Chapter 41
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
sierra
PRESENT DAY
Where’s your costume?” Reid’s girlfriend, Isabelle—who I’d officially met in person about twenty minutes ago—pouted with her hands on her hips.
We met at Colter and Ellison’s house before going to Rudy’s, and all of us were dressed up for Halloween. All of us except for Jake, that is.
“I’m not a dress up kinda guy.” Jake shrugged.
“Why not?” I asked.
I’d always loved Halloween because it was the one day a year I could be anyone but myself.
That, and because when I was younger, I never got to dress up.
My mom was never allowed to take me trick or treating.
Granted, when I got to high school and had a driver’s license, or someone else to drive me around, I did what I wanted.
The consequences still caught up with me, though, like they always did.
Jake stretched out his arms, yawning. “I just don’t see the point.”
“Yeah, that’ll change.” Colter smirked. He was dressed in khaki pants, a black cut-off T-shirt, red suspenders, and one of those plastic fireman hats from the dollar store. “Ellison was never a Halloween person and now look at her.”
“Yeah, Jake, Ellison was never fun, and now look at her!” Isabelle teased. “She’s even doing a couples costume! There’s a first for everything!”
“Hey! I was fun!” Ellison protested, crossing her arms, covering the white tank top with black Sharpie spots that she was wearing.
There was no questioning what she was meant to be with the dog ears and black eyeliner on her nose.
“I just never saw the point in dressing up for Halloween after college. And I’m doing this for you, Isa.
” She pointed at the tiny blonde who was wearing a yellow corset with black lace accents, a black miniskirt, black and yellow striped socks, wings, and some kind of antenna.
Isa just shrugged. “I thought it was a fun idea. Besides, Rudy’s is having a costume contest, and we have to go to support June.”
Hayden raised a brow. “Juniper doesn’t even work there anymore.”
“Yeah, but I was part of the brainstorming for the themed nights, so it counts,” she cut in.
“Man, I hope your costume isn’t foreshadowing for tonight.” Jake laughed at Mikey and Juniper, who were dressed as a prisoner and police officer, respectively.
Mikey just winked, saying, “She likes the handcuffs,” as Juniper rolled her eyes. However, she didn’t deny it.
“I think I know what you are, but who is she supposed to be?” Isa tilted her head as her eyes roved over mine and Hayden’s costumes.
I raised my brows, mouth gaping even though she couldn’t see my face under the mask.
“Isa, have you never seen the Marvel movies?” June gasped.
Isa grimaced, a flush spreading across her cheeks. “Guilty?”
“Well, that’s an arrestable offense in itself.” Mikey laughed. “Maybe you should be the one in handcuffs tonight.”
“Okay, well, you still haven’t answered the question.” She rolled her eyes.
“She’s a female version of Bucky Barnes’s The Winter Soldier”—Hayden gestured to me—“and I’m Flynn Rider.”
Isa pouted her lips. “Huh. All right, then.”
“Wasn’t it supposed to be a couple’s costume contest?” Ellison raised her brows.
“Yeah,” Juniper and Hayden said in unison.
Hayden added, “She told me she was going to be Rapunzel, but apparently she lied.”
I shrugged. “Not a fan of blonde hair.” When Isa and June looked at me suspiciously, I added, “On me. You guys look great as blondes.”
“Now that we’ve got that all settled, should we get going?” Jake asked.
“No!” Isa protested. “You need a costume!”
“Just cut some eye holes into a white sheet and throw it over him. He can be a ghost,” Ellison said dryly. “I’m sure we have one somewhere.”
“That’s so lame,” Isa muttered.
“I’ll be right back.” Colter chuckled before disappearing into one of the bedrooms. He emerged with a Scream mask.
“Why do you have this?” Juniper took the mask from him, inspecting it. “And why was it in your bedroom?”
He shrugged. “You never know when you need a mask. According to Isa, all the girls on the Internet are obsessed with masked men. Thought Ellison might be into it, too.”
Mikey burst out laughing. “Was she?”
Ellison rolled her eyes. “No. God, no. It doesn’t help that he scared the shit out of me one day with it, and I almost broke his nose. I would have probably broken his dick, too, if he hadn’t stopped me.”
“Wait, wait, wait, I need more context. Was he naked and had the mask on?” Jake laughed.
“That’s enough of this conversation,” Colter interjected. “Just wear the fucking mask.”
“Wait, we should get one of those,” Isa whispered to Reid, just loud enough for me to hear. “It’ll be like that book I read last month.”
Suppressing a laugh, I shook my head at her, and she shot me a wink.
