Chapter 22
twenty-two
LOCKE
Growing up, people rarely took Halloween seriously. My parents had better things to do, nannies got off early, and when we got older, Billie would spend the night celebrating her best friend’s birthday instead.
A night in with Rosie, queuing up a movie, and staying wrapped under our thick cashmere throw blanket is the most exciting Halloween I’ve planned in my life.
From the way she’s pacing back and forth on a call with Liliana, though, I think it’s about to get ten times more interesting.
“Please tell me you’re not fucking with me right now. It’d be so cruel.”
“I’m serious.” Liliana’s voice carries from Rosalie’s phone. When I emerged from the bathroom and took a seat on the couch, she was already in an excited back-and-forth with her best friend. “I told Grant I wouldn’t go without you.”
“Uh, yeah. You better not. I’ve been begging for years!”
She stops pacing to throw a hand on her hip. Her pajama-clad knee peeks out from the hem of my maroon t-shirt she’s wearing, and her foot taps the carpet dramatically.
“Well, you can thank Derek. It was his idea to go clubbing tonight and I don’t want them to be drinking without someone sober, so I’m asking you to come with me.”
Clubbing.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up.
Rosie working her way around the room, dancing excitedly with people she just met and getting free drinks handed to her from the bar is inevitable.
It’s so clear in my head. Her bright personality is one that would shine in the heated, pounding environment of a club.
The only times I’ve been surrounded by that many people consisted of my father’s business connections, or paparazzi chasing him down with cameras. Nothing like showering the room with energy and letting yourself get lost in the fun of a night.
Rosalie would absolutely shine there.
Liliana’s voice edges through some static right as she asks, “Does Locke want to come?”
She turns my way, and is horrible at hiding the hopeful glint in her eyes. Her plush lips pressed together give her away even more.
Rosalie wants to go, and I want whatever she wants.
“I’ll go.” I let my voice project loud enough for the other side of the call to hear.
She extends the device from her face for a second and turns fully towards me. The small steps she takes to the couch closes the distance between us. Her body finds its rightful place in my arms, and she places her hands on my shoulders.
“We don’t have to go, love.”
Love.
She brandished me with that nickname while we were half-asleep in my bed, barely awake after spending our first night together. Rosie said she liked that it started with an L.
“I want to go.”
There’s ruffling coming from her phone. I’m not sure if Liliana is aware of how deep our relationship has developed, but she must know we’re not just friends. Either from Grant telling her—after I told him—or through Rosalie sharing the news. I bet Liliana’s just pretending not to hear us.
“It’s going to be a lot of people.” Fingers twist themselves into my hair, massaging my scalp and making me sigh.
Spending the entire night like this would be a dream. But I don’t know when else I’d be able to see my girl in a setting so tailored to her, and with our friends there to ease the nerves of being in such a crowd.
Staying in with her would be amazing, but I can’t pass up this opportunity.
“I’ll be fine. I want to see you dancing and lighting up the room. I bet it’s beautiful.”
“Oh my gosh you two are sickening.” Liliana breaks through the phone speaker, and we all laugh.
“Baby,” Grant’s voice appears on the other side. “We’re just as bad.”
“Yeah, but not with our friends in earshot.”
“You called me, Lil!”
The two girls start mindlessly bickering, with Grant’s words barely making it out of the rubble.
“Are you coming, Locke?”
There’s an optimistic tone. My older brother, who, months ago, barely knew me and didn’t want any relationship with me, is hoping I’ll tag along.
There are layers now as to why I should put myself in a room of sweaty, loud, half-drunk partygoers.
All those layers consist of seeing my favorite people happy.
“Yeah, I’m going.”
“Great!” My brother cheers and I smile. “It’s super last minute so it’s cool if you guys don’t have a costume. Derek is wearing one of his old baseball jerseys and I’m wearing an apron.”
“Just an apron.” Liliana clarifies, giggling.
“Are you guys going to wear a couple costume?” Rosalie asks.
Light pink tint dusts her cheeks and there’s sparkle glistening in her eye.
Couple costumes are the exact sort of thing she’d secretly save a folder of on her favorite social media app, and obsess over whenever the Halloween season starts up.
I mentally hit myself atop the head. Of course, she’d want to do a couple costume. Even if we were sitting here doing nothing together, I should’ve thought that far, at least.
I want to be the best version of hers. I want to give her whatever she wants, and whatever makes her happy, because no one makes me feel seen like she does. The least I can do is bring her the joy she deserves.
While I’m thinking up last-minute costumes we can put together, Liliana is answering her question.
“It’s kind of hard to match with a chef.” Grant mumbles in the background that it’s not so difficult when “Liliana is a whole meal,” but she ignores him. “I’m just going to wear the angel dress I keep on hand.”
I almost question why she has a Halloween costume prepared in the back of her closet, but it dies on my tongue. That’s as Liliana-coded as it gets.
“Fuck, I broke my devil horns while moving and I never bought a new pair.”
Rosie pouts, and my need to fix it for her is instant. Offer to go out and get her a replacement right now and not have her worry about it. Stronger than that, though, is my confidence that she’d want to dress up together, as a couple.
