Control You (23 page)

“So, I know we said we’d all go to that one party for Halloween this weekend, but Cameron sent me a text a little bit ago, letting me know we were all invited to his place for a party too.” I reached for a navy blue and white striped long-sleeved shirt, and put a hanger through the neck hole.

“We or you?” I could feel her eyes on me, but I didn’t look up. My neck and face were already growing hot from her insinuation. I didn’t need to make it worse by meeting her stare.

“We.” I laid the shirt beside me and reached for another. “Think you and Jimmy would want to come?”

“Psshh, me and Jimmy are sort of off for a little while. Honestly, I think I’m boring him or something.” She shrugged. “So, if Blaire and Jason don’t want to go, then you and I can go together. That frat party isn’t going to be anything besides a bunch of stiff sausages walking around looking for some Halloween nookie, and I don’t feel like hooking up with another douche any time soon. Maybe Cameron has some gorgeous male friends who are worth a shit.”

I laughed and nodded. “Maybe.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Lauren got up and plugged her phone into the speakers sitting on my desk.

“We need some music. It’s too quiet in here,” she insisted.

Quiet never bothered me. In fact, I enjoyed it, especially when I had so much swirling through my head at once.

“Do you have a costume?” Lauren spit her gum out in the Command box she’d left on my desk, and then chucked it into the trash can.

“I was planning on going as a witch. It’s the same costume I wore last year.” I tossed another shirt on to the pile beside me. “I haven’t had a lot of time to go shopping for one this year, since I’ve been focusing on getting this place together.”

“We should go together, then. After we get done with hanging these clothes up,” she suggested. “We can check out the stuff around here and if we don’t find anything, we should head over to that Halloween store in Carter.”

Carter was the next town over. It was huge, like five Norhursts put together. Excitement pounded through me. I’d always wanted to go to that store. “Maybe we should text Blaire to see if she wants to come with us.”

Lauren pulled out her phone and pounded out a message lightning fast. “Done.”

It only took a few seconds for Blaire to respond.

“She gets off at two today and said she’d come.” Lauren moved back to her spot across from me and picked up a yellow sweater. “That’s in about an hour. We should be done by then. Don’t you think?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, and I’ll need one of you two to drive us over there. We can’t take my car, because I’m trying to save the gas I have. Not having a job really sucks. I’m going to run out of money quick-like,” she grumbled.

My chest tightened at her words. I hadn’t found a way to ask her yet if she would want to work at the shop with me, but I figured now was a perfect time, so I went for it. “I’m just going to toss this idea out to you, okay? You don’t have to accept it because you’re my friend.”

“Okay.” She dragged the word out, obviously not understanding where I was going with the conversation.

“I think it would be really cool if you worked here. You’ve got great fashion sense and you’re more responsible with money than I am. If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I get it and you’re not going to hurt my feelings by turning me down. Promise.” I met her stare. The expression on her face was unreadable, so I held my breath while I waited for her to respond.

“I guess I could do that.” Her lips pursed together in thought for a moment, before she broke out into a smile. “Sure. I’d freaking love to work here, are you kidding me?”

“Awesome!” I let out a squeal.

“Wait.” Her face grew serious. “Do I get a discount?”

“Absolutely, and bonus, we both get first dibs on the stuff as it comes through.”

“Deal, then.” She smiled. “All right,
boss
, let’s get this stuff knocked out so we can go costume shopping!”

I shook my head. “Oi, please don’t call me boss.”

She winked and tossed a shirt at me. “Whatever you say.”

CAMERON

Sunday night came faster than I’d expected. Eva had come over earlier in the day to help me decorate the place. It had been more time consuming than we’d thought, considering we had to clear out all the clutter and junk from the renovation the workers had left behind. The living room had been transformed into a dark, gothic dungeon, and the Halloween theme exploded from there throughout the entire first floor. I’d even gone so far as to rent a dry ice machine and drape dark streamers along the threshold between the living room and the kitchen. The dining room had been set up as the beer pong zone, with the table I’d purchased the day before as the board. Eva had found some lime green Ping-Pong balls for us to use, and some festive-looking cups.

