Page 60 of Daydream

“Over there taking a call,” I say, nodding toward the wall outside The Honeypot, where Halle is flanked by Poppy and Emilia. Aurora has Halle’s new fake ID that is apparently indistinguishable from a real ID, so we’ve been waiting for her to turn up before heading in. “Her mom called because she missed the video call from her little sister in her trick-or-treat costume by accident earlier. I think she’s being yelled at.”

“How’s her outfit?” Aurora asks.

“We’re not talking about the outfit,” Kris answers before I can, stroking the fake facial hair stuck to his face like a Bond villain. “It’s the safest option for everyone involved.”

“That good?” Aurora blows out a breath. “You know I had to talk her out of being a clown.”

That goodis the understatement of the century. I’ve never had a thing for fictional characters, but Halle asSpace JamLola Bunny might have unlocked something in me. When she told me what she was wearing I assumed she’d wear a rabbit onesie similar to the Minion one I wore last year, maybe with a basketball uniform over the top.

I was only half right, and it wasn’t about the rabbit onesie.

Basketball uniform is also a stretch, since what she’s wearing is tiny shorts, a bunny tail, thigh-high socks, and a matching top.

Work and hockey interfered with us being able to catch up today after she got home from her ex’s place. The desperation to know what happened while she was with him for the first time in two months, coupled with how fucking good she looks right now, is not helping me make sense of my feelings about our friendship.

The fact that I haven’t gotten laid in forever also doesn’t help my judgment when I’m going to have to look at Halle’s curves and ass all night. God, I miss sex.

It’s not even that she looks fine; seeing how confident she got when everyone told her how great she looks makes me so proud ofher. She thrives in a group setting, and I’m so relieved my friends have accepted her without question.

“Earth to Henry,” Aurora says, waving her hand in front of my face. “My God, those bunny ears are really doing a number on you. When are you going to accept that you have feelings for her and ask her out?”

Who did I piss off to end up with two interfering women in my life? “You know rats can’t speak, right?”

“Squeak squeak, bestie. Someone’s going to beat you to it.”

“Do you and Anastasia pass the torch between you for who gets to interfere in my life the most?” I ask, lowering my voice as I spot the girls approaching us. Anastasia and Lola were at our game earlier, and the first thing Anastasia asked me was where Halle was. Notsorry it was a tie not a winorwow, you’re so great at hockey. Thankfully, Lola admitted she didn’t make her morning coffee with a jersey on inside out and it allowed me to get the conversation off Halle.

“Yes.” Aurora grins, immediately turning to greet Halle, Emilia, and Poppy. She holds out the card to Halle. “I bring gifts.”

“Yeah, late,” Emilia grumbles, flicking her best friend on the forehead. “I’ve seen how many watches you own; why are you like this?”

“Would blaming a man be a suitable response?” she asks. “Because I’m totally down to blame Russ.”

Mattie comes up behind me, draping his arm across my shoulders as he looks Emilia and Poppy up and down. He uses the temple of his sunglasses to lift a strand of Emilia’s blond wig. “What are you two supposed to be?”

“They’re Dionne and Cher fromClueless,” I say, looking between the plaid-skirt-and-blazer combos. “I hate that I know that.”

“It’s like trying to herd cats,” Bobby groans, repositioning his sunglasses on the back of his head. He’s done nothing but brag about not needing to wear a wig since his hair is already blond. Between all our outfits, I think we’ve created a blond wig shortage in LA. “Okay,team Fieri and friends, we are movingtowardthe entrance. It’s going to be November before I get a fucking drink at this rate.”

I don’t know why I feel so nervous every time I go to The Honeypot when I know I get in every time. Daisy, Briar’s younger sister, took over the job when Briar graduated. We hooked up once and we’re cool when we see each other in the studio. Like her sister, she’s happy to let us in on the basis we don’t cause any scenes.

I’m doing this for the team. A good leader is there for the wins and losses, and ties in this case. I’m doing this for the team, even though I really don’t want to. Everything I’ve read said I need to make the best of a bad situation, to find the good in the not so good, so that’s what I’ll try to do tonight when I’d rather be at home.

Aurora booked the table so she goes first into the booth and the rest of us follow. The DJ is playing R&B and not the repetitive techno stuff that makes my head feel like it’s going to explode, so that’s a good in the bad. I might even be able to enjoy tonight if the music doesn’t change.

Daisy stops right in front of me on her way out of the booth, tilting her headset mouthpiece up. She moves onto her tiptoes to bring her mouth to my ear. “I like the shirt. If you’re still here at closing, find me.”

She’s gone before I even have a chance to think of a response, a flash of blond hair and long legs as I watch her head back to her post at the entrance. When I look back at the booth, Halle’s watching me with Poppy. Halle gives me a tight smile, then immediately looks away. Poppy doesn’t look away, and it’s in this accidental staring match that I realize how much she reminds me of my mom sometimes.

It could be how sweet-natured she is, with similar shades of the same kind, hazel eyes. Or that they have a similar rich brown skin tone and long micro-braided dark hair. It’s probably that they glare at me in the exact same way when I’ve done something wrong, though.

I’m not interested in Daisy, but maybe that isn’t obvious to people who aren’t me. I smile at Poppy, but it seems like the charm everyone claims I have doesn’t work on people who don’t like men, given she whispers something to Emilia and I see her roll her eyes.

“I don’t understand women,” I shout to Robbie over the music as I drop myself into the seat beside him out of everyone’s line of sight.

“I’d be more worried for you if you thought you did,” he responds, rolling himself to the edge of the table, making his drink then pouring me a soda before maneuvering back to the spot beside me. I know Halle is worried people will think she’s boring for not getting drunk. They won’t, but if they do, they can think I’m boring, too. “You have two goals this year. Pass your classes and don’t get on Faulkner’s bad side. The rest you can worry about some other time.”

I’m listening to Robbie drunkenly explain how we’re definitely going to win next week when Aurora reappears at the entrance to the booth with someone I wasn’t expecting to see tonight.

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