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Chapter eighteen

Silas

I should have done more than growl.

~ Three Weeks Later ~

Cecilia and I have been dating for a month now, one blissful, amazing month, where we spend as much time together as possible when I’m not on the road. I’ve taken her out on a couple of dates since, and we’ve spent time with the Burkleys, which Cecilia enjoys.

Her and Morgan have gotten close and spend a lot of time together when we’re away. Hell, even Clay seems to have a soft spot for my girl. He basically treats her like a little sister.

We were spotted by the media a couple of times, all curious to know who she is.

But they haven’t figured it out yet, although it won’t take them long.

Which is probably why Cecilia prefers staying in and having one-on-one time, which I’m not complaining about.

This woman is perfect, made for me in every way possible.

Tonight is our Halloween party at the Burkleys, where she’ll be introduced to the rest of my friends and teammates.

I’m excited for everyone to meet her properly.

She still has yet to meet my family, which I’ll have to make happen soon since they keep pestering me about it.

I plan on inviting her to join me for Christmas, and I’d like for their first meeting not to happen then.

“Your girl coming tonight?” Greyson asks from the fridge as he grabs two beers.

We just got back from an away game and came straight to my place to get our costumes ready for the party. The team has been doing well, out of the nine games we’ve played so far, only three were lost. It’s a good start to the regular season.

“Yeah, she’s getting ready downstairs with Emma, her roommate, then they’re meeting us at Clay’s. It’s about time you met her,” I tell him, grabbing the beer in his outstretched hand.

He lifts the bottle to his lips and drains half of its content, maintaining eye contact. “Right.”

He sets his beer down on the island and walks over to his duffle bag by the couch, picking it up and heading to the spare bedroom. He’s been distant lately. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but when I ask, he lies and says that all is good.

I sip my beer as I check my phone to see the time. We should be heading out soon, I want to get there before Cecilia so that I can watch her walk in. I’m curious to see her costume.

Every time I’ve asked her what she’s dressing as, she answers, “Me.” But I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean. She hasn’t asked any questions about my costume, so I’ve kept it a surprise.

Once I’ve downed my beer, I go to my room to get ready.

This year, I’ve chosen to dress as a Greek God.

I usually go with something funny, for example, last year I was Mr. Potato Head, but this year, I want to impress my girl.

So, I went with something that shows a lot of skin and makes me think of her. She’ll like it, I hope.

I strip out of my clothes and jump in the shower. Once I’m washed and dried, I head to my bed and begin pulling on item after item. First are very small gold shorts that leave little to the imagination.

Next is the white knee-length fabric that wraps around my waist, secured at each end by a golden chain, leaving a big gap that exposes my left thigh completely. From there, more gold chains wrap around my torso and biceps.

Another sheet of white fabric wraps around my neck, once again held together by a gold chain. This one is longer in length, making it look like a cape that goes over my left shoulder but leaves my right one exposed.

Above my covered shoulder lies a metal piece of armor that looks like a bird’s wing with gold metal feathers all over. The armor connects to a golden band that goes over my right pec and wraps against my side under my right arm. On my feet I’m wearing gladiator sandals that end just below my knee.

The final piece to my costume is the gold crown on my head, made up of gold leaves that are connected to one another.

I’ll most likely regret my decision to go with a revealing costume since the nights are getting colder.

But I look damn good, which makes it all worth it. As they say, beauty is pain.

I take a close-up picture of my naked pec with a little hint of chain and send it to Cecilia. Let her imagination run wild with what my costume could be. She sees my message immediately and sends me a drooling emoji, which makes me laugh. My girl is thirsty.

A beat later, she sends back a picture, which has me even more confused regarding her costume. All the image contains is a big white dot with an entirely red background. What the fuck is she!?

I make my way down to the living room, where Grey’s leaning against the side of the couch waiting for me, but he’s distracted on his phone and doesn’t see me approaching.

He’s dressed as a tennis player. White shorts, white polo shirt, white headband, white wristband. And you guessed it, white tennis shoes. The guy is dressed from head to toe in bleached white, it’s almost blinding.

