“Oh yeah, figured we could get more use of the mechanical bull. Isn’t he a beauty?” he asks with a grin as I take the glass from his hand.
Dalton’s arm is back around my shoulders. “I love watching people fall off it.”
Aspen’s already at the table. Deep down, I was hoping he’d not be invited because of his age, but I guess that doesn’t apply when you’re the owner’s cousin. Damen and Killian are here as well, both dressed to the nines, even though Damen is all elegance, while his husband sports a pair of ripped jeans and a new piercing in his lip.
The alcohol buzzes under my skin, and I’m ready to let the night take its course.
“Oh, so you will actually be drinking with us?” Damen asks, grinning as Dalton and I join them in one of the two booths. They are much more comfortable than any seating outside the VIP area, and I gladly rest my feet on the low table when Dalton does it first. After all, this space is ours for the night.
“I do drink,” I say and flinch when Aspen touches something in a computer attached close to his seat, and the room trembles from the force behind a loud guitar riff.
Remo is there to intervene and slaps the brat’s fingers away, before changing the music to a poppy song at a volume that doesn’t make my ears ring.
“Hey! I liked that,” Killian says, perking up. He’s already got a beer bottle in his hand, and he’s got no head for alcohol so I’m braced for a messy night.
Aspen nods quickly. “I know, right? I made the playlist for Corvus. Dalton told me this was your favorite band?” He gets up and points to the wall, and only then I notice he’s plastered Corpselock posters all over. Does this mean Dalton’s been in touch with Aspen as well as my mother? God knows what they could be talking about behind my back.
“I even dressed in your honor and everything,” Aspen adds, gesturing at his outfit.
It’s a goth version of his usual getup, and I guess slightly classier too?all black apart from a few white and red accents like the stripes on the side of his sweatpants and the patches on his open hoodie. He’s wearing a spiky leather collar with a bejeweled cross hanging from it. It’s both ridiculous and the best I’ve seen him look in years, but he doesn’t deserve a compliment.
I do like Corpselock though, and my gaze drifts to Dalton’s face. He grins, throws his big arms around my neck and kisses the top of my head, as if I’m a cute puppy. “You’re eerily observant.”
“One of his best traits for the job,” Remo tells me, making Aspen scoot over, so he’s the one nearest to the laptop. “I kid you not, Cross never forgets a face.”
Dalton smirks. “I need to know who to kick out.”
“You didn’t even like this band.”
He shrugs. “But you do.”
Damen holds up his palms. “Don’t worry, Corvus, Dalton had his own request.”
Oh, now I’m worried.
“What kind of request?” I ask, trying to appear relaxed. At least the shots have already kicked in, and the world’s a bit fuzzy around the edges.
Damen gets up and walks up to a wall opposite our booth. It’s covered with a black cloth and I dread to think what’s behind it. “Well, Dalton wanted games, so here we go.”
He pulls on the fabric, for dramatic effect, to reveal a black and white dart board.
My heart stops pounding. Okay, I can play a game of darts. Why not?
Damen glances at Killian with a smirk, but then back at us. “We called this ‘Dart to the Heart’.”
Dalton’s eyes widen, just like his grin. “Oh fuck! What is it?”
Damen pushes back a stray lock of wavy hair with a self-satisfied smile. “Simple. We’ll be taking turns with the darts. You hit the middle area,” he presents the circle around the bullseye, “you’re safe. Outside of that, you hit white, you have to answer a question truthfully, you hit a black, you do a dare. If you don’t want to answer a question, youhaveto do a dareandtake ashot.”
Killian sits straighter. “We also workshopped ‘Truth or Dart’ but it didn’t incorporate the dare part right.”
Only now I notice Remo has been whispering with Aspen, and the music once more turns to Corpselock, though this time at a volume that allows us to hear one another.
I actually…appreciate they thought about including my taste in music into this party, and it makes me shuffle closer to Dalton. Even though I’m going to marry him in less than two weeks, I’m still self-conscious about touching him among other people, and while I try to treat myself with understanding, it also pisses me off.
If a lifetime of hiding didn’t change me, I might as well embrace myself, and if this makes me happier then—
Damen clears his throat. “Going first, since Dalton’s currently glued to his fiancé.”
