kitten ears and painted on whiskers. She’s right. It’s adorable and not at all sexy.
I harrumph and flop on the bed. She doesn’t let me stay there. “Come on, the girls are waiting. You look great, so quit your worrying.”
When we walk out into the living room, Cammie and Lia are waiting for us – as usual. Cammie looks gorgeous dressed as a Greek Goddess. She might freeze her ass off, but she looks stunning. Lia, well I don’t even know where to start with Lia. She is dressed to the nines in fishnet stockings, knee high boots, a ridiculously short mini skirt and a blue tube top. The short pixie length blond wig completes her costume, but I still don’t get it right away. “What are you supposed to be? A hooker or something?” That’s exactly what she looks like, standing there snapping her gum, hip jutted out to the side.
She jumps up and down and claps her hands. “Yes! You got it! Yeah, I’m Julia Roberts from
My phone buzzes in my hand and it’s a text from Bryan. “Come on ladies. Bryan is downstairs. Let’s go.” He offered to be the designated driver for the night, but I think he had ulterior motives. He wanted to win over my friends and my heart softens at the thought that he wants them to like him.
Of course when we get to the parking lot, he’s holding the door open for the girls. They all slide into the backseat saying “Hi” to him as they pass his extended arm. He opens the passenger door for me and closes it after I sit down. When he walks around to his side, Lia wolf whistles at him and we all laugh. Thank goodness she doesn’t have any time to say anything. I can only imagine what would come out of her mouth. I just hope she can behave for the ten-minute drive to the party.
Bryan gets into his seat and pulls the seat belt across his lap. When he places his hand on my knee a tingle travels up my body. He leans in and kisses my cheek and whispers, “You look great.”
Without even waiting for me to respond, he looks over his shoulder into the back seat and chuckles. “Well, this is the first time I’ve had a Goddess, a fairy and a whore in my car at the same time.”
Without missing a beat, Lia chimes in. “I am not a whore.” She clutches her hand playfully to her chest. “I am a classy hooker. Now drive me to my party so I can get my drink on.” She makes a motion with her hand for Bryan to start driving and everyone else breaks out into loud laughter. He looks over at me from his seat and mouths, “Wow,” as he pulls out into traffic.
When we pull up in front of the party, the girls climb out of the car and immediately race up the stairs. Cammie and Maddy go in search of Jack and Reid, and Lia, well, I’m pretty sure Lia is just searching for some booze.
Bryan takes my hand and we walk into the house together. We weave our way through the large crowd. When we get to the living room, we find Maddy, Reid, Cammie and Jack. Everyone smiles at Bryan as he introduces himself to the guys.
“Nice to meet you, man. You want a drink?” Jack asks as he shakes Bryan’s hand.
“No thanks. I’m driving tonight.” He shakes his head and returns his hand to mine.
“Reid, what the hell are you wearing? Maddy said you weren’t dressing up.” I ask as I stifle a laugh.
“What, don’t you think it’s true?” he asks as he looks down at the gift-wrapped box he’s wearing. It has holes cut out of the top for his head and the sides for his arms.
“Well that depends. If you’re going as A Dick in a Box, then hell yeah, you’re spot on.” That comment makes Maddy snort in laughter. He wasn’t exactly nice to her before the two of them started dating. But, since then, he’s been perfect. I can’t deny that I have a huge soft spot for my best friend’s boyfriend. The fact that he takes me out to lunch once a week just to keep on my good side is a nice touch as well.
He laughs at my snippy comment and smirks at me. “Read the tag. You’ll get it,” he says.
I eye the tag that’s folded closed and choke on my laughter when I read,
Jack chimes in through my giggling and eye rolling, “He wears it every fucking year.”
“What? I am.” Reid’s voice is laced with humor. He kisses Maddy sweetly and she rolls her eyes at him.
“You sure are, Reid. But does that mean I get to unwrap you later on?” Maddy’s playful words definitely have an effect on him. It’s cute to see them together. They’ve both been under each other’s skin from that first night they met, and ever since they got together officially, they’ve been the cutest couple ever. There’s just something about them that tells me they’ll make it.
“Come on. Let’s go get you a drink,” Reid says to Maddy as he walks her out of the living room and into the kitchen. Jack and Cammie follow behind them and just as Bryan and I move to follow them, Liam, Bryan’s soccer teammate, walks up behind us and claps Bryan on the shoulder.
“Hey, Bryan. I didn’t know you’d be here tonight,” Liam says as he stands in front of us.
“Hey, Liam. Yeah, my girlfriend, Melanie, is friends with Jack and Cammie,” Bryan explains as he points to Jack as he walks into the kitchen. Liam says hi to me and politely shakes my hand, but there’s something fishy in the way he looks at me.
“I guess it’s not such a small campus, after all, huh. I’m in the Physical Therapy program with Jack,” Liam explains as he lets go of my hand, which I promptly return to Bryan’s.
“I didn’t see you at the party after the soccer game. What happened?” Liam asks as he takes a gulp of his beer.
Bryan laughs a little. “Yeah, well, when I saw you throwing up in a shoe, I figured I missed the party. So Melanie and I left and well … we had our own party.” A heated blush creeps up my neck and across my face.
“Bryan!” I gasp and swat him on the arm.
“What? We did.” He kisses my forehead and wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
I roll my eyes, but when he moves his hand from my shoulder to the base of my neck and starts playing with my hair, he’s forgiven.
“I’ll let you guys catch up. I’m going to go find the girls. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” I stretch up in my toes and kiss Bryan on his cheek, but out of the corner of my eye I see Liam give me an ugly stare. I don’t really need to find the girls, but I just want to get away from Liam.
Before finding the rest of the group, I decide to stop in the bathroom and freshen up. Luckily, since it’s still early, there’s no line so I go right in. After I’m done washing my hands and reapplying my lip-gloss, I reach for the door. I nearly stumble through it as it’s pulled open from the other end. Tripping over my own feet, I land into someone in a slutty nurse costume.
Straightening myself, and pulling my face out of her tits, I’m less than pleased to see that I’ve just motor- boated Courtney.
I adjust my headband of cat ears and move to walk past her without saying a word, because, honestly, she’s the last person on Earth who I want to talk to.
Well, that plan goes to shit, when she grasps my wrist and pulls me into the bathroom with her. For a skinny bitch, she’s pretty strong.
After she slams the door behind her, she eyes me up and down. “What do you want, Courtney?” I practically spit my words at her. I wish I had fewer manners, because spitting in her face actually sounds like a great idea.
“I want you to back the fuck off Bryan.” Her words are dripping with venom and hate. Of course, they make me laugh.
“And why exactly would I do that?” I cross my arms over my chest and stare her down.
Courtney takes me by surprise when she steps into my personal space and pokes her bony finger into my arm. “Because it makes me look bad!” Her finger presses into my shoulder to accentuate each of her evil words.
A snarky and dismissive laugh escapes my lips. Unfolding my arms from my chest, I poke her back. “And, please tell me, how the hell does it make you look bad?” I huff and try to walk past her. But, once again, she grabs my wrist and digs her fingers tips into my skin.
