“Chill out, you guys, everyone is going to get it, it’sfine!”Garrett was obviously annoyed with us as he shoved the door to Heartstrings and walked inside.
All eyes turned to us, and you could have heard a pin drop if not for the booming music still playing from the speakers.
That was, until Melody started screaming with laughter.
The sound pulled my attention to her, but only for a split second before I was drawn to the sight of Stella standing beside her.
It was like she had stepped out of a 1950s pin-up magazine, and I couldn’t get enough of it. She was wearing a white swing dress with red line work detailing the skirt and a big bow that tied up at the back and cinched her waist perfectly. Her hair was done in an impeccable match to the style, and her lips were painted a bold red that reminded me of the first time I saw her in Heartstrings. It made me want to kiss her again.
I was drawn to her beauty, until her smile turned into a full rolling laugh that mimicked Melody’s.
Remembering what we were wearing, I turned to glare at Garrett and noticed Patrick’s face was as red as our costumes.
“Okay,” Melody said through a fit full of giggles, taking a deep breath to try and continue. “Explain to me again what your costume is.” She was still wiping the tears from her eyes every single time she looked at her brother’s and their friend.
“I told you,” Garrett said with a roll of his eyes but a smirk on his lips. He couldn’t even deny he was loving the attention he was getting. “We are spicy peppers. You know, likeyour books. Isn’t that what you do when it’s…what do you call that porn you read…smut?”
Olivia, Mel, and I burst out laughing.
All three boys were in matching costumes, a huge red suit that at first glance looked like a giant red banana, but was definitely a pepper, with a green top that sat like hoods over their heads. There was a little circle in the fabric where their face peeked out and their arms and legs were bare. I couldn’t imagine how cold they must have been walking over here. The best part, though, was how the end of the pepper perfectly protruded from their groin areas. Which might be provocative, if only I could stop laughing when I looked at them.
“Except, we are obviously better, because we’re the realthing,” Garrett said, trying to save face while the other guys accepted their defeat and shook their heads.
“I’m going to get a drink, would you like anything?” Calvin turned to me.
“Sure, I’ll come with you,” I said.
He took my hand as we walked to the bar, and I still couldn’t stop giggling as this giant pepper led me away from our friends.
“You look gorgeous tonight,” he told me.
All the laughing we had been doing brought out such a different energy in him. It was child-like, light and free, and I wanted this version of him to come out more often. He was always so worried about taking care of everything, I wondered when the last time was that he let loose like this.
“Thank you, this is actually all Trixie’s stuff.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I was with her when Mel came over and asked me to come out tonight. I was worried I wouldn’t have anything to wear, but Trixie said she had just the thing. She let me raid her closet and she fixed me right up.” I did a little spin for Calvin, showing the way my skirt lifted as I did and the beautiful bow in the back.
His eyes darkened with intense lust as his gaze lifted from my legs and connected with my eyes, and I wanted it to excite me, I really did. But I just couldn’t take him seriously in this costume.
“Come on, my little spicy pepper. Let’s go dance.”
I had to hand it to the guys, they sure played it up when it came to those costumes. They danced their asses off on the dancefloor, shaking around their peppers like nothing else in the world mattered. And it paid off. They won the best costume contest. The only prize was bragging rights, but that seemed to be more than enough for them, especially Garrett who was incessantly cocky about it.
“I told you guys this was the best idea ever!” he yelled while standing on a table with his cup in the air, cheersing anyone who would take it.
“Yes, you sure did. Now come on down from there, you firecracker.” Olivia smiled at Garrett as she reached for his hand to pull him down.
He jumped off the table, far more gracefully than he should have for how drunk he was, and bowed before he kissed Olivia’s hand. “Anything for Her Royal Majesty.”
Olivia had dressed up as the Queen of Hearts, and Melody was her very own version of a cupid. I loved that their costumes were a play on Love. Everyone in this little town absolutely adored it, and it showed in everything they did.
Olivia blushed in a way I hadn’t seen from her before, but it was gone the next second as Garrett rushed off for another drink and Olivia turned back into her conversation with Mel.
“Ready?” Calvin came back to our table after changing his outfit in the bathroom. He decided to remove his spicy pepper costume and turn back into my handsome lumberjack. He said it was because he was getting cold, I think it was because he was tired of all the funny looks. Either way, I wasn’t complaining one bit when he reached for my hand as I stood up out of my seat.
“Ready,” I said to him.
