Page 42 of Casper
Casper shot his friend the darkest of glares. Rebel merely smirked, nodding his head for Casper to follow him into the church.
“It’s cool,” I said. “Go ahead and do what you need to do. Come find me when you’re finished.”
As the guys wandered off to do their thing, the girls and I hung out together. Catching up on gossip and the latest news in our lives. Ripley had managed to take off work early so she could be there with us.
Athena’s wandering eye was all over the place. She studied the two guys still scrapping. Letting out a low whistle, she said,“Damn, I can’t decide which one of them is hotter. Think they’d be up for a sandwich with me in the middle? Maybe I can help them make peace. Unless you want one, Ripley. It’s been a while for you, hasn’t it? What do you say we go offer them some comfort after the fight?”
She gave Ripley a playful nudge, knocking Ripley’s purse off her shoulder. It hit the ground, spilling out some of the contents. A marijuana vape fell out onto the crunchy yellow grass along with a lipstick, a packet of tissue, and a bottle of pills.
Ripley snatched up the pill bottle, quick to stuff it back into her purse before grabbing the rest of her things. “Sure, Athena. Sounds good. Let’s do that.”
I exchanged a look with Codie who shrugged. Ripley hadn’t said anything to us about taking pills for anything. Maybe it was none of our business. The panicked way she’d stuffed them back in her bag made me curious.
Athena wasn’t quite as tactful as the rest of us. Nodding to Ripley’s bag, she asked, “What’s with the pills? Is something wrong?”
Ripley tucked a lock of blonde hair behind an ear, a nervous tell she’d always had. “It’s not important. Just some leftovers from when I tweaked my back at work. Sometimes it still bothers me.”
“Oh damn, that sucks.” Athena shrugged it off, accepting the answer and moving on. “They work you way too hard at that place. Have you considered trying something else?”
While Ripley complained about how hard it was to find a decent job in this town, the rest of us did our best to be encouraging. While living with her mom, she’d had to work way too many hours in order to pay rent and bills. Now that she was living with Athena, her costs were lower. Also having student loans for school, she still needed a steady income.
“This conversation is far too depressing for a party.” Ripley plastered a smile on her face, raising her drink. “I didn’t come here to wallow. Let’s have some fun.”
She tossed back her drink in two swallows and went in search of another. Since we had a rule about sticking together, unless one of us was with a guy, Athena went with her.
“That was weird, right?” Storm asked, wrinkling her nose. “I know I’m still the new one to the group but that felt weird.”
I nodded, watching Ripley and Athena disappear into the crowd. “Yeah, there was something off about that whole situation. Ripley has always been a bit secretive. For the longest time, none of us knew her mom was treating her so badly.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Codie snuggled deeper into the heavy faux fur jacket she wore. “Does anyone else think it’s an absolute crime that these drinks are cold? It’s too chilly for that shit. We need some coffee with a heavy shot of Baileys.”
Storm briskly rubbed her hands together before shoving them into her hoodie pocket. “That actually sounds really good. Where can we get some?”
They chatted back and forth about finding something hot to drink. I was barely paying attention. Instead, I stood there, frozen in stunned silence. This couldn’t be happening. Not here. Not now.
Breaking free from the crowd, walking toward me with a swagger in his step and evil in his eyes, was Jace. He held a beer in one hand. Like most of us, he wore pants and a hoodie, the hood pulled up. A glimpse of the ugly skull tattoo on his throat was visible.
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. I stood there dumbfounded as he strolled right up to me.
With a cocky smirk, Jace said, “Hey, babe. Miss me?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
LUNA
I stared at him, absolutely dumbfounded. My mind tripped over itself as it attempted to form a response. It had been so long since we’d seen one another. I had harbored a deep hope that I would never see him again. So much for that.
Jace seemed taller than I remembered. Thin but well-built beneath his hoodie from his time in prison. His short dark hair looked like it was growing out from a buzz cut. The hoodie made it hard to tell for sure. There was a malicious glint in his deep brown eyes. That was new.
When I finally managed to open my mouth, the first words that blurted out were, “How did you find me?”
He tipped his beer bottle to his lips, taking a long swallow. He waved a hand to indicate the party around us. “I asked around. It wasn’t hard to get information on where the biggest party was this weekend. I figured there was a chance you might be here.”
Although that may have been true, I wondered if he’d been out longer than he let on. Had he been watching me?
Keenly aware of both Storm and Codie watching the scenario play out, I tried to choose my words carefully. “I see. How long have you been in town?”
“Not long.” Jace’s words were short and clipped. “Of course I had to come see my favorite girl first.”
