Chapter 17
I’m not saying that because I wanna get into your pants
I stopped counting the random catcalling after the fifth time.
How did Cassidy and I think dressing as police officers for Halloween was a good idea?
We were not even sexy cops, and yet, Lola’s customers appeared to believe it was still hot.
To my friend’s credit, she had outdone herself with our costumes.
When I’d shot my brother a picture earlier, he said we looked like the real deal.
Coming from him, it was a compliment because he wasn’t Mr. Compliments most of the time.
“Can you lock me in jail tonight, sweetheart?” one guy with dark hair and a face so smug you wanted to punch him asked, stretching his arm to touch my back when I passed him. “Or perhaps you’re a bachelor party kind of stripper?
“Hands off,” I told him, moving to the right, further away from him, and placing my empty tray between us.
Lola’s was crowded tonight. Most people were probably regular customers, but with all the costumes, masks, and makeups going on, I could barely recognize anyone.
The lights were dimmed, and battery-operated candles had been set on each table to give the place a bit of a spooky vibe.
Most cocktails on the menu tonight were either blood-red, Frankenstein-green, or ink-black.
George had told me earlier that Halloween was his wife’s favorite holiday, so he always felt like going big on that night.
Someone dressed as a sexy leopard waved at me, and when I closed in on her, I realized it was Jules.
“Wow, I had no idea it was you,” I said.
She was wearing a tiny animal print dress with a hood decorated with furry ears, and black mid-thigh leather boots that hid her prosthetic leg.
She wore gloves with plastic claws, a full face of orange and black makeup, long fake lashes, and painted-on whiskers.
“I’ll have another of these?” She wiggled the almost-empty drink in her hand. “I think it’s called a… What was the name again?”
“Blood Bath?”
“Yes, Blood Bath. I really liked the gummy eyeballs on skewers. It was a nice touch.”
“George is a fan of spooky stuff. They really look real. It’s kinda disturbing.”
“Yep.”
“Anyone else want something?”
Two of Jules’s friends ordered mocktails too, and Shawn ordered a draft beer when he joined them. We exchanged a few words before my friend pulled me aside. “Is it really over with my brother?” she asked.
I took a deep breath in and offered her an apologetic smile. “I think so. We had a great time, but our last date ended up with him more interested in my football-player friends than in me. It was awkward afterward.”
“He’s so stupid. Gosh, I’m sorry. I swear he’s not usually like that. For what it’s worth, he wasn’t proud of himself the next day. I think he realized too late how he messed up.”
“Whatever, it’s okay. I wasn’t looking to date anyone, so maybe it was bound to happen. I’m good, I promise.”
“Who knows, I might still feed him his balls in his sleep someday.”
I burst out into a loud chuckle. “Please don’t. He’s a good guy.”
Another server called my name.
“I gotta go,” I told Jules. “I’ll be right back with your drinks.”
“Tell Cassie that next year I want her to make my costume too. You look incredible.”
“Thanks.” I zigzagged through the patrons toward the bar, taking three more orders on my way there.
“Big night?” Barry, the barman, asked. He was dressed as a zombie. A fog machine and changing-color lights set behind the bar made him look like he’d just survived an apocalypse.
I removed my peaked cap and used the crook of my elbow to wipe my forehead, careful not to ruin my makeup. “Is it always like this?”
“On Halloween? Yes.” Soon, he placed my orders on the countertop, and I refilled my tray, ready to go back out there.
When I turned around, I almost bumped into a girl dressed as Smurfette, and I giggled.
I hadn’t thought about Mason so far tonight, but now that I was facing a human-size blue humanoid creature, I anticipated seeing him later—if we ended up at the same party.
Cassidy had promised to send someone to pick me up when my shift ended so I could meet her.
Deep down, I worried that things might be awkward between Mason and me.
We hadn’t seen each other since the night he’d walked me home after we painted his bedroom over a week ago.
Yes, there had been pretty big sparks between us that day, but it didn’t mean anything, and it mostly didn’t mean they would still be there. Or I liked to believe they wouldn’t.
It was almost midnight when I exited the pub.
Declan, Cassidy’s friend and coworker, was waiting, his car parked in front of Lola’s when I finished my shift.
The sidewalks all around campus were crowded with students in costumes, some sober, others clearly intoxicated.
I appreciated how everyone had joined in the festivities, but I was relieved I didn’t have to walk alone tonight of all nights.
