Page 52

Confident

“I s she fucking serious ? I’m going to kill that Jameson drinking rave fairy!”

The growl from the bedroom makes me giggle. I knew the minute the garment bags arrived via messenger this morning that we were in trouble. Seer and her crew haven’t made it home yet, but the note included said they would be back in time for the ball. Their costumes are part of a group costume with my crew and I left the discovery of what mischief she was up to until the last minute on purpose.

This is one of the biggest events of the social season. It will feature all the freshly announced debutantes and alumnae—meaning both in-town and out-of-town attendees. In the Hollow, the ‘season’ comprises the presentation ball in the late summer—which I missed—and several other large-scale events throughout the year. They spent most of the year on charity events, community projects, and various public appearances that are used to network with the elite. At the end of the ‘season’, the Black and White Ball closes the year and completes the presentation of both the girls and their escorts in society.

It’s an antiquated tradition, but it’s part of the fabric of our town as surely as horses and bourbon. As a prominent community member—try not to laugh when you say that—and business owner, I'm expected to attend as are all of my guys. Unfortunately for them, the Halloween Masquerade is costume required, even for alumnae.

Thusly, Seer took it upon herself to design a group themed outfit for our band of merry misfits that has Edgar losing his mind. I haven’t opened my bag yet because the instructions pinned to it are very specific. Seer’s crazy loopy handwriting on the tag says I should don certain undergarments and fix my hair and make up a certain way. I’m not sure what she’s got cooking, but since the makeup part is simple so far, I think I can handle it.

That might have been part of her selection process, or she may have chosen the theme to aggravate my grumpy ass in the bedroom, but either way, I have a feeling this is going to be… special. Hell, I’m not even sure it’ll be acceptable for polite society, but since they’re already calling me a whore, I don’t rightly give a shit.

“Sugarplum, you’re going to want to see this,” Wolfie says with a grin. “I need some of your supplies in here to finish the growly hound and I. Do you mind?”

I blink as he gathers up shadows, powders, brushes, and liners in a small basket. I’m not sure where the basket came from, but his grin makes me suspicious. “Why would you need both smoky and autumn tones, and where did you learn to do makeup?”

He laughs, leaning in to kiss my temple. “There are lots of things you don’t know about me, love. You’ll have to unravel them one by one when the house is done.”

My eyes widen at the moniker, and he chuckles, sashaying a little as he heads out the door. Wolfie is downright adorable when he gets saucy and, like Prez said, he’s developing a mischievous streak a mile long. I find it cute, and Teddy seems to enjoy it, so I figure I’m a beneficial influence. At least, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Humming under my breath, I look at Seer’s list, frowning when I see lashes. Christ, she has faith in me, doesn’t she? This is more paint than I’ve ever put on without her. Hopefully, I don’t look like I got ready in the dark. Maybe Wolfie can help me with this part? I’m not sure I’m ready to attempt false lashes and whatever the hell she means by ‘ uwu fat curl ‘fro ’. I finish up the eyebrows, drawing the lines like her diagram and filling them in quickly. Amazingly, they don’t look stupid as fuck. Now, to call reinforcements.

“Wolfie?” I call, putting a base coat of mascara on my eyes per the paper. “I’m going to need you.”

“Oi! Just because I drew the short straw and got the easy costume doesn’t mean I can’t help!” Doyle shouts from the other room. A low dark growl that can only be Teddy is the response, and I cover my mouth as I giggle.

“Unless you can help me put on false eyelashes, then I don’t need you at this moment,” I yell back, adding another layer of liner around my lids as I read through the list.

“Feck. Not my area of expertise, Tíogair. I’m free for a zip up, though, when you get there.”

“Make yourself useful, Haggerty. Go refill the glasses since you’re the only one fully covered and not trussed up like a turkey,” Prez shoots back.

Ooh. That sounds quite interesting, and I’m kind of excited now.

