Chapter 30
Luke
Annie headed over to Drew and Emmett’s early to help set up for the party, so I didn’t get to see her when I got home from my Saturday shift at Lenny's.
It’s not a bad thing though because she wouldn’t have let me leave the apartment if she saw my costume.
The night we decided that this year’s Halloween party was going to be a villain theme, my mind started reeling with all the different costumes I could see Annie in, and all the different costumes I could wear to match her.
She shut down the coordinating costumes that night, and she didn’t change her mind—even when I asked her almost every day for the following two weeks.
She also wouldn’t tell me what she was dressing up as, knowing that I would find a way to make my costume match with hers.
Little did she know, I saw the purple suit jacket and green hair dye she hid in the closet of her old room—the room that went back to being a guest room after I moved all her stuff into my bedroom when she was gone at rotations. I knew she’d be too tired when she got home to argue.
All she said was how she was going to make a mess and not clean it up .
I told her I signed up to clean up her messes the second she let me be her boyfriend.
I put two and two together, knowing the girls watched Suicide Squad and only one of those characters is known for that purple and green color combo, I figured out my costume relatively quickly.
Going with the version of Harley Quinn that they use in the movie, I picked up blue and pink spray-on hair dye on the way home, spraying one on each side of my head.
I figured no one wants to see me in shorts that show my ass and fishnets, so I opted for a more gender-bent version, wearing respectable-length black shorts with the red and blue jacket I was able to find at a costume store, and my favorite part of the costume being the little change I made to the iconic “Daddy’s Little Monster” t-shirt.
I know Annie will think I look ridiculous, but it’s her fault for not thinking I was serious about us doing a couple’s costume.
I’m getting Rosie ready in her Waluigi costume—Eddie and Mia dressing Daisy up as Wario—when my phone vibrates. Grabbing it from the front pocket of my jeans, I see it’s a text from Annie to grab the cupcakes she put in the fridge, so I make sure I do before I head out the door with Rosie, ready to show Annie how fun couple costumes can be.
***
Because I had to work until 8 p.m., I’m one of the last to arrive. I walk through Drew and Emmett’s front door, finding a dark kitchen and living room, the place lit up with colored lights to give the party a spookier vibe.
Drew and Emmett’s place is perfect for a Halloween party, already decked out in dark colors with gothic decorations. They added a few more themed ones for tonight, with everything from pumpkin-shaped plates to bat cut-outs on the walls and cloth ghosts hanging from the ceiling.
I say my hellos to everyone as I walk in, getting the whistles and laughs when they see my costume. I say hi to Drew’s brother, Cal, and his wife, Emma, in matching Slytherin robes, before making my way into the living room and find Mateo, Mia’s brother, and the other Cross My Heart guys, Theo and Silas, dressed up as Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Hannibal Lector.
Lacey, Drew’s friend, is dressed as Dr. Frankenstein and her husband, Tyler, is the monster, and Eddie’s sisters, Lucia, Carmen, and Isa are dressed up as three villains from the Powerpuff Girls: Mojo Jojo, HIM, and Sedusa.
I love how everyone took the theme so seriously.
In the kitchen, I find my brothers, Caleb, Bennett, and Jack. Bennett and Jack are dressed all in black flowy capes and Scream masks pulled up on the top of their heads, and Caleb is dressed as Kylo Ren, his mask under his arm as he chats with Bennett and Jack.
“Nice costume, little brother!” I hear Bennett yell across the kitchen when he sees me, and I walk over to them, letting Rosie off her leash to say her own hellos and setting down the container of Annie’s cupcakes.
She hasn’t been stress-baking half as much as I thought she would've, but I partly blame myself for my own methods of relieving her stress.
“‘Mommy’s Little Monster’, Luke. Really?” Caleb snarks, reading my shirt and shaking his head, but I see the amusement on his face.
“Cute, huh?” I say, my smile accentuated by the pink and blue makeup I found of Annie’s around my eyes and her cherry lip gloss of hers on my lips.
“It is pretty fitting,” Jack laughs, taking a sip of the drink he’s holding. “I saw Annie’s costume when we got here. It makes sense you’re dressed as the obsessed one of the two.”