My parents’ house had never looked so ready for Halloween.

I adjusted the black bowtie around my neck and applied more dark makeup around my eyes so they appeared hollowed out a little more. This had to be one of the best costumes I’d ever had. I fanned out the fringe around my neck more and stared at my reflection. Jack the Pumpkin King was getting ready to rock this place tonight.

“Damn, that is one wicked-looking costume! It makes me wish I’d gone as your Sally instead of Catwoman.” Eva placed a hand on her hip and leaned against the wall to my bathroom.

She was dressed head to toe in shiny, tight-fitting black pleather. Her exotic eyes had been done up in some smoky gray eye stuff that made them look insanely bright tonight. I’d already told her so at least ten times in the last hour.

“Catwoman is definitely you though.” I grinned. “You look smokin’!”

She rolled her eyes. “Thanks. I just think it would be cool to have been Jack the Pumpkin King’s other half. That would have been an awesome costume to wear—all the sewing stitches and patchy clothing.”

“There’s always next year.” I applied more white face paint to my forehead.

“True.” She shifted in her heeled boots and folded her arms across her chest. “Did Paige ever text you back?”

“Yeah.” I walked past her and out into the new sitting room I’d created upstairs. I sat down in one of the two chairs directed toward the window of walls I’d had installed to take advantage of the beautiful view of the lake, and slipped my shoes on. “They’re all supposed to be here a little later.”

“Matt is supposed to be here tonight too.” There was an uncertainty to her words that made me question the truth in them. “If not, then I’ll just find some other smuck to dance with all night long.”

She was disappointed. I could tell. I hated seeing her sad. She deserved someone who would make her happy. She always seemed to pick the guys who were assholes, stood her up, or hit her. Sometimes it was a combination of all three.

“Dressed in that costume, I have a hard time believing you’ll be sitting around all by your lonesome tonight.” I smiled.

Her lips twisted into a crooked grin. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“Come on. Let’s head down to Halloween Town and await our guests.”

* * * *

People began arriving a little after nine thirty, and soon the entire place was packed. When I’d sent out my mass text messages announcing I was having a party, and letting people know what time and where, I’d simply left it as invite whomever. People had taken me seriously, because I couldn’t begin to count the people crammed into my house right now.

I pushed through the thick crowd, searching for one face in particular, but not seeing it. Making my way into the kitchen, where my counter was lined with enough bottles to resemble a liquor store, I still didn’t see who I was looking for. When she’d said later, she truly meant it.

“Here, have a drink and chill out. She’ll be here.” Eva handed me a plastic cup with white ghosts printed on the sides filled with some concoction she’d made.

My lips twisted into a small grin as I took it from her fingers. “I am chilled out. I was looking for you.”

A lie, and from the look on her face, she knew it. We both knew whom I was searching so desperately for—Paige.

“Right.” She dragged the word out as her plump, red lips formed a wide grin. “Enjoy yourself, please. This is a kickass party! Look around!”

She was right, as always. This had been one of my most successful parties yet. The entire atmosphere was electric with alcohol, sex, and sweat. This was the type of party you lost yourself in. And, when you woke the next day, you felt like shit and had a massive hangover from hell, but your soul had also been purged clean and renewed.

“There you go. Soak it up,” Eva insisted.

A guy dressed in a Batman suit leaned between us in an attempt to get her attention. It worked, and they begin to talk about how crazy it was to see the other half of their costume randomly. This was a good thing, considering her asshat of the month had stood her up as she’d suspected he would. I took a sip of the concoction Eva had created for me, and realized it was my favorite drink of choice for relaxing—a cranberry vodka with a hint of lime. She knew me so well.

Forcing my way through the kitchen and back toward the living room, I glanced around, taking note of the outrageous costumes surrounding me. A girl dressed in the skimpiest Snow White costume I’d ever seen reached out and locked her arm through mine.

“You’re Cameron, right?” She batted her heavily coated eyelashes at me. “The guy who owns this place?”