“All right, now that we’ve gotten that all figured out”—Juniper gestured to our whole group—“let’s get going.”
Rudy’s bar was packed as usual, but instead of the normal rustic look, the place was decked out in Halloween decor. Fake cobwebs were draped across the bottle display behind the bar, a giant stuffed spider hung from the loft, and tonight’s “barrels” were plastic jack-o’-lanterns.
The DJ was playing mostly Halloween remixes, but would occasionally throw in a country song or two.
“Are there no other bars in this town?” I nudged Hayden, leaning in to ask the question in a low voice. We were up at the bar waiting for drinks, and while it was so loud it was unlikely someone would overhear, I didn’t want to offend anyone.
He shrugged. “There are, but they’re not as special as Rudy’s.
If you’d come here three or four years ago, you would have assumed it was a completely different bar, but business has really boomed since they started the theme nights.
It used to be mostly locals and regulars that came in, but now the college kids have started hanging out here.
Normally, it would be annoying, but Rudy’s a good man and he deserves the business. ”
“He’s the owner, I’m guessing?” I asked.
Hayden nodded. “Not sure if he’ll be here tonight, but I’ll have to introduce you sometime. He’s a hoot.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting him.”
“Here are those drinks, guys.” Liv slid our drinks across the bar, taking Hayden’s card and opening a tab.
We joined the rest of the group over at the pool table.
Part of me wanted to ask if that’s all they ever did—it seemed like all we ever did when we went out was gather around the pool table—but I thought better of it.
It wasn’t like there was much else to do besides drink, dance, and play pool or darts.
“Who wants to play?” Jake singsonged as he started passing out cue sticks before wiggling one in front of me. “Sierra?”
“You sure you want me to play?” I joked. “Last time I played, you all said I was worse than Mikey.”
Colter countered, “We didn’t say you were worse than Mikey. We just thought it was funny you both hit the eight ball in.”
I rolled my eyes while grazing my teeth over my bottom lip. “It’s all right. I’ll sit this one out.”
“Juniper? Isa? What do you think?” Reid asked.
Juniper shook her head. “Mikey and I are going to go talk to Liv and Nico.”
“I’ll watch with Sierra! Maybe we can go on the dance floor.” Isa winked as she nudged me with her elbow.
I grimaced, my eyes darting toward Hayden in a silent plea for help.
He lifted a shoulder as if to say, You’re on your own, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.
“Okay, then, let’s do me and Ellison and against you three,” Colter suggested. “We don’t need a third person, right, Blaze?”
Ellison wiggled her eyebrows. “Yeah, we’re good.”
“Okay, well, this is already boring.” Isa turned to me. “How do you like Silver Creek?”
I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall. “It’s nice.”
“Sorry, I’m sure you’ve been asked these questions like a thousand times already.” She let out a nervous laugh. “You’ve known Hayden for a long time, right?”
“Yeah. Since freshman year of high school. Keenan, Hayden, and I were kind of our own little trio back then. We were a wild bunch.”
Her eyes widened. “No way, really? Was Hayden a wild child back in high school? He’s so quiet now, I can’t even imagine him getting into trouble.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “No. He wasn’t wild. Keenan definitely took that title. Hayden wasn’t quiet, though. He talked all the fucking time in the beginning, actually. As we got older, though, he started to get quieter, I guess.”
Isa popped her lip. “Hm, interesting. I wonder why.”
I had my theories, but it wasn’t something I really wanted to share. I hated the idea that I was the reason he became quiet, so I pushed those thoughts down.
Pursing my lips, I shrugged. “I dunno. That was years ago.”
“He seems like he’s opened up a lot more just with you being here.”
My eyes darted to the floor, my shoe scuffing the floor. “Maybe. I guess I wouldn’t really know how he was the past five years.”
Her mouth gaped into an O, opening and closing like she wanted to say something then changed her mind.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, mumbling a quick apology to Isa. A message from an unknown number flashed across the screen before another one followed quickly behind.
Unknown Number
You’ll drop out of the NFR if you know what’s good for you.
Clock’s ticking.
My eyes widened.
What the fuck is going on?
Tapping Hayden on the shoulder, I muttered, “I’m, uh, gonna go get some fresh air.
” Without waiting for his response, I pushed through the crowds of costumed people to get to the front door.
I sucked in a breath, the cool air immediately rushing into my lungs, providing some relief from the stuffy feeling I’d gotten when the texts came through.
I paced back and forth on the sidewalk for a few minutes, sweat pooling on my forehead and palms. I took a few shaky breaths before getting frustrated with myself.
I wasn’t going to have a panic attack. Not here. Not now.