“Jealous.”
My eyes flick up to his. He looks down, daring me to contradict him, but I don’t have the energy for it. Alex lifts his hand and rubs his fingers against a runaway lock of my hair. “It’s okay,” he says softly. “I get jealous, too.”
I shake my head in disbelief even though his admission thrills me. “Alex, I haven’t given you any reason to be jealous.”
“I know you haven’t. I still find plenty.” He smiles softly, an apology, like it’s something he’s working on. “But for my part, Casey… you should know.” He steps closer, and all I see are dark lashes and hooded, caramel eyes. “For the time being, you’re it. When I’m with someone, I’mwiththem.”
His words pummel me to pieces just as much as they bind meback together. I don’t know how to process the emotions battling for dominance inside me.
For the time being, you’re it.
I want all of you until the day I don’t want any of you.
“What’s the theme?” I ask.
“I am obviously not going to tell you that.”
“Please?”
“I already might get murdered by your best friend for saying what I have so far.”
“Exactly. What’s the harm now?”
Alex walks backward, shaking his head. “No chance.”
He pushes the button for the elevator, and I gape. “Did you follow me up here?”
“Yes.” He arches an eyebrow. “You were trying to telepathically communicate with me in that meeting, but I haven’t learned all your faces yet, so I had to inquire in person. But now I’ve gotjealousydown, so that’s progress.”
“Screw you,” I say, but the words lose their bite when I laugh.
He grins, rubs his jaw with a palm, and shakes his head at the floor. Quietly he says, more to himself than to me, “You really scared me for a second there.”
He’s gone before I can utter a word.
I walk toward the Hive in a daze, my inner chaos from the past few hours simmering down. Benny is leaning over Fari’s desk when I approach.
“Oh, Casey!” He straightens. “Perfect timing. Fari and I are scouring Amazon for costumes. Can you clarify—since it’s a murder mystery party but, like, only a few days before Halloween—are we supposed to be dead-lookingseventies icons, or just seventies icons who happen to be dead?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Half the people didn’t know it was a surprise, and half the people didn’t know it was a birthday, and well more than half thought Miriam meant the Halloweeny kind of murder, with fake blood and zombie eyes and gashes in your flare jeans. Brijeshswearshe never heard her say “surprise” over the phone, but it all works out when everyone shows up to Sasha’s swanky Upper West Side apartment in their disco best.
By everyone, read: exactly fourteen people, because that’s the number of character cards in the murder mystery party kit Miriam ordered. Even after all the plus-ones she gave out (Benny brought his boyfriend and Fari brought a thirty-three-year-old insurance agent she’s seeing), Miriam still had to invite three nursing friends to meet the quota.
When I walk in the door, the first thing I spot is a bowl of sherbet fizz, plus a pitcher of a premixed Tom Collins cocktail. A sign hanging over the front entryway readsTHE NIGHT DISCO DIED. Star confetti pieces are strewn all over the floor. An electric disco ball isprojecting colored lights onto each wall and, incongruously, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is blasting from a soundbar.
“John Lennon, I must apologize,” I mutter under my breath.
“Surprise!” Ellie 1 shouts at me as I walk in.
Ellie 2 hisses at her, “It’s not a surprise anymore, dumbass.”
Miriam has two nursing friends named Ellie. One has red hair and green eyes. The other is so petite, half the hospital must think she’s a runaway sick kid who found scrubs in the bathroom. They’re matching tonight, dressed up alongside Miriam as Charlie’s Angels, but the Ellies also have fake blood splattered on their skin. At least, I hope it’s fake. They work in a hospital, but… I really hope it’s fake.
The third nurse, Hector, is dressed as a cop. (He scored that character card because he has a real mustache.)
All three of them greet me at the door while Miriam rushes off to change. We just came from dinner as planned but gave up on the surprise element days ago.
