Page 32 of Dysfunctional

Just then, Willow runs up and grabs my arm. “Ezra, come here. You have to see this costume.”

Jason winks at me, smiling like an idiot.

I stick around for the third and fourth bars, and by then, nearly everyone in the group is fairly tipsy. Willow promises we’re going to stop and get food before heading to the next one. Alcohol makes these people happier. That isn’t always the case, but it’s been a fun night, and I’ve gotten to know a few of Willow’s friends enough to know I don’t hate them. Jason, which is his real name, has been hanging out with me a lot, considering he’s not too fond of BJ. Willow dances with her friends while me and Jason hang out near the bar. When he excuses himself to take a piss, I use the break to go outside and smoke.

I’m sure to take several steps away from the door before I pull out my steel cigarette case and pop one into my mouth. Leaning against the corner of the building, I get a view of the intersecting streets and watch a couple clowns run up and scare the shit out of some girls dressed as sexy versions of Disney princesses.

“Halloween allows you to dress up as your real self without anyone being the wiser.”

I blow out the smoke and turn my head to my right to find Kaspian at my side, a small grin on his lips. He’s dressed in his normal clothes with a mask pushed up to the top of his head.

“Should’ve dressed as Michael Myers,” I say. “Fits you.”

“Too on the nose,” he replies, coming around to stand directly in front of me. “I see you didn’t care about that. It’s funny,” he says, stoned faced. “Did you get turned on when you covered yourself in fake blood?”

“It wasn’t my idea, and I didn’t do this,” I reply, gesturing to my shirt before taking another drag.

“No? Whose idea was it?” he asks, head tilted.

I don’t want to tell him about Willow. He can’t be trusted.

“Where did you disappear to?” I ask instead, regretting it.

His lips draw up at the corners. “Noticed me missing, huh? I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“It is. Yet, here you are.”

“Oh, Ez. You missed me,” he croons. “Admit it. You thought about me several times.”

I take a drag and blow the smoke into his face. “Not really.”

His hand reaches up and gently touches his chest. “I’ve thought about you. Hard not to with the souvenir you left me.”

My eyes flicker to the area he’s touching and then to his eyes. Memories flash in my mind. “Hmm.”

“Mm.” He moans lightly, dropping his hand and stepping forward to rest against the wall next to me. “I got you something.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I pull it out and look at the screen. It’s a message from Willow asking where I went.

Kaspian shifts, pressing his shoulder to the brick while he stares at me. I lift my head and face him, seeing the anger in his eyes.

“Who’s Will?”

“Why do you care?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

I turn so he can’t see the screen and type out a response before I slip the phone back in my pocket. “You’re not playing the jealous lover, are you? I haven’t even fucked you.”

His dark eyes narrow before he exhales, his face returning to nonchalance. “You can do whatever you want, Ezra, but you’ll always know that you can only ever be Quintin with me. And that’s what you really want.”

“You don’t know me as well as you think you do. I don’t want to be Quintin ever again, and I guarantee you don’t want me to be either.”

He exaggerates a shiver. “Mm. Dangerous. You have to know I like that.”

I shake my head before I take a final drag. Kaspian takes the cigarette from my hand, his fingers brushing against mine. His eyes remain locked on my face as he brings the butt to his lips, sucking in the nicotine.

“That’ll kill you,” I tell him.

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