Speak for yourself. I look great in this suit.”
“And I look amazing,” Theo says. “You’re just jealous.”
I burst out laughing. Theo walks off to grab us some shots.
“Hey, does Bella need help moving any of her stuff into your place? I can come over if you want,” Xander asks me.
“Nah, she’s all moved in. She didn’t have that much stuff.”
“Bella moved in with you?” Del asks.
“Yeah, about a week ago.”
“Wait, you and Bella moved in together?” Theo asks when he rejoins us. He hands us shot glasses of tequila. We all down them.
“Yeah, her aunt owns the apartment she was staying in and her tenants moved in early, so I told her she could move in with me.”
I set my glass down on a nearby table. When I look back at my teammates, they’re all looking at me like they’re holding back smiles.
“What?” I say.
“You moved your hot neighbor into your place. You share a dog,” Theo says.
“Yeah? And?”
“Dude, I think you’re in a relationship,” Theo says. Xander chuckles. Del nods.
I rub the back of my neck, feeling uncomfortable and shocked that somehow Theo was able to gauge that, despite me not telling them anything about things between me and Bella.
“Shut up. I’m not,” I mutter.
Xander flashes a smug smile. “You’re not?”
“We’re just friends.”
All three of my teammates give me a collective, “Are you fucking kidding me?” expressions.
Xander pats my shoulder. “Sure. Just keep telling yourself that.”
“Dude, we’re not blind,” Theo says to me. “We all see the way you look at Bella when we’re at Spanky’s. It’s obvious how into her you are. And I see how much you text her when we’re on the road.”
“Yeah. We do too,” Xander says. Del nods.
I sigh, surprised at how much my teammates have picked up on. I sip my drink. “Okay, yeah. We have a thing going on. We have for the past month or so.”
Xander raises an eyebrow. “I knew that’s why you’ve been kicking ass in the net. You’ve been hooking up with Bella.”
“Yeah, but it’s not serious. She doesn’t want it to be.”
I look down at the floor. The guys are quiet.
“But do you want it to be?” Del asks after a second.
I hesitate for a moment before I nod. Those knowing smiles on Theo and Xander’s faces have disappeared as they look at me.
“I know what it’s like,” Theo says after a minute.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“That’s how Maya and I started out. We were housemates for a while. Things were strictly in the friendship zone, but there was a spark there. And after a while we gave in. Things were casual between us too at first. Just hooking up, no emotions. But I caught feelings. Big time.”
The expression on Theo’s face turns thoughtful. He glances across the room at Maya, who’s dancing with Ingrid on the makeshift dancefloor next to the kitchen. She catches eyes with him and blows him a kiss. He beams before turning back to me .
“It took us a while to figure things out. Maya had just come out of a bad breakup. She was allergic to commitment,” he says.
“Sounds kind of like Bella’s situation,” I say.
Theo nods. “But we worked through it. Things can turn around. Just be patient. And be good to her. Show her you’re the kind of guy worth getting serious for.”
“You make it sound so simple.”
He shrugs and smiles. “Sometimes it is.”
I think about what Theo’s said. I didn’t know he and Maya got together in such a similar way. Seeing how it worked out for them sends a tiny spark of hope through me.
I wonder if things could work out between Bella and me. If she’d break another rule for me…
Just then, the whole room gasps. We turn to see who just walked in. When I see Sam McKesson wearing nothing but flesh-colored boxer briefs with fake green leaves stitched to them, holding an apple in his hand, I burst out laughing.
“Dude. You actually did it,” I holler at him.
He rolls his eyes, smiling and shaking his head as he walks over to us. His blonde hair falls in waves around his face. I frown at his tan bare chest all shiny. Did he oil himself up?
“Did you…rub something on yourself?” I ask, nodding at his chest.
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t you cold?” Xander asks.
“Also yeah,” Sam says. He looks at Theo, who’s gawking at him with a disbelieving. “I lost a bet.”
Del bursts out laughing. “Sorry, man.”
Sam shrugs. “It’s all good. A bet is a bet.”
“What the hell kind of bet was this?” Theo asks.
“We had a bet over who would score more goals during our last games,” Del says. “Whoever lost had to get the winner this two-thousand-dollar bottle of whiskey, but then Blomdahl suggested instead that the loser dress up like Adam from the Garden Of Eden to our Halloween party.”
Del elbows me. “You’re an evil genius.”
I smile and shrug.
Xander laughs so hard, he falls against me. “Dude, you’re such a shit-stirrer.” He glances at Sam and winces. “Brutal, man. Sorry.”
I notice how every woman in the party is gazing at Sam with hearts in their eyes. “I don’t know if there’s much to be sorry about. Sam’s getting a lot of attention from the ladies with his costume.”
Sam glances around. His brow lifts as he notices how all the women in the room are drooling over him. The dude looks like an Adonis with all the muscles in his abs, arms, chest, quads, and calves oiled up and on display.
He smiles shyly and accepts the beer that Del hands him. He holds it up. “To making asses of ourselves on Halloween.”
We all raise our drinks and tap them together. “Hell yeah,” I say with a laugh.