12. Faith
CHAPTER 12
Faith
The party appeared to be in full swing by the time we arrived. I followed Jess and Robin up the sidewalk to join the stream of vampires, zombies, and other party-goers on the driveway.
“I can’t see anything.” Jess pushed her Catwoman mask up onto her forehead.
“Get it in gear, Pussy.” Robin nudged her from behind. “If I’m going to survive this, I need a drink.” The tight, low-cut top of her corseted pirate wench costume didn’t quite contain all of her ample assets.
I stood on the driveway and lowered the hood of my red cape. I’d never been to Murph’s before. He shared a house not far away from campus with a couple of other guys.
“Ready to go in?” Jess asked. She’d removed the mask, but I could still see the outline where it had pressed onto her skin.
“Sure. Let’s do it.” I’d let Jess and Robin talk me into coming to the party at the last minute, so I hadn’t spent a lot of time on my costume. Jess loaned me a red cape, and since I had a tight red dress I’d worn to a formal a few years ago, I threw it on underneath. Tall, high-heeled black boots and a basket rounded out my adult version of Little Red Riding Hood.
“Thank god, more chicks!” A gangly hobo slung one arm around Jess and the other around Robin as we ventured into the house. As he led them through the foyer and into the kitchen, I followed behind. The scent of cheap beer and male B.O. assaulted my nose. Based on the way Murph looked down on so many things that had to do with the undergrads on campus, I’d expected him to have a bit higher standard of living.
“Ladies, so glad you could make it. What can I get you? Wine? Beer?”
“Three beers.” Jess decided for us.
The hobo dropped his arm from around Robin’s shoulder and focused all his attention on Jess. “Meow!” He snapped his fingers at two guys manning a keg in the corner. “Get this kitten and her crew some beers.”
A few moments later, the hobo pressed full plastic cups of beer into our hands. I took a small sip.
“Who do we have here?” Murph appeared in the doorway to the kitchen wearing a tweed jacket and a derby hat with an unlit pipe clenched between his lips.
“Hey, Murph. Who are you supposed to be?” asked Jess.
“It’s elementary, my dear Jessica,” he said.
“A teacher?” asked Robin.
He pulled the pipe out of his mouth and frowned at her. “Not elementary, as in school?—”
“How right you are, Mr. Holmes,” I interrupted. “It surely is elementary. Sherlock, is it not?”
Murph turned his attention to me and gave me a warm smile. “Glad to see someone knows her Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”
I nodded, then took another sip out of my cup.
“That’s an amazing crimson frock.” His eyes raked over the ensemble I’d put together on such short notice.
“Thanks. Nice place you have here.”
“Let me show you around.” Before I could think up an excuse, Murph put a hand on the small of my back and guided me out of the kitchen and into the living room. “I’m so glad you could make it.”
He propelled me to a sofa sitting in front of a giant TV. Cleopatra straddled what appeared to be some sort of creepy creature. They were so busy swapping spit, I couldn’t tell whether it was a zombie or a vampire. A horror movie played on the screen, but there was no sound. Music blared through speakers from the corners of the room. Heavy metal rock from what I could tell. A small ache started at the base of my neck.
“What the—oh dammit.” All of a sudden, Murph’s hand disappeared from my back. “Excuse me for a minute, will you, Faith?”
I barely said “Of course” before he stomped off toward the sliding glass door leading onto a patio. I turned around to look for Jess and Robin and collided with a masked creature of some sort. The contents of my cup sloshed over the edge and spilled all over a nice-looking navy-blue suit.
A garbled “Agh!” floated through the mouth slit in the wolfish mask.
“I’m so sorry.” I grabbed the edge of my cape and tried to dab up some of the beer.
“Nice move, Red.” The wolf in the suit swiped at his pants.
“Do I know you?” Something about the voice caught my attention. He sounded familiar, but who could tell with that furry mask over his head.
“You tell me,” Wolfman said.
I peered up into the mask. I caught the glare of a pair of glasses. Him again! My heart sped up and my palms went clammy and cool. Murph would be back soon. Under the circumstances, hanging out with Dante for a few minutes seemed like the lesser of two evils.
“My, my, Mr. Wolf, what big eyes you have.” I rolled my eyes.
“The better to see you with, my dear.”
I smirked. “And what giant, enormous teeth you have.” I reached a finger up and poked at a soft vinyl tooth on the mask.
“The better to nibble you with, my dear.” I let out a sharp laugh and Wolfman extended his arm out to me with his palm facing me. “And the hands? Don’t forget my enormous paws.”
