Page 223 of Sweet Temptation

But when she leaned into me, all she said was, “Did you want a drink? Just this once? Brody’s buying for all of us.”

“No, thanks,” I told her. Then, because she looked mildly disappointed, I said, “Bring me a sip of yours.”

She smiled, adjusted my bowtie, and headed over to talk to Ashley and his girlfriend.

I stood back by the wall, not far from Flynn, watching over the scene in the VIP area, which was pretty full already. I kept an eye on Piper, who was talking to Brody. They looked friendly, unfortunately. Brody’s wife, Jessa, even seemed to be laughing at Piper’s jokes.

Apparently she appreciated his sense of humor a lot more than I did.

The opening DJ was getting the crowd warmed up as the nightclub filled up. The dance floor was maybe half-full, but it would fill up fast when Summer went on. She was the second of three DJs tonight, which I knew she’d enjoy. She’d get to experience a bit of the event both before and after her set, with plenty of time to party afterward.

And maybe she really wasn’t exaggerating when she kept telling me that this was her biggest party night of the year. There was definitely an extreme vibe of debauchery in the air, different than I’d felt at other shows she’d played. Maybe it was the fact that it was Halloween. Maybe it was the fact that everyone had an excuse to party so hard on a Wednesday.

The costumes and masks added an air of mystery, chaos and excitement as people bumped into each another, checked out costumes, and got shit-faced.

There were more girls dressed as slutty nurses, sexy schoolgirls, and naughty nuns than I’d ever seen in one place.

Among the guys, there were a lot of superheroes, gangsters and cowboys, a huge crew of college boys dressed as shirtless firemen, and countless assorted creepy dead things of the zombie/skeleton/monster variety.

It was already getting hot in the room and felt more crowded than it should because of some of the bulkier costumes.

I didn’t love that I couldn’t make out a lot of faces, so many people in masks, wigs, hoods and makeup.

I didn’t even recognize Summer’s drummer, Xander Rush, for a good ten minutes. Then he walked right by me with his girlfriend, Courteney.

I actually recognized her first. She wore a fitted white T-shirt, stretched over her generous chest, with the sleeves rolled up and a cigarette pack tucked under the arm. Black suspenders, black trousers… her blonde hair was slicked back into a tight, low bun with a neat part on the side. She had a little mustache stuck on, but I barely noticed it.

The outfit was masculine, but she was gorgeous in it.

Xander was wearing a dress.

It was tight, covered with pink sequins, and he did not look happy about it.

He stopped right in front of me as I checked him out. He took a long look at my bunny ears, like he was trying to make sense of who I was and what I was wearing. Actually, he looked wasted.

His gaudy makeup had been smeared. He looked like a used-up cross-dressing hooker, honestly.

“Welcome to the party,” I muttered, and he grunted, sipping his drink.

“Hi, Ronan,” Courteney practically sang. “Xander lost a bet with Ash,” she explained happily, slipping her arm through her boyfriend’s.

“Must’ve been some bet,” I said. He wasn’t wearing anything under the sleeveless, low-cut dress, and his muscles, tats and body hair were really fucking weird accessories for the dress. So were his sneakers.

“Oh, it was,” she said, still smiling. “I dressed up like his man to make him feel better. It didn’t work.”

“Because you look good,” he said. “I look like an unemployed drag queen.”

Truth.

“C’mon, baby,” she said, tugging his arm. “Let’s get you another drink.”

He rolled his eyes and they headed over to the bar.

I watched them go, then looked over at Ashley and his girlfriend, Danica. They were with Danica’s best friend, Taylor, and some guy, and Summer was still standing with them all, talking. Taylor was dressed as a sexy witch and her date was a zombie football player. Ash and Danica were wearing matching bodysuits with skeletons on them; his was black and hers was pink. His face was painted like a creepy skull with black-and-white makeup; hers was the same but pink-and-white, with glitter. And flowers painted over her eyes.

There were some really great costumes at this thing. A lot of the couples were matching and it wasn’t even making me nauseous.

Almost made me regret being so fucking stubborn about Summer’s costume idea.

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