Bennett and Caleb let out a chuckle, and I don’t correct them.
Obsessed is an understatement when it comes to Annie.
Before I can say anything else, the voice I’ve been waiting to hear all day booms behind. “What the fuck are you wearing?”
I give Caleb, Bennett, and Jack a grin before turning around.
Annie’s brown hair is pushed back like she ran her fingers back through it. It has a green tint over it, and her oversized purple suit jacket perfectly showcases the orange bralette, little black shorts, and fishnets she has on underneath.
I have to will my jaw to not drop to the floor.
Her brown eyes are framed with triangles of purple eyeshadow, her lips looking more red than usually, the lines of her mouth exaggerated to her cheeks.
“Damn, honey. Crazy looks good on you,” I tease, leaning into The Joker’s main characteristic, and I walk to where she’s standing behind the couch in the living room.
“I wish I could say the same,” she quips, but I watch her eyes roam, staring at my pink and blue hair and down to my chest where she echoes Caleb’s sentiment, “‘Mommy’s Little Monster’, Luke? What is wrong with you? ”
“Do we really want to get into that tonight?” I ask her, taking her chin between my thumb and index finger, pulling her closer to me, needing to taste her cherry lips before the temptation overpowers me.
Her kiss is soft, and I wish we weren’t in the middle of a party of a dozen people because my need for her never seems to go away.
“You guys are so hot!” I hear Mia yell across the living room. Annie pulls her lips from mine, and I find Mia and Eddie dressed as Chucky and Chucky’s Bride, always killing it with their couple’s costumes and winning the contests we always have at these Halloween parties.
Drew and Emmett are with them, dressed as Team Rocket’s Jessie and James with Lennon in a baby Mew costume.
“Hot enough to win this year?” Annie questions playfully, grabbing my hand to walk us over to our friends. “Did you bring the cupcakes?”
I nod not being able to tear my eyes away from her. I lean in to kiss her temple, letting go of her hand to throw my arm over her shoulder. “Did you make my favorite?”
She laughs. “I won’t say they’re not dark chocolate and peanut butter.”
I lean down. “That’s what I like to hear,” I whisper into her ear, keeping that little shiver I feel going up her spine to myself.
We spent the first few hours of the party mingling and catching up with the people there who we don’t see too often. We’ve gotten to know Cal, Emma, Lacey, and Tyler over the years, and if they’re important people to Drew, then they’re important people to us.
Same with Mateo, Theo, and Silas—Mateo being Mia’s brother and Eddie’s best friend for all of his adult life, Theo and Silas being the other half of Cross My Heart—we’ve gotten to know them well since they practiced next door to Lenny’s for years.
In the warehouse that is mine.
Mine to turn into something.
Mine to be proud of.
Mine .
When Drew and Emmett asked me to turn the warehouse into a coffee shop that could bring more business to the building they own, I thought I was hallucinating because it was too good to be true.
I’ve loved running Lenny’s, being the person that not only Drew and Emmett can rely on but the bartenders and patrons. It felt good to be needed, to be the one that people could lean on, the one in charge.
I know being a business owner isn’t the same as a hotshot lawyer in society’s eyes. I know people are going to think I’m crazy for taking this path rather than the one I initially planned, but I don’t care.
And that feels so good to say.
I don’t care because I’m doing what I want to do.
That’s something I can be proud of.
I didn’t feel an iota of pride when I got into law school or when I made it through three years of it. I felt nothing when I got the diploma that secured my license to practice law in the state of Wisconsin.
Both were huge accomplishments, but I couldn’t convince myself that they were something to be proud of.
But this. Starting a business from the ground up, being the one in charge, making the vision I have for it a reality, that makes me feel proud of myself.
Before Drew puts Lennon to bed, we hold our costume contest. Everyone has to pick their “walk-up” song like they do in baseball games, and then we each show off our costumes to our songs, either individually or with the person or group we dressed up with.