I wasn’t sure why I did it, but I placed my hand palm-to-palm with his to play along. A strange buzz of energy pulsed between us. “Oh yes, what big hands you have.”
He reached up and pulled the mask off his head. His hair stuck out like he’d just rolled out of bed and his cheeks sported a layer of stubble that appeared to be about twelve hours past a five o’clock shadow.
Dante gazed down at me, momentarily paralyzing me with those damn blue-green eyes, then wrapped his hand around mine.
He raised an eyebrow. “The better to paw you with, my dear,” he whispered.
My face flushed. My thighs quivered. “Oh.”
“What the hell are you supposed to be?” Murph’s voice crashed through the intimate moment, and I yanked my hand away, embarrassed at the effect Dante’s touch had on me.
Murph reached us and gave Dante a playful slug on the shoulder, bumping him away from me and positioning himself between us as an awkward third wheel.
“I asked what the hell you’re dressed up as. An MBA student on an interview?” Murph looked down at Dante’s soaked suit.
Dante flashed the wolf mask at him. “Wolf of Wall Street. Get it?”
“Oh yeah. I get it. That’s sick, dude.” He wedged his body further in between us. “Faith, where were we?”
I needed to get away from Murph. I put my hand to my temple and took a small step back. “You know, I can feel a headache coming on. I think I’m going to head out.”
Murph grabbed onto my arm. “Hey, no need to rush off. You can just lie down on my bed for a bit if you want.”
“Smooth, dude.” Dante let out a snort. “I’ve got to get to work. Come on, Faith, I can give you a ride home.”
I looked back and forth between Dante and Murph. If I stuck around the party, I’d have to fend off Murph. But if I left with Dante? Did I really want to subject myself to being alone with him? The tremors running up and down my spine urged... yes.
“That would be great.” I looked at Murph, but he was busy glaring at Dante. I gently pulled my arm away. “Thanks, I had fun.”
I walked back to the kitchen to tell Jess I was heading home, then met up with Dante at the front door.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked. It was just a ride home. Nothing more.
“Not at all. I need to get back to the bar anyway. I have to close tonight.”
He opened the door for me and we stepped outside. The night was cool, but not too cold. A full moon illuminated the road in front of us, casting thick, dark shadows along the edges of the pavement. I shivered and pulled my cloak tighter around me. I wasn’t sure yet if it was because of the chill in the air or my proximity to the big, bad wolf.
“It’s a bit of a walk. Do you want me to go get the car and pick you up?”
“No. It’s nice out. Thanks though.”
“I haven’t seen you at the gym lately.”
“I’ve been jogging outside. I suppose once the snow starts falling, I’ll have to find another way to get my exercise.”
Dante let out a bark of laughter. “If you ever need to burn off some extra calories, I’d be willing to help.”
I sighed. “Do you always relate everything back to sex?”
Dante shrugged. “Aren’t you even the least bit tempted? Don’t you ever take a break?”
“Of course, I do.” I stopped in my tracks. “I do yoga, go for a walk, check out a movie,”—I gritted my teeth—“snuggle with my cat.”
“Yoga, huh?” Dante turned back to face me. “Believe it or not, I’ve done some yoga.”
I opened my mouth to respond but decided against it. What was the point? He’d just twist my words around anyway, kind of like how my stomach was twisted into knots at his suggestion of a dual cardio workout.
We walked down the rest of the street in silence, eventually reaching his car at the end of the block. Dante jogged ahead to open the door for me.
“Thanks.” I slid into the low two-seater.
He shut the door behind me, then walked around to the other side and got in. “You need to give me directions.”
Sitting next to him in the enclosed space, my body flew into high alert. My pulse pounded in my temples, and my fingertips went numb. Just thinking about touching his hand sent a flock of butterfly wings beating against the walls of my gut. He wasn’t part of the plan. Not trusting myself to look at him, I directed him back to my place with as few words as possible. He pulled into a spot and turned off the car.
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Faith, I...”
I risked looking over at him. Shadows played across his gorgeous stubbled face, though his blue eyes burned bright in the darkness. My breath caught in my throat.
Dante started again. “Did you...”
I tilted my head and focused my eyes on his full lower lip. As I waited for him to speak, an urgent need to reach out and run my fingers over his cheek washed over me. I should go. Now.
“Dammit, Faith.” His hand moved toward me, but he dropped it. He tilted his head one way and then the other like he wanted to say something more.
Before I realized what I was doing, my fingers wrapped around the front of his still-damp oxford, and our noses bumped. His hand sought out the tender spot at the base of my neck, and his lips smashed into mine. My first instinct was to push him away, but as his mouth parted and his tongue moved past my lips, I stopped resisting and melted into him.