He’s right, and since we both know it, there’s no sense in trying to deny I’m a mess as I wait to see what Astra’s wearing.
He thinks this situation is funny.
But he only knows half of the things that are causing me to pace.
I’ve never kept anything from him, and perhaps, this is the worst time to start. I’d love to say that I’m keeping secrets for everyone else’s benefit or even safety, but even I can’t buy that bullshit. I’m a selfish man, and what I want more than just about anything is to see Astra experience her first Halloween. I want to see her lose herself and enjoy tonight. She can’t do that if everyone is emotionally tiptoeing around her. One way or another, she’d pick up on the tension and unease.
As it is, I’m worried Fabien is going to crack. My idea was to send him home, but Andre doesn’t seem to want to let him go, and I fucking need Andre with me tonight.
I suppose I can’t hate Fabien. If his theory is right, I may have found a way out of this.
I guess we’ll see.
“You look good,” Torrin says, pulling me from my thoughts. His head is cocked to the side, and I don’t like the way he’s taking me in with a confused look.
I glower at him and grunt.
I look normal.
Astra told me to wear a suit.
Not that I would have indulged her had her costume idea been outrageous. I do have a reputation to keep, no matter that it’s Halloween.
Fuck, no matter this being the possible end.
I won’t go out looking like a fucking… clown.
“Not like you’re about to play the other half to your girlfriend’s costume, but still good,” he goes on. I can’t help but snort and shake my head at him. He definitely notices how I don’t even bother correcting him. “I was really hoping for something like mustard and ketchup bottles. I would kill to see you in one of those.” He looks way too amused with himself. “What did she pick out, anyway?”
“No clue,” I grunt, turning my attention back to her door.
We were out for hours. I took her to a special shop and she tried on three things. I was sure she’d go with the blue princess dress when she came out twirling in it with the biggest smile plastered across her face, but we ended up leaving empty-handed. I had been half tempted to buy it anyway so she could just wear it whenever she wanted. We ended up going through a few vintage clothing places, and she never let me see what she bought. All the secrecy had been… irritating and slightly arousing.
I’m just about to step out for a smoke to take the edge off when I hear steps from inside her room moving closer.
My breath freezes in my lungs as the door pulls open. Astra steps out with a coy, almost hesitant, smile on her face.
She has her hair tucked away under a felt hat. A few pieces stick out, but it’s not enough to take away from the bright red staining her sexy lips. The nude-colored top she has on is silky and frilly with a line of buttons down the front. Her seductive, curvy hips and thick thighs are being hugged by a straight skirt, which begins to flare out under her knees and stops mid-calf. On her feet are a pair of vintage heels that make me want to see her in nothing but them.
I’m definitely confused as she comes at me with a fedora in her hands. She places it on my head, a little crooked, and I resist the urge to fix it.
Torrin snorts, but I pay him no mind. Not even as his feet carry him down the stairs a second later.
Astra slips her hand inside my jacket, and I tense when she touches the gun I have tucked at my side.
“I would have gotten you a gun, but you already have one,” she whispers as she pushes up on her toes and stares me dead in the eye. She’s smirking. “You ready to rob a bank?”
And it fucking hits me.
“This is a little fucked up, you know?” I say to her. I’m doing my best to hide how I’m fucking loving it because I have an unhinged sense of humor.
I’m even a little hard over it.
“I’m aware,” she replies with a sexy smirk that has a deadly edge to it.
It’s like the fucking universe made her for me and sent her as a sick joke. I get her for such a short time. The perfect one for me. A little innocent. A little twisted. And she doesn’t even judge me for the monster I am.
The look she gives me is a glimmer of light in my dark, grumpy life.