We all gather in the kitchen, being able to see everyone walk down the small hallway that separates the living room from the kitchen. Caleb, opting out of the contest, is on music-duty, having everyone’s song queued up
Cal and Emma go first in their Slytherin costumes, walking down to “Magic” by One Direction, followed by Jack and Bennett in their Scream costumes walking down to “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” before each going down on a knee, pouring their drinks in their masks and chugging.
As we all predicted, Mateo walks down to a remix of the Halloween opening in his Michael Myers mask, and Theo and Silas each follow him.
Lucia, Carmen, and Isa strut to “bad guy” by Billie Elish, making sure it was the one featuring Justin Bieber. Seeing them reminds me of when Drew, Mia, and Annie were the Powerpuff Girls, four years ago—Annie looked cute in green.
Lacey and Tyler walk down to “Dr. Feelgood” by Motley Crüe, surprising all of us when we thought they’d go with the obvious choice and pick “Monster Mash”. Drew, Emmett, and Lennon don’t surprise us though, going with the “Pokémon Theme Song”. They’ve won our contest a few times over the years, after Drew finally convinced Emmett that wearing a hockey mask with his regular clothes and saying he’s Jason from Friday the 13th didn’t count as a costume, and Lennon gives them the leg up this year.
As last year’s champions, Mia and Eddie get to go last, so next up is Annie and me. We argued over if we should go with the easy pop, “You Don’t Own Me”, the remake by SAYGRACE and G-Eazy, but Annie has a different idea—one she won’t tell me as payback to my costume surprise.
“Last chance to tell me what you picked before I leave a handprint on your ass,” I whisper in her ear while Caleb queues our song.
“Now who's crazy?” she teases.
“Watch it,” I fire back, but I know she acts like a brat on purpose for this very reaction of mine; I pull her in by the hip and press a kiss to her lips, just as I hear the familiar, “And I was like, why you so obsessed with me?” coming from the speaker before the beat drops and “Obsessed” by Mariah Carey starts, making the whole room burst into hoots and hollers.
“You’re going to get it when we get home, honey. Mark my words.”
She looks up at me, her Joker makeup being more of a turn-on than it should be, batting her long lashes and pouting her lips. “Promise?”
And then she slaps me on the ass, prompting our walk down the makeshift runway, to our friends cheering and clapping. I grab her hand, pulling her in against me, ready to press another kiss to her lips that I know will keep our crowd cheering, but she leans back instead, bending back into a dip with one of her long legs lifted.
She pulls herself back up, leaning in close enough for me to think I can close my eyes and feel her lips on mine, only for her to pat my cheek twice and spin out my grasp.
Fuck waiting until we get home.
The car is as good a place as ever to remind her just how obsessed with her I am.
Mia and Eddie end the contest with “good 4 u” by Olivia Rodrigo, the perfect pick for the toxic dolls they dressed up as, but I barely pay attention to the two because I don’t take my eyes off of Annie.
I scribble down Jack and Bennett’s name on the piece of paper Lacey hands to all of us while Drew puts Lennon to bed, one of the rules being we can’t vote for ourselves.
Annie knows I’m watching her—she always does—but she pretends she can’t feel my gaze.
Lacey and Mia count the votes, and I barely hear that Annie and I are the winners because I’m throwing her over my shoulder and walking us out the front door as everyone claps and cheers.
“Hey!” she squeals, and I smack her ass, returning the favor, our friends' laughs drown out behind us as I open the front door and slam it closed behind me. “Couldn’t wait ‘til we got home?” she sasses as I walk us through the cool October night, fishing for my keys in my back pocket, still holding her over my shoulder.
I unlock my car, walking around to the passenger seat, opening the door and setting her down. My car is parked on the street in front of Drew’s house, the street quiet and dark aside from the street light just down the road.
The air is cold, but I’m not bothered by it—heat overwhelms my body at the sight of Annie in front of me. Her purple suit jacket is draped over her shoulders, her tits pushed up by her orange bra. My eyes roam down her perfect body, looking at the fishnets covering her legs that are just begging to be ripped open.
I lean down, pushing the passenger seat as far back as it can go, giving me room to bend down in front of her and putting me right where I need to be.
Looking up to find her red bottom lip caught between her teeth, I shut the car door and grab her legs, yanking down her shorts and putting her legs over my shoulder and up on the dash .