Minutes later, Declan parked in the driveway of a white house, the front lawn overcrowded with people.
“You’re not coming in?” I asked him before I climbed out.
“Nah. I’m working early tomorrow, and I’ve had enough of this wig.
” He removed the bright orange spiky thing covering his head and raked his fingers through his hair.
His green makeup was half gone, and his red tie was hanging loosely around his neck.
He told me he was supposed to be some cartoon character, but I still couldn’t figure out which one.
“Thanks for the ride. I hope I didn’t keep you up too late.”
“Nah. I told Cassie I’d be the designated driver until midnight, so it’s all good.”
I stepped out of the car.
“It was nice seeing you, Mel. Have fun in there.” He spoke again before I had time to close the door. “Oh, and Cassie said to tell you she would wait by the DJ booth. Night.”
I nodded and made my way up the five steps leading to the front door. A guy with a curly black wig dressed as a disco-era dancer with a mass of dark fake chest hair—or I hoped they were fake—visible through the opening of his silver shirt, greeted me.
“Welcommme to our…huh…house,” he slurred, moving the red plastic cup in his hand as he spoke and sending liquid sloshing everywhere.
“I hopppe you’re not here to arrest meee, Offficer.
I’ve been a verrry bad boy tonight, but how could I have resisted theeese two butterflies?
” He lifted three fingers and put them in front of my eyes, squinted, and lowered one. “Two.”
I forced a smile. After the night I’d had, I was a bit fed up with wasted people. “You’re safe. For now. I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t arrest you.”
Out of the blue, he erased the gap between us and pulled me into a bear hug. He smelled of sweat, cigarette smoke, and vodka, a combination I would have liked to avoid. “We should get marrried. I likkke you a lot, you, the girl offficer.”
“Mel.”
“I likkke you a lot, Meggg. And I thinnnk you’re hottt.”
I pushed away from him without correcting him. “Thanks.” I gestured to the party. “I should go. I’m meeting some friends.”
His face fell. “Ohhh, okay. Come get meee if you need anything. A-ny-thing.”
I nodded and moved further inside the house.
There were people everywhere, even some dancing on the kitchen table.
The beat of the bass pounded in my head, and I could barely hear anything.
My feet stuck to the wooden floor with each step forward, and I suppressed a grimace.
Someone hollered something on my right, and a bunch of people started cheering and clapping.
From where I stood, I couldn’t see what was going on.
I passed the kitchen and noticed the countertop was trashed with empty bottles and crushed plastic cups. There were at least two dozen pizza boxes piled in one corner, and I wondered if there were any left. My stomach grumbled at the thought, but I would never dare to eat food in a place like this.
The house smelled like a mix of weed, perfumes and aftershaves, and stale beer. A whiff of incense reached my nose, but I brushed it off. Tonight, nothing surprised me anymore.
I crossed what I assumed was the living room and spotted Cassidy next to the DJ booth like Declan had said. She was surrounded by three guys and two girls I recognized from one of her psychology classes.
Our eyes met, and she called me over. She handed me a water bottle when I reached her, before jumping into my arms. “You made it.”
I smiled. “Yes. Seriously, how many people are here? I can’t believe the cops haven’t shown up yet.”
“Roomie, we are the police. We don’t need them.” She scanned around her. “Wait until you see the backyard. There are even more people crammed there. I’m not sure what these guys bribed the neighbors with so they wouldn’t report them.”
A guy wearing only a pair of boxer briefs covered with fake green palm leaves jumped from the second floor, holding on to a rope, hitting his chest with a fist, screaming at the top of his lungs. A mass of people cheered him on.
“It really feels like this is the jungle tonight,” one of Cassidy’s friends said. “I’m out of here. See you guys on Monday.”
“Seen anyone you know?” my friend asked me once she left.
“No. There is like too much sensory overload in here. I got dizzy the second I stepped inside. I know Mase is supposed to be here...or I think he is. If this is the party he told me about.”
She grew serious. “Do you wanna see him?”
I shrugged, uncapped my bottle of water, and took a long swig. “I don’t know. I’m not sure where we stand.”
“Only one way to find out.”
I sighed because I knew she was right. I couldn’t avoid him for the rest of time. As if I had summoned him, a silhouette wearing a bright-orange jumpsuit stopped in front of me. I blinked. “Mase?”
“Hey, Shepard. Miss me already?”
“I just arrived. Cassie, this is Mason. Mason, this is my friend and roommate, Cassie.”
They exchanged handshakes.