29
Conor
“I am so sorry I’m late.” Sasha says as she bursts through my apartment door.
She’s carrying enough bags to survive a weekend in the wilderness.
“There was a huge meeting at work and even though I wasn’t allowed to step foot in the room because I ‘wasn’t dressed pretty enough’, I still couldn’t leave the office.
” Our costumes hang from one arm, still in their protective bags, her giant makeup bag hooked in the other, along with other bags with who knows what in them.
I hurry over and take the load from her. “Sash, you really need to quit that job. They can’t treat you like that.”
She lets out a heavy breath, shaking out her arms that are now free. “I will. Just not right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t afford to right now and until this writing thing takes off or I find somewhere to work that my dignity will stay intact, I have to stay.”
Sasha and I have argued over this countless times and as I’ve said before, this woman is stubborn as hell.
She has been treated like shit since she started this job and honestly, I applaud her for being responsible enough to wait until she finds something else, but at the same time, she can’t continue to get beat down like that.
Sasha is the most patient person I have ever met and I really admire her for that, but everyone cracks eventually.
I would love to go in there and tell every one of those suited-up assholes exactly what I think of them.
Changing the subject I ask, “Can I see my costume now?”
There’s a delighted twinkle in her eye, her smile so wide making my knees feel weak.
“You are gonna die when you see it!” The Halloween party at the stadium is tonight and Sasha and I are doing a couples costume.
She says she has the perfect costumes, but wouldn’t tell me what they were until today.
I hated the idea since she will most likely have me in a dress, but I can’t say no to the woman.
It’s a weakness. “Can you guess what it is before I show you?” She’s practically vibrating with excitement.
I take my time thinking, but it’s for show. I’ve had this thought in my head since she told me she knew what costumes we were wearing. “I think you’re gonna be an angel, because obviously, and I’m gonna be God, because that’s what you call me when I’m making you-”
“Conor!” Sasha’s eyes widen and her jaw drops in shock.
I can’t help but laugh. “I was right, wasn’t I?”
“You are unbelievable.” She rolls her eyes so hard I’m surprised she doesn’t strain something.
“I’m gonna ignore that.” She thrusts the bag into my arms. “Just open it.” The expression on her face can only be described as uncontrollable glee.
She’s bouncing on her heel and biting her lower lip, clearly very fucking excited about this.
I set the bag down, pulling down the zipper painfully slow. Out of everything Sash and I do, I think winding her up is my favorite. She’s just so sexy when she’s mad. I can feel her agitation growing by the second. “Oh my God.” She groans. “Conor!”
“Patience is a virtue.”
“I’m about to commit a felony. Just fucking open it.”
Laughing, I finally unzip the rest, revealing my costume. My smile disappears.
“You didn’t.”
“Oh, I absolutely did!” Sasha squeals, jumping up and down like an excited puppy. “Tell me you love it.”
“I hate it.”
“Liar.” She claps her hands together and then throws her arms up in the air like she’s just solved world peace. “We’re like the 70’s power couple!”
She is so dead.
Almost an hour later, Sasha and I walk into the stadium hand in hand.
I hate to admit it, but she’s nailed it with these costumes.
She is so fucking sexy in her black, skintight leather pants that show off her perfectly round ass, equally tight black top that hangs off her shoulders, showing the perfect amount of cleavage, and her bright red heels, giving her an extra inch or two.
She’s breathtaking. My Sandy for the night.
The blonde wig shouldn’t work, but somehow it really does. I prefer her natural, chocolate colored brown hair but I can get behind the blonde too, if you know what I mean. Wink, wink.
This isn’t my first time rocking the Thunderbirds leather jacket and I have to say, each time I wear it, I look even hotter. Although, this is the first year my hair has been dyed black.
Sasha didn’t think the blonde worked, and had bought five bottles of that spray hair dye.
I thought it was a bad idea but for some reason, I can never say no to this woman.
I’m just praying to the high heavens that it’ll wash out before game day next weekend or I will get so much shit. Thank fuck for helmets.
“You good?” I ask the gorgeous woman at my side. She smiles up at me with those ruby red lips and nods, long black eyelashes fluttering in the sexiest way. Fuck, I can’t wait to see those lips wrapped around my-
“Danny Zuko.” A familiar deep voice booms from behind me, bringing me out of my divine thoughts. You would think he’s angry, but having been a player for the Flames for years now, you soon learn that that’s just his regular voice.