Given his outfit, most of his tattoos are on display, and there’s a lot. Full sleeves on both arms, a couple on his legs, as well as one on his neck. But having seen him naked in the locker rooms, I know he has more on his body and back.

His blondish brown hair falls over the headband, and his beard is thicker than usual. His body is quite the contrast to his white ensemble, making everything pop out.

On the coffee table lies a racket and tennis ball. Wow, he really went all out. And it seems I won’t be the only one freezing my ass off tonight. Thank God we’re taking my truck to Burkley’s place and we’ll be inside all night.

“You ready to go?” I ask to gain his attention.

“Yup.” He doesn’t look up straight away, instead taking his time to finish whatever he was doing on his phone. He slides it into his shorts pocket and pushes off the couch. After picking up his props, he finally lifts his head and stops dead in his tracks.

“What the hell are you wearing!?”

“I’m a Greek God,” I tell him, puffing my chest.

“No. What you are, is an idiot.” He shakes his head with a chuckle and walks past me to the elevator as I grab my keys and follow behind him.

Thirty minutes later, we pull up to the Burkley estate.

The place looks wicked with all the decorations we put up a few weeks ago, now all animated and spooky looking.

The smoke machines are turned on, covering the ground with fog.

Music is playing from inside, loud enough to hear the faint rhythm but not to the point of irritating neighbors.

I park as closely as I can to the door, but with all the cars in the driveway, it’s not as close as I’d like. We jump out of my truck and run inside, trying to avoid spending a second longer in the cold.

Once through the threshold, Greyson escapes quickly, stating he’s going to grab a beer, while I take a moment to shake off the bone-aching chill that crept in from the few seconds outside.

Clay is the first to spot me, coming to take me into a man hug, slapping my back.

“ You fuckers finally made it! Where’s Ford?

” He looks around me, searching for our friend.

I look at Clay’s costume, not making much sense of what he’s supposed to be.

He just looks like a nerd with glasses on a hunt for something.

“He went to grab a beer. Have you noticed he’s been off lately?”

“Yeah, something’s up with him, but he won’t talk about it. So, I’m just letting him deal with it until he’s ready to talk. Anyway, where’s C?”

I hate that nickname. Clay couldn’t just call her Cece like everyone else. No, he had to make his own, like they have a special bond. Which in this short month, I’ve come to realize, may be the case.

I don’t entirely enjoy seeing them all friendly with each other, but I’m also happy for their connection. Clay isn’t one to accept new people easily, but he took on Cecilia in a heartbeat, and it means the world to me.

“She texted while I was driving saying they were leaving soon, so it shouldn’t be too long before they get here.”

“OH MY GOD! Silas! Cece is going to lose it.” Morgan pops out of nowhere, laughing loudly as she walks around me, looking me up and down.

“Wooh! I might need to fan myself with such a specimen in my home.” She puts the back of her hand to her forehead and fans herself with the other, leaning back into her husband, who doesn’t seem very pleased with her comment.

“Seriously, babe?” He looks down at her, eyes narrowed.

“What? It’s true! Look at him, even you can admit he looks good.” Her hand comes out, pointing in my direction. But her focus stays on Clay as she smiles lovingly up at him, batting her eyelashes.

I know what she’s doing, she uses that same expression on me when she wants me to agree with her. Works every time. Now that I’m studying them, his costume finally becomes clear. It’s a couple costume, Morgan is dressed as Princess Kida and Clay is Milo from the Disney movie Atlantis .

“Great costumes too, guys. Morgan, you look amazing. Clay, you look like a nerd.” I take Morgan into a hug, kissing the side of her head. “Now can we get away from the entrance? I’m freezing and in need of something to drink before my girl arrives.”

We head to the kitchen and grab us each something to drink. There’s practically every choice of alcohol laid out, but I’m sticking to beer, and a max of two since I already had one at home and I plan on driving back with my girl.

Half an hour later, Clay and I are in deep conversation with our goalie, Gabriel Ellis, and defenseman, Noah Adler, who are both dressed as football players. Not very creative. Suddenly, Gabe looks over my shoulder and whistles .

“Damn, I’m not usually attracted to cartoons, but I think I just unlocked a new fantasy including a pretty little mouse,” he says, scratching at his jaw.