Page 27 of Finding the Pieces

“My ogre bod is doing it for you, isn’t it?”

I snort a laugh. “Yeah, Dom. Had to be that. Save it for…you know…” I’m suddenly shy and embarrassed. “Later,” I mumble.

The smile I get in return is genuine. Not a hint of resentment. “Oh, I will.” His eyes dip to my green cleavage and back up.

“Okay, this is officially weird,” Bec says, staring at us.

“Says the girl who asked for a taste of my lightsaber before we left the apartment,” Aiden says.

“We need better boundaries,” Carissa says with a sigh.

“No way. This is way entertaining.” Abby laughs, unwrapping a KitKat from the candy bowl and propping her feet up on the coffee table.

The lamp in our living room flickers for several seconds and catches Luca’s attention. It’s been doing that for a few weeks and I keep forgetting to change the bulb.

Luca points, laughing at the light show, and then claps.

“What is he pointing at?” Dylan asks. The light flickers again and Dylan straightens. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Dom gives me a confused look, which I return.

“Uh, you mean the light? We need to replace the bulb. Dylan, why the fuck are you backing up?” Dom asks.

“I don’t know, man. You got a lamp flickering on Halloween, and your son is laughing at it? Can’t babies see into the aether and shit? What if Luca is seeing things we can’t?”

The room falls quiet, everyone looking at Dylan to see if he’s serious.

The lamp flickers and Luca laughs and points again, eyes fixated on the lamp.

“Dude, seriously, what’s wrong with that lamp?” Dylan asks, before trying to shove a hand through his hair in frustration. He must have forgotten about the Bob Ross wig.

“Dylan, are you kidding me right now?” Chris asks. “Are you seriously spooked?”

It flickers again and Luca laughs and starts crawling toward it.

“No way, Luca. I’ve seen this movie. We’re getting the fuck outta here.” He scoops Luca up and turns to the door. “Let’s go, boys. I’m sure the ladies can handle the ghost on their ownsince Dee’s so brave.”

“Buh-bye!” Dee shouts after them. “Look both ways before crossing the street, Dylan! Don’t forget to hold Aiden’s hand!”

The girls and I settle into the front room, just off the entryway of our home, with a few themed drinks—I couldn’t help myself when I found the recipe online—and an obscene amount of Halloween candy. We take turns greeting the trick-or-treaters making their rounds through the neighborhood.

“Dee, why are you giving all the kids different amounts of candy? Are you using a scoring system or something?” Bec asks, eyeing Dee skeptically when she makes her way back to her chair after doling out the last few handfuls of candy.

“Of course. Aren’t you?” Dee says with a shake of her head and shrug of her shoulders.

Bec laughs. “No, I’m just giving the kids candy.”

“What’s the criteria?” Carissa asks.

“Easy. Five-point system. Creativity. Execution. Enthusiasm. Etiquette. Trailblazer,” Dee explains, ticking off the list on her fingers.

My brows hit my hairline. “You’ve given this a lot of thought,” I say with a smile.

“Listen, candy isn’t cheap anymore. If you want your five pieces when I’m on duty, you’re going to need to deliver on all five.”

“Okay, how many pieces of candy would we get?” Abby asks.

“Us? We’re all tens, of course. A five-point system could never do us justice,” Dee replies confidently, kicking her feet up on the coffee table and opening up some nerds before dumping the entire miniature box into her mouth.

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