“Hey, Coach.” Shaking the man’s hand, I look around the room. “This place looks great.”
The normally bright lights have been dimmed, there’s an eerie fog running along the entire stadium, Halloween decorations hang from the high ceilings and are dotted around the space.
The ice has been covered, now making room for food and drink stands, arcade games, and a large bouncy house for the kids, or the adults who think they’re kids.
I will definitely be inside that later and I can bet any money that I’ll find Knight in there too. We’re still young boys at heart.
“Good to see you again, Sasha.” Coach directs his attention to the now blonde woman beside me. “How did you rope Matthews into dressing like this?”
“This was all his idea, sir.” Sasha winks up at me with an evil smirk planted on her plump, kissable lips. Traitor. I shake my head at her in warning but she just laughs.
Coach actually laughs. Not smiles, but laughs. I don’t think I’ve heard him do that in… well ever. Holy shit. Have I just experienced a once in a lifetime event? “Well, you two kids have a good night.”
“You too.”
Sasha and I spend the next hour chatting to a few of my teammates and their partners before she wanders off around the room while I stay at the back with Knight.
The place is packed. There’s children screaming, music blasting, people talking over each other. There’s too much noise and it’s giving me a headache. I’m losing focus. I feel like all the energy in my brain is slowly draining.
It’s like someone has handed me a hundred TV remotes and turned every channel on at full volume.
I can’t stop listening to the conversations happening behind me while also hearing the kids playing, someone singing along to the music, the ice rattling in the plastic cups, booming laughter at the other end of the room, a phone ringing that nobody will answer.
Every small sound is demanding my attention.
I try to focus on Knight’s words, but they seem to dissolve before they’ve even reached my brain. I can hear them, but I can’t process them.
“What did you say?” I strain my ears, begging for the words to move to my brain but I only catch the first few before a burst of laughter steals all of my attention.
“What?” By the third time, I can see the frustration creeping onto Knight’s face, and a wave of guilt twists in my stomach because I swear I’m trying.
Someone bumps into my shoulder. Someone else calls my name. Another person joins the conversation.
It feels like every part of me is being pulled in a different direction and I can’t keep up. Where’s Sasha? I need Sasha.
I smile at my teammates, because that’s easier than explaining why I suddenly can’t think straight.
And then I slip away, out the back door. The cold night air hits my face and for the first time in the last twenty minutes, I can hear myself think. The music is still thumping through the walls, but it’s distant now. Manageable.
I take a long breath. I hadn’t realized how tightly I’d been holding everything in until I finally let it go.
“Hey, you okay?” The sweet voice pulls me back into the moment. “What are you doing out here?”
I look over to find Sasha standing in the doorway, the warm light from inside spilling around her. Concern pinches her brows as she studies me.
“I just needed some air.”
She doesn’t call me out on the obvious lie. Instead, she walks over until she’s standing beside me, her shoulder brushing against my own. “It got a bit too much in there?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Bit of an understatement.”
She waits for me to continue. She always waits.
“The noise, it…” I rub the back of my neck, searching for words that never seem to come when I need them.
“It’s like… I can’t shut any of it out. Everyone else can just tune things out, focus on one thing, but I can’t.
I hear everything. All at once.” I shake my head.
“My brain doesn’t know what’s important, so it tries to pay attention to all of it. ”
“And that’s exhausting.”
I glance at her. “Yeah.”
She reaches for my hand, her fingers threading through mine so naturally it almost makes my chest ache. “You don’t have to explain it to me.”
“I know.”
“I’ll still listen, though.”
A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth.
Sasha steps in front of me, squeezing both of my hands. “Look at me.” I do. “You’re okay.” Her voice is soft but steady. “You’re not trapped in there. We can stay outside for five minutes, ten minutes, or we can leave completely. I don’t care.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“Then we won’t.” She brushes her thumb across my knuckles. “But if we go back in, we’re doing it together. If it gets too loud again, you squeeze my hand once and we’ll come straight back out. No questions. Deal?”
I nod. “Deal.”