She stares, but eventually sighs, pulling her phone out and placing it on the table after navigating to her payment details. “If you send me that much, I’ll give it right back. That’s scamming you out of money. It was a joke, Evan. A joke.”
“I get it.” I hold my finger up to stop her talking, disinterested, looking at the details on her screen. My lip curlsupwards as I read them, nodding, jotting them down in my notes for later. And when I look up, I don’t let any humour flash on my face as I say, “Thanks, Florence. I appreciate it.” One brow lifts, waiting for her reaction, and judging by her thunderstorm-like eyes and ajar mouth, I’ve hit a nerve, which I like.
With a reddening face, Flo’s jaw pulses and her nose scrunches. “Call me that again, and I’ll shave your hair off while you’re sleeping. It’s Flo, not Florence.”
Not according to her payment details, but I like my hair the way it is.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Daddy! I’ve got your superhero costume! Come on! Get dressed!” Leo rushes into the kitchen, and after hearing Flo’s uncontrollable laughter, I look up from my phone to see him gripping onto a pair of my red boxers, the Superman logo printed on the front—the ones I always wear whenever we play Superheroes. The worst part—they’re full of holes, but Leo refuses to let me throw them out.
My eyes narrow in warning, immediately silencing Flo’s giggling. “Don’t tell a soul. It’s not too late to fire you.”
She crosses her arms over her chest before swiping her phone off the table, smirking at me as she strides past. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
7: Flo
Music thuds the floorboards of The Salty Dog—a bar in Missarali that Mae works part-time at and has hired out for the night. It’s not so loud that you can’t hear people talking to you, but it’s at a volume that could possibly cause temporary hearing loss in the morning.
I’m a little self-conscious of how short my dress is. It’s a costume I found that I’d made years ago for a Halloween party, and I hadn’t realised how my hips and thighs had filled out since then. But it’s a costume party, and I doubt anyone cares. I mean, one of Evan’s teammates, Bennett Quinn, is dressed as a giant banana wearing a leopard print bikini, for God’s sake.
“Can I tell you for the tenth time tonight how good you look?” Mae compliments me as she wraps her arms around my neck, swaying to the music in the rustic bar. The bells around her wrists jangle beside my ear, meant to look like collars since she’s dressed as a dalmatian, and I can’t help but wonder if she and Nathan are going to use them later.
It’s been too long since I’ve been intimate with someone in that way, and I’m jealous.
“Is this your way of telling me you’re leaving Nathan for me?” I wiggle my brows, and after hearing his name, her ex-football player boyfriend shuffles over, releasing a bellowing laugh.
He’s dressed as Mario, with a bright red hat and blue dungarees. Mae was desperate for him to get a Cruella De Vil costume to tie in with hers, but that was an immediate no, so she settled for the Italian plumber.
“Sorry, Flo. This one’s mine.” He lands a kiss on her cheek, and riddled with jealousy, their rescue dog Radish barks beside them, leaping up, desperate to join in with the love.
Even he’s wearing a costume—a Mike Wazowski harness and horns.
Bennett barrels his way over to us, the tip of his banana costume blocking his line of sight slightly, causing him to grunt. Poppy is hot on his trail, dressed as a strawberry, her red dress bedazzled with stones, meant to imitate the seeds, and a fluffy, green headband pushing her bright, blonde hair back.
“Tired of this thing yet?” Nathan asks his friend, pinching the tip of the banana and moving it out of the way for Bennett, but it just flops back down.
“Yes. Very much so.” He glares down at Poppy. “How come you got the sexy costume and I had to wear this? And why is it wearing a bikini? Bananas don’t wear bikinis. In fact, fruits don’t wearanything. Because they’re fruit.”
The excitable blonde giggles, ignoring Bennett’s rambling. “Oh, so you think I look sexy?”
Bennett stills, eyes flitting over to Nathan, who cocks his head and chuckles.
“You calling my little sister sexy, Quinn?”
He shakes his head frantically. “No… I—she’s—” He pivots back to Poppy. “Not that you’re ugly, Pops, you’re just—” Pinching his nose, Bennett curses under his breath, but a crooked smile tugs at his lips as he says, “You’re seriously making me go bananas. This is the last time I ever let you pick me out an outfit.”
“I thought a fruit salad co-costume was a great idea! It’s not my fault that Mae refused to dress as a giant blueberry. And Evan wouldn’t even entertain the idea of coming as a peach.”
Evan, dressed as a peach—now that is something I’d pay to see.
“Evan wouldn’t entertain the idea of coming, period.”
My blues scan the room. I’m not sure why I’m disappointed that he hasn’t come—the man can’t stand me.
Yet, I think for a moment, I was intrigued to see what he’s like without Leo, what he’s like around his friends. He always tries to act so put together, like he’s got it all figured out and doesn’t care about the outcome, but I wonder what he has to say when Leo isn’t the topic of conversation, not that I don’t love talking about his son. Spending time with Leo is my favourite part of the day, but I find that I’m curious to see who Evan West is by himself.Not just Evan West, the single dad, as everyone else knows him.
Maybe a small part of me also wanted him to see me in this dress. I’m not cocky, but my legs look good, and it’s a shame he’s not here to see them.