I took another sip of my drink, wondering where this conversation was headed. “That would be me.”

“Awesome!” She turned to the girl standing to my left. I hadn’t even noticed her until now, but she was dressed in an equally slutty-looking Cinderella costume. The girl stepped closer to me and smiled wide. I could smell the alcohol on her breath, and wondered if she realized the I’m-cute-and-you-know-you-want-me vibe she was trying to send out made her appear as though she was going to eat me and wasn’t at all sexy. “Me and my friend here would like to see what all you’ve got tonight that might make this party a little more interesting for us. We’re willing to do a few
favors
for you in return.” Her hand ran up my chest, and I resisted the urge to slap it away.

I drew my eyebrows together, caught off guard by their boldness. I knew what they were hinting at—hell, what they were
asking
for—but I didn’t live that life anymore. And somewhere along the rehab and recovery timeline, I didn’t
do
their type anymore either.

“I’m sorry, ladies, but the only thing I’ve got tonight is alcohol. I’m not the same Cam I used to be, which means I don’t do girls like either of you anymore either.” There was no nice way to let them down. I knew their type. They were like leeches. You could try your damnedest to shake them, but each time you walked anywhere near them, they’d attempt to latch on again.

Snow White glared at me and Cinderella placed her hands on her bony hips as she opened her mouth to speak for the first time. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Umm, no, actually I’m not.” I walked between the two and didn’t look back.

“Nice job,” a familiar voice called to me from somewhere to my right. I turned and spotted Lauren dressed as a Greek goddess or something. She had on a long white toga dress and golden ivy things on both of her forearms as well as intertwined in her hair in the shape of a crown. “I thought I was going to have to come over there and help you with those two scantily clad princesses.”

“Yeah, scantily clad they are.” I chuckled and looked behind her for Paige.

“She’s in the dining room with Jason and Blaire.” Lauren smiled. “Apparently, Jason is a sucker for beer pong, so I’m sure we’ll all be standing around in there keeping Blaire company the entire night.”

“What, you don’t play beer pong?”

“On occasion.” She adjusted the golden vine on her left arm. “By the way, nice costume. I love that movie.”

“Thanks, Tim Burton is a genius.”

“So, where’s your bathroom?” Lauren asked.

“Down that way.” I pointed her in the right direction, and then headed into the dining room, anxious to see what Paige had come dressed as.

PAIGE

As Jason effortlessly made his shot, I adjusted the top of my pirate girl dress and tried to keep from laughing. There was nothing funnier than seeing a giant tooth playing beer pong. The more he drank tonight, the funnier it would become to me.

“I cannot hold this thing all night!” Blaire whined as she waved her wand around. She’d dressed up as the tooth fairy and looked stunning.

“Shove it down your top, then you don’t have to hold it anymore, but you won’t lose it either,” I suggested.

She shifted to meet my stare. “Good thinking!”

“Yeah, good thinking,” someone said from behind me. I knew who it was without having to turn and see—Cameron.

“Oh my God, I love your costume!” I shouted, unable to control myself. “That is my favorite Halloween movie of all time! Well, besides
Hocus Pocus,
of course. ”

“I’ve heard that a lot tonight. I’m shocked there are so many Tim Burton fans here.” He grinned.

“Wish I had known what you were going as, I would have attempted to be your Sally.” The words were out of my mouth before I could run them through my head and search for any sense of embarrassment they might inflict on my behalf.

His eyes flashed. “That would have been nice.”

A guy dressed as a cowboy brushed past me, bumping me with his body in the process, and I stumbled into Cameron. His hand reached out to steady me, gripping my upper arm.

“Jeez, there are a crap ton of people here.” The words were hollow and meaningless, because all I could think about was his hand wrapped around my arm. It was warm and gentle against my skin. Something Craig’s grip had never been.

“Yeah, there are.” Cameron’s eyes were narrowed at the guy who’d bumped me when I glanced up. As soon as they flickered to find mine, he released my arm and took a step back.