Eye Candy

“The first bedroom. There’s a guest room, then a bathroom. The door that opens to another set of stairs is Logan’s. Don’t go in there.”

“Thank you.” Courtney waved as they headed up.

Taylor dropped her voice, even though no one was in the room. “I’m not sure what Logan left out on the bed from last night. He got, ahem, creative.”

I finished my tea and shook my head. “I don’t need to hear about Logan’s creativity.” I was trying to hold back a laugh.

She didn’t hold hers back. “I’m going to grab something quick to wear. I’ll help those other two. Should we dress them in Nate’s underwear? I think that’s more the dilemma I’m torn about.” She started for the stairs, but paused. “It’s not like he’ll see them being used. He’s in Boston too.”

The clock said seven thirty-three. “Nope. He should be in the Los Angeles stadium right about now. He’s coming back with Mason tomorrow.”

“That’s right. I forgot about the game.” She looked at the television. “We could’ve watched the game tonight.”

“Nah.” I just smiled. It was girls’ night tonight.

She seemed to understand and her eyes darkened. “Hey, uh.” She flicked a glance to where Heather was still standing outside. “I didn’t mean to come off like I was gossiping before. Thanks for not participating. The words were out before I realized what I said.”

“It’s fine.”

And it was. Taylor wasn’t like that. Courtney and Grace were her friends too, since Taylor had joined the cross-country team the same time I did, but they were more my friends. I stayed when she had to quit because her nursing program became too demanding. Even though Taylor was from Cain, she didn’t have a lot of friends. That was her choice. She could’ve had them. She was beautiful on the inside and out, with light brown hair, almost golden-blond in sunlight, and the darkest almond-colored eyes. Logan was head over heels for her, but if she’d been a catty, gossipy kind of girl, he wouldn’t have given her the time of day. I finished pouring my drink as Taylor went upstairs, then poked my head outside.

“Wanna help me look for something cute and sexy, but also comfortable enough where I won’t want to get rid of it when the booze hits me?” I asked Heather. She was sitting, but now she was starting to look fuzzy to me. “Too late.”

The booze had just knocked down my front door.

She sighed, leaning back and crossing her legs at the ankles. “Are they all talking about me?”

“Not one word.”

I stepped out and sat down to rest next to her.

Heather held up her drink and I clinked mine against it. “Salute.”

She raised hers up before taking a long drink. “I’m already fucked up.”

I patted her leg. “That’s okay. I am too.” Or I was getting there. “Taylor’s friend is going to drive us to the club.”

“Do me a favor?” She put her cigarette out, then locked those so-sad eyes on mine again.

“Anything.”

“Don’t let me go home with some random tonight. Okay?”

“Not a problem. Consider me your lesbian bitch tonight.”

She frowned. “Pretty sure that’d make me your lesbian bitch.”

“Really?” I shrugged. “Either way, you’re mine tonight. No guy or girl better even look your way.”

She grinned. “Are you going to be Butch Sam tonight?”

“Oh yeah. I am all . . .” My mind was coming up blank. I gave up. “I have no idea what the jokes are.”

We stood and moved to go inside, then headed to the basement.

I put all the costumes from last year down there. If the others couldn’t find anything, I’d tell them about the storage room. I was selfish. I wanted to get there first. “You might not want to say that out loud around her. She looked at you this summer and said her favorite food was fish.”

I didn’t think she meant the food.





Chapter 4


Courtney was dressed as a sexy teacher. We were all giving her grief, since teaching was her major, but she shrugged us off. She said, “Think of it as me practicing what not to wear. I have to be the buttoned-up, prim-and-proper version next year. I want to be inappropriate tonight.”

Grace was a colorful princess-fish. I had no clue where she’d found the tulle, but . . . okay.

I was impressed. The clothes looked like costumes bought from a store.

Taylor lifted her hand in a Vanna White motion. She wore a black corseted dress with her hair pulled up into a tight bun. A piece of a wig was on the front of her face; she was a bearded lady.

She clasped her hands together in front of her. “I like roller coasters. I couldn’t figure out how to be that, so this was the next best thing.”

Heather grunted. “You’re one hot bearded lady.”

“Really?” She perked up.

“Totally.” Heather was leaning an elbow on my shoulder.

Then all of the attention was focused on us. I elbowed her in the side. “Oh, yeah.” She straightened, her arm falling back against her side. She was holding her drink in the same hand she used now to motion toward both of us. “I figured we’d go opposite what we are in our real lives—”

I frowned. She hadn’t said that when she’d suggested the costumes.

She kept going. “I’m an angel.” She lifted the wings that we’d fastened behind her. They were made of white tulle, but I knew this tulle came from the costume closet. I might have to go on a mission to find the pink, sparkly tulle that Grace was wearing. I wondered if there was any left. I could do crafts with it . . . or ask someone who did crafts, to make something pretty with it.

Heather was saying, pointing to me, “ . . . darkness here. Sam’s all light and beautiful, so she’s going the dark hooker route.”

I had on black fishnets, a black leather dress, and the same tulle as Heather’s, but mine was black. We’d tried to cover it with black glitter we found in another container. The glue wasn’t sticking, and half the glitter was on the floor. I made a mental note to clean when I got up tomorrow.

The girls weren’t sure how to react, and I held my hands out. “I had no idea she intended us to be ‘opposite’ what we are.” I turned to Heather. “Hearing that I’m all ‘light’ is news to me. You met me in high school.”

“You’re happy now.” She saluted me with her glass. “Trust me. The costumes fit our opposites.” She finished the rest of her Long Island iced tea.

I raised an eyebrow, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. Heather looked ready to bulldoze her way through a liquor store.

She was still standing. We all were, but I was starting to waver. I glanced over, and, yep. Taylor was holding on to the wall. Grace was holding on to Courtney, and Courtney was gritting her teeth, focusing on the spot behind me.

It was time to dance. We needed to start sobering up, just a little.

*

Here we were. We walked into that nightclub like we owned it. The bouncers opened the door, and we strode right past them. The wind kicked up and it was like a fan blowing for us, like we were walking on a runway. The angel, the dark hooker, the bearded lady, the sexy fish, and the teacher. All eyes were on us—and then Grace tripped and fell.