“We can find something from our closets to make a couple costume.”
Her worried expression morphs into excitement.
“Really?!” She bounces on the balls of her feet, and everything feels right in the world. My life consists of many shortcomings, but my care for her will never be one of them.
Standing, I hold my hand out and nod towards her bedroom. “Yeah. Let’s go look at what you have.”
After Liliana gives us the time and meeting place—and I reassure Rosalie two and a half hours is enough time to get ready—we’re standing in front of her opened closet.
Everything spilling out feels so Rosie. Warm tones, cozy sweaters, and a few scandalous pieces that are going to haunt me in the middle of the night.
She’s pushing hangers back and forth, sighing. “I can’t believe I forgot to replace those devil horns. I’m a devil literally every year.”
Every day, I almost whisper under my breath. Since the first time we spent a night in the sheets, we haven’t gone a single day without getting lost in each other. It’s like a drug tailored specifically to the two of us.
The way she feels against me, and moans in my ear, and sends my body into a pleasure-filled spiral, is sickly sinister.
“What do you usually wear?” I ask in a low voice.
Metal hooks scrap and clink against each other before she pulls a dress that should be illegal. “This.”
Her tone is leveled—like she hasn’t just set every part of my body on fire. I almost forget our plans, toss her over my shoulder, and take her to into the bedroom for another night of four.
The black leather dress is flawless. Strapless and sleek. Skirt ruffled and flowing, and short enough not to be restrictive. The image of Rosie wearing this, and commanding the attention of everyone in the room, makes my blood run hot with want. It’s perfect.
“You have to wear that.” My voice sounds strained. I feel strained, in the chest and other places. “It would look so gorgeous on you. You have to wear it.”
Her lips pull into a smirk and I dig my fingernails into my palm.
Since seeing her fall apart from pleasure, I realized I opened a door I’ll never be able to close.
I’ll never get enough of Rosie. Moments of comfortable laugher shared between us, and breathless nights of making her come on my lips, mouth, cock… It’ll never be enough.
“I want to wear it. I just don’t know what I would be dressed as, especially if we’re supposed to match.
What couple costume works with a leather dress?
” Her smile starts to falter, and my brain works overtime.
I’ll come up with one. I’m not leaving this apartment without seeing her in that damn dress.
I start thinking over the countless movies and television shows we’ve watched together. There must be one that featured a character in a leather dress.
Every time I think of a possibility, I throw it to Rosie, but she comes up with valid reasons why they won’t work.
Character doesn’t have a partner to match her.
Outfit would be a jumpsuit, not a dress.
Character is blonde.
“We could put you in the dress. Your hair would match.”
“No, thank you.”
Ten minutes pass. I’m sure I’ve thought over every piece of media she’s shown me. We come up with nothing.
Sighing, Rosie asks, “Are there any video game characters you know? Or anime characters? Anything, really. I just want to match with you.”
I open my mind to stories tailored to my tastes instead of hers.
It’s harder than usual. Lately, instead of playing video games, I’ve been thinking about creating them.
I don’t know much about the process, but since I handed Rosalie over my deepest secret, the fantasy of starting a game studio hasn’t left my subconscious.
When I’m booting up a game, I think about it.
When I see articles about a new studio starting up, I search up their history, not their upcoming releases.
She’s managed to open up a world of possibilities for me.
I do have the opportunity to do something different, something more, if I wanted to. If I tried.
My future is officially intertwined with her in that way. Rosalie has taken control of every part of me, mind, body, and soul, and I don’t think I’ve ever been half as lucky.
While thinking over the games and anime I’ve tucked away in my mind, an idea catches. It would work for our costumes, no doubt. I’ll also die and be reborn again every five minutes tonight.
“There’s one. I… would be able to match with you. For sure.”
“Okay, yes.” She claps, swaying back and forth excitedly.
“Are you sure? It’d be two anime characters. You want to go clubbing dressed as anime characters?”
Heat spreads across my neck. I always felt a bit weird about being so deep into “nerdy interests,” as people have called it. Billie says those words out of love. My father, not so much.
I’ve kept those hobbies to myself for a while. It made sense to share them with Rosie, because she asked, and because she shares her interests too. Just as enthusiastic as I am about my favorite video game, she feels the same towards her specially curated list of movies.
Still, a chunk of me wonders if it’s too much for a girl like her. Rosalie, a bright mind and a heart of gold, who I’m sure could have anyone in the world she wanted—deciding to spend her time with a guy who wears superhero t-shirts and plays open-world action RPGs.
I wait for my insecurities to be validated. To be told she doesn’t want to go around flaunting that the guy by her side has such nerdy tastes. Especially at a club, of all places.
Rosalie opens her mouth and calms my heart.
“I don’t care how we’re dressed, as long as we do it together.”
My heart grows about ten sizes. Solely to make room for the feelings I have for her.
Throwing the dress over her shoulder, she grins, and I know there’ll never be anyone else for me. “Tell me exactly what to wear.”