Page 7 of The HalloQueen

5

ANNABEL

“Ican’t believe he stood you up!” I shouted at Shannon, “You must be a shitty lay!”

She threw her head back in a laugh, “He did not stand me up, he’s running late, there’s a difference!”

We had been at Witchcraft for over two hours and were already well on our way to being hammered. We had filmed a couple videos for our feeds stating where we were and had multiple people come up to us for coupons and to buy us drinks. Who were we to turn down their generosity, especially if they were buying top shelf?

“Who is this guy anyway to blow you off on a Friday night?” I yelled into her ear as we danced against each other in the middle of the crowd of tourists.

“He isn’t standing me up, Bels! Don’t be such a pessimist.” I scoffed and turned around to grind my ass into her so I could finish my margarita and she was so comfortable with my body that she rested her hands on my plump ass and gave me a playful squeeze. “You should get laid tonight Bels!” She hollered.

“Mmmm, pass,” I replied, spinning back around and wrapping my arms around her neck, “If you’re not getting laid, why should I?”

“Because he is not standing me up! I am getting laid!” She groaned and grabbed her phone from the pocket of her skirt, “Ha! He’s here! Told you! Now go find some ass while I go get mine.” We both wove our way out of the pit and up to the bar so she could stand on the rungs of a stool to try and see through the crowd better, “Ah! There he is! I’ll be right back.”

I smiled and shook my head. Who makes the mistake of hooking up with someone you don’t want a relationship with two nights in a row?Hello, red flag, my name is desperation, what’s yours?I flagged the bartender my way and crossed my arms over my bust, pushing my breasts up inside the sheer spider web crop top I’d thrown on over a purple bralette. I looked smoking hot and it only made me more excited for the launch. Everyone deserved to feel this good when they went out.

“Hello, Beautiful, what can I get for you?” The bartender was cute in that preppy beach guy way, but not my type. It seemed like every Harvard prep fuckboy had a fantasy of hooking up with the goth girl, so I was constantly being hit on by Michael Paul Georgerson Fartface III and had zero desire to reciprocate.

“I’d like a pineapple upside-down shot please,” I grinned at him.

“Coming right up.”

“You can put it on my tab.” I turned to see who offered and was shocked by the guy from the Halloween store coming up next to me and placing his hand on the small of my back, “Bon Soir,mon coeur. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Thomas! What are you doing here?”

“I was just dropping off fliers when I noticed you ordering a drink. I figured now I ought to stay for a few myself.” I assessed him and noticed that his hair was still perfectly voluminous and shiny. So fucking unfair. I’d already had to dry shampoo twice to combat the heat and humidity. He was wearing a button-down with the sleeves rolled up and the first three buttons undone, showing a glimpse of his sculpted chest.

The bartender slid me the shot, complete with a cherry, and I quickly downed it before turning back to him, “I’m here with one of my friends. She just went off over-”

“Bels! Fuck, I’ve missed you, gorgeous!” I was suddenly swept up into a giant’s arms and for a moment my booze-idled brain wondered if somehow Thomas had lifted me, but when I blinked, I saw that he was still in front of me, but his eyes had darkened and he was wearing a fierce scowl. I pulled back from the warm body and couldn’t keep the shock off my face.

“Trae! Oh my god. What are you-”

“Gosh, sorry, someone stepped on my shoe and broke the fucking heel,” Shannon limped up next to Trae and leaned against him, “Did Trae introduce himself yet?”

Trae. Of course, it was Trae. Trae held the distinctive honor of having taken my virginity with fumbling hands and the aid of the cheapest bottle of vodka we could get the college kids in Salem to buy us on Dead Horse Beach. Cause nothing quite says romance like equine spirits! We’d been fifteen, I thought we were in love, but then when the rest of the lacrosse team found out that Trae had slept with the fat chick, he had quickly declared it a joke.

Unfortunately for Trae, I was armed with the knowledge that the whole encounter lasted about 63 seconds and he was so panicked after, and that he thought I’d know whether or not I was pregnant the next day. He was shocked to discover that the female reproductive system didn’t work that way - yay for public schools! He had cried next to me while I put my clothes back on about how there was no way he was ready to be a father. It was…embarassing.

As soon as I slammed him into a wall of lockers and hissed that I’d be willing to tell my side of the story if he wanted to start rumors about me, the whole thing got buried pretty quickly. It didn’t hurt either that I’d told him that if he ever told anyone about us again that I’d pay someone to hex his nutsack.

I’m a sucker for a beautiful man though, and when he came out the other side of puberty like a marble statue we’d hooked up a few more times over the years. Now we were friendly enough with each other, occasionally liking and posting stuff on each other's social media, me enjoying his photos from his new job as a basketball coach and him enjoying my thirst traps, but we hadn’t seen each other since we fucked last Christmas when I visited my Moms and had left it kind of open-ended with a ‘fuck ya later’ farewell.

“Oh, Trae, you’re here with Shannon?” I gave him a wide-eyed expression, hopefully conveying that Shannon had no idea that we’d slept together and to please keep it that way. “Shan, Trae and I went to high school together.”

I looked behind Trae’s immense 6’4’’ stature and saw that Thomas was leaning nonchalantly against the bar while staring at a woman across the room intently. I saw Shannon deflate slightly looking between Trae and me. She’d always had an inferiority complex with me and always assumed that any guy would pick me over her because she has kids, which was complete bullshit. I quickly reached around Trae and took Thomas’ cold hand, pulling him to me and nuzzling into his black cotton shirt, to assure her that I was not stealing Trae from her. “Guys, this is Thomas. Thomas, these are my friends Shannon and Trae.”

Thomas seemed to shake himself out of some kind of trance and came back to our conversation, “Nice to meet you both.” His french accent was smooth and subtle and I felt the definition of his body beneath my hand when he pulled me closer to him, wrapping his long arm around my waist.

“Thomas,” Shannon almost sang his name out slowly, “Uh, where did you come from, Thomas?”

“Thomas and I have been seeing each other casually for a while when I visited my Moms, but I didn’t know he was back in town so I was surprised when I saw him here. That’s why I didn’t tell you he was coming,” I said hurriedly before Thomas could add anything, giving him a gentle poke in the back hoping that he’d play along.

“Where have you been then, Thomas, and why have I never heard of you?” She raised her brow at him and I noted that Trae was assessing him from top to bottom.

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