I don’t waste any more time, ripping a hole in her fishnets and causing a gasp to escape from her lips.
I pull her matching orange panties to the side, diving in like a starved man, licking up and down her slit, groaning at her taste.
“Fuck,” she breathes through clenched teeth, her hands coming to the back of my head as I suck her clit into my mouth, feeling the sting on my scalp as she fists my hair.
“You taste so good, sweet girl,” I say against her sensitive skin, her hips slightly bucking when she feels my breath against it, and my mouth is back on her.
She starts to roll her hips, taking what she needs from me, using her grip in my hair to move me where she needs me, and it doesn’t take long until she’s coming on my tongue.
I don’t give her time to recover before I reach under the seat, lowering it down so it’s flat and flipping her over. She crawls further up the flattened seat until I have room to come up behind her, ripping her fishnets even more, exposing her ass to me.
I bring my open palm down on the skin, eliciting a little scream in surprise.
I rub my hand to soothe the skin before bringing my hand down again, wishing it wasn’t so dark so I could see her ass pinken with the print of my hand.
“Are you going to fuck me, or not?” she complains over her shoulder, but I hear the need in her voice. I unzip my jeans enough to pull my cock out, already hard and begging to be inside of her.
“You’re such a fucking brat,” I grit as I line up with her entrance, pushing into her with one thrust, both of us groaning as I bottom out.
I give her no more than a second to adjust before I’m pounding into her, thankful for the tinted windows, and I feel her tighten around me, already so close, so I reach around her, finding her clit, giving her what she needs until she falls apart again
My name on her lips as she comes sends me over the edge, my own orgasm taking over.
It takes us a few moments to recover, and I gently pull out of her, tucking myself back into my jeans, and opening the car door, a rush of cold air cooling my skin.
I step out of the car, making sure to use my body to block the open doorway, even though we’re the only ones outside.
“We’re too old to sneak off to have sex in the car,” Annie says, sitting up and adjusting her clothes.
“Where’s your sense of adventure, Annie girl. You’re never too old for car sex.” I reach my hand out for her to grab, giving her a grin that I only wear with her.
She shakes her head but takes my hand, and I help her out of the car. Her lips threaten to smile as we walk back into the house. “Your cum is going to be leaking out of me for the rest of the night.” And the dirty words shouldn’t excite me the way they do.
I shrug my shoulders, an apology being the last thing on my mind.
When I don’t say anything, she lets go of my hand, walking in front of me to get to the door first. “Looks like you’ll have some cleaning up to do when we get home,” she says over her shoulder, and now I’m hard all over again.
Just when I think I have the upper hand, she reminds me of who’s in charge here.
I groan as I walk into the front door behind her, her ass swaying as she leads us back to the party .
The music is playing and drinks are flowing, and there are animated conversations all around the kitchen and living room. No one acknowledges our absence, aside from the slap on the back of the head I get from Emmett that makes Eddie howl with laughter and the knowing smirk I get from Mia—but I give her one in return when I glance down at the “drink” she’s been sipping all night.
One that I noticed smelled a lot like orange juice and very little like tequila.
She narrows her eyes at me, and a shared understanding of keeping our mouths shut passes through us.
“Just in time for dessert,” Drew announces as she makes our way over to us, the cupcakes I brought over on a big pumpkin plate.
“What did you make this time, Ann?” Eddie asks as he takes one.
I reach for one as she answers, “Oh, I didn’t have time to make them from scratch, so I picked them up from a bakery on my way home from the zoo yesterday.” I pull my hand back.
“You didn’t make them?” I ask.
“I still got your favorite kind,” she answers with a little chuckle, grabbing one for herself, peeling the paper, taking a bite before holding it out to me, but I shake my head. She looks at me confused. “What?”
“I don’t want it,” I reply like a toddler refusing to eat his vegetables.
This makes her roll her eyes, and I feel our friends watching us, their amusement palpable in the air. “What’s wrong with them?” she challenges.
“They're not yours,” I answer, but before she can tell me I’m being stupid or whatever is on the tip of her tongue, I add, “Plus, I just had dessert.”