Thad soon found Dakota’s sister—who worked for the team’s accounting department—dressed as Sally fromTheNightmareBefore Christmas. Her husband Jeff wore a Jack Skellington costume.
Thad complimented their costumes too and Violet beamed. “Want to see pics of the kids? We took them out trick-or-treating before the babysitter came to watch them.”
Thad smiled at the sight of the girls, the older one dressed as Zero, the baby as Oogie Boogie.
“Adorable,” he praised.
They made small talk for a few minutes before Jeff laughed. “So, I’m curious. Did you and Graham coordinate your looks?”
“Huh?” Thad said, glancing over his shoulder to see Graham playing pool. “No. Just a weird coincidence.”
Violet smiled. “Well, it’s a good look on you both.”
“Thanks. Hey, do you have any idea where Gavin and Dakota are?”
But Violet shook her head and frowned. “No. I thought they would’ve arrived by now. I didn’t expect to beat them here.”
“Hmm,” Thad said. “Well, let’s get your photos done in the meantime, if you don’t mind.”
After, Thad chased down a few of the rookies who seemed to have gone for mostly cheap store-bought costumes, got some more shots of the staff, then went in search of Graham.
He was the last one on Thad’s official list before he could call it a night.
The pub was getting progressively more and more packed though, so it took Thad a little while to find Graham near thebar, throwing back a shot. He was definitely feeling the drinks already, his cheeks flushed and grinning from ear-to-ear at the cluster of players around him, celebrating his hat trick tonight.
Thad cleared his throat. “Hey, Graham, can I get some shots of your costume?”
Graham turned to face him, still grinning widely. “Sure. Where do you want me?”
There was a definite flirtatious note in his voice and Thad bit back the urge to remind him where they were and that they were trying to keep this quiet.
After Thad got his photos, Graham swiped the camera from his hand.
“Hey!” Thad protested with a laugh, reaching for it. “What are you doing?”
Graham held the camera up and out of reach. Thad wouldn’t be able to get to it unless he leaned in and pressed his body to Graham’s. Tempting, but he had a feeling he knew howthatwould go.
“I just want to get a few shots of you. C’mon, show me how to use it!” Graham teased.
Thad bit back the urge to crack a dirty joke. “Why?” he asked instead, crossing his arms over his chest.
Grinning, Graham said, “Because you’re part of the organization too! There should be some photos of you! C’mon. Pose for me!”
“Yeah, okay.” Thad held out his hand. He set everything on auto mode, pointed out the shutter button, then passed the camera back to Graham.
“Wait, gotta get my shield,” he said. He fetched it, then posed while Graham took a few shots.
After he handed the camera to Thad, Anker called out, “Hey, Liam! Get that man some more shots! He got the hatty tonight!”
Liam looked up from the glass he’d been polishing and grinned. “Coming right up.”
Liam pulled out a tray of Jell-O shots that glowed an eerie white under what Thad assumed were black lights.
Tonic water did the trick, if Thad remembered right. Probably also Jesse’s handiwork.
But ugh. Jell-O shots? Really?Thad groaned. “So, they want people to get drunk-drunk tonight, huh?”
“Nah, some are non-alcoholic,” Jesse said as he sauntered up. “The ones with whipped cream have booze, the ones without don’t.”
