Page 20 of Trip Through Your Wires

“It’s hot, Ells,” I flash her a thumbs up. “Good thing it comes with bloomers, though.”

She smiles at me mischievously. “The skirt is wicked short, isn’t it?”

Ellery once told me Cruz’s biggest weakness was skirts. The shorter the better. And the one she’s wearing right now certainly checks that box. She loves to drive him crazy, and he will eat her up in that skirt tomorrow night.

“And the rest?” She flicks her eyes to me.

If it were anyone else, I’d think they were trying hard to prove something. But not Ellery. That’s not why she chose the costume. The part that isn’t sexy—blood splatters on the top, and clumps of brain on the skirt—is an homage to our shared love of horror, and for that reason alone, she nailed it.

“It’s perfect, Ells. Really.”

“Yay,” she claps excitedly. “I’m so glad you like it because yours is exactly the same. It’s in the closet if you want to try it on. I stashed them in here to keep them away from prying eyes.”

I make my way over to the still open closet door and grab the garment bag hanging in the center. Pulling the zipper down, I look inside, and sure enough it matches the one she’s wearing.

“My Bloody Valentine,” I shake my head. “What were those douchey frat boys thinking?”

“I know exactly what they were thinking,” she grins. “Sorority girls dressed in costumes, playing out their every fantasy.”

I look over at my blonde bombshell of a best friend. She is literally every guy’s fantasy. “Well, they’ll get that with you, my friend. The big boobed, bodacious girl in the woods running from the killer.”

“And you?” she laughs.

“Oh you know,” I shrug. “The surly side character that has no story.”

She rolls her eyes at my trademark snark. “More like the hot best friend that thinks she’s not important but is the most special of all.”

“Good God.” I hang the garment bag back up in the closet. “You make me sound like some loser in one of those lame afterschool specials.”

“Hey,” she laughs. “That’s my best friend you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, which gives me the right to talk shit about her.”

She shakes her head at me and laughs again, then turns her attention back to the mirror. “Well, say what you will, but I know one person whose jaw is going to hit the floor when he sees you wearing that tomorrow night.”

“Oh yeah?” I zip up the garment bag and return it to the closet, then make my way back over to where she’s standing. “And who would that be?”

“Jake,” she says simply.

“Has the Northeast winter frozen your brain, McFly” I ask, pretending to knock on her head.

“My brain, and my eyesight are perfectly fine.” She pulls her head away with a laugh. “In fact, I not only felt that sexual tension between you two earlier but saw it.”

“Um, you didn’t see anything. As for what you felt, perhaps that was Cruz’s hard-on as you two practically fucked on the floor in front of us.”

“We were not,” Ellery grins.

“Yes,” I nod, “you were.”

“No,” she insists, “we weren’t because we already did before we came home.”

I shake my head and laugh. Ellery and Cruz were forever, no doubt about it. When he made it to the majors, she’d never have to worry about groupies tempting him because he only had eyes for her. A guy like Jake on the other hand…the road would be his playground. If Highland were a sea of girls, the country would be his ocean.

That’s why we were cool with the status quo. He had his life, and I had mine. No muss, no fuss. Fooling around was easy. There was no commitment or drama. All we had between us were three rules.

The first, no sex. It would only complicate things. With Jake being Cruz’s best friend, and Ellery mine, we would be in each other’s lives forever. It wasn’t worth a lifetime of discomfort if things between us ended badly. Taking sex off the table made sure there was no us. If there was no us, there could be no ending. Simple.

Second rule, trips around the bases end at third. While we agreed no sex, fooling around was firmly on the table. But I didn’t do blowjobs. The idea of a sweaty ball sack near my mouth made me gag. What guys did with their mouths was their prerogative, but me….nope. Not going down on anyone unless they’ve showered and cleaned their taint, and in my experience, guys were way too impatient for that.

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