If the guys are all in various states of undress, I’ll have a lot of roaming eyes to fend off, but that’s a small price to pay to watch them move all night. The distraction might keep me from having a panic attack about being back in the Whistler’s Hollow Junior Ladies Society headquarters. I haven’t been near that building since the night of the catastrophe, and I’m not looking forward to it one bit.

“I’m coming, sugarplum.” Wolfie pops in, chest bare and covered in some sort of golden, glittery body shit and… oil? What in the name of Hillbilly Buck from Heehaw is he dressed as? He looks like he’s ready for a shoot in Maxim. His eyes light up when he sees my face, and he claps his hands. “You did a right fine job so far. Hop up on the edge of the tub, and I’ll get your peepers fancied up real quick so I can get back to Grumpy Bear out there. He’s way worse off than you.”

I arch a brow. “I’m following Seer’s rules because it’s always fun, but should I be worried? You look like a foxy boxing wrestler and you don’t seem perturbed in the slightest. Teddy sounds like he’s going to go alphahole any second.”

“Oh, sugarplum. Not that bad. He’s not used to… needing to be masculine enough not to be masculine in public. Once he wraps his cute head around it, he’ll enjoy pissing off the normies—particularly his parents. He’s not there yet, though, so you have to let him settle.” He picks up a weird scissor thing that looks like something out of Torquemada’s go bag, then opens the box containing the lashes. His hands are nimble as he applies glue, picks them up with the shiny device and moves towards me. “Now, close your eyes, and keep them that way until I say.”

“Isn’t this a switch?” I mutter, doing as he asks.

“No, love, you’re a switch. Well, okay, you and Prez, though I’m uncertain about Doyle. He seems to listen to you better than I’ve ever seen him listen to anyone before. I can’t get a read on him, anyhow.”

I sigh, smiling to myself as he continues to babble on about our little crew fondly. Wolfie is the sunshine spirit in a pool full of sarcastic assholes, and I can’t imagine not having his bright smile around. Even though he’s a worse morning person than Teddy—which I’ve never understood—and a slob of the first degree, I’m looking forward to tripping over his shit all the time. I don’t know exactly what ‘amenities’ they have planned because I’ve been told outside of the damned chickens, it’s a surprise. Whatever it is, I don’t care—I want them here all the time, and I’m tired of fighting myself on it.

“Wolfie?”

“Yes?” he replies as he repeats the weird sticky process on the other eye.

Trying to make sure I stay still so he can do this right, I murmur softly. “I’m really glad you guys are moving in. I mean, I’m trying to say…”

His fingertips rest on my cheeks as he uses some rubbery thing to press along my lids slowly. “We know, sugarplum. That’s why Teddy booked the el—er, the contractors. Once they finish here, they’ll work on turning our old house into a wellness complex, and his place into a team gathering spot. He’s converting it into some kind of clubhouse and guy cave type place.”

Frowning, I have to work not to move again as I whisper, “Isn’t that what the locker rooms and the coach’s office are for?”

“Well, yes, but I think he means for the staff, more often than not, and maybe the team when he wants to have bonding shit. Prez might be better at defining it than me… his years on the soccer teams make him more qualified. As you can tell, I’ve never been a rough and tumble guy. You can open ‘cause I need to see if they’re good.”

My eyes open, and I give him a soft smile, reaching out to grab the back of his neck and pull him closer. Once I kiss him thoroughly, I rest my forehead on his. “I like you the way you are.” I pause and smirk. “Clearly, Teddy does, too, because I’m the one person on earth allowed to use that name. I started calling him that in elementary school—before all the lines were so distinctly drawn. Even when he was with the girls who were mean, he never made me stop and he wouldn’t let anyone else use it.”

“And you didn’t realize that had to mean something, sugarplum?” Wolfie asks, pulling back a little. “I know you were hurt badly at the end, but consider you have always been something special to him. I think if he’d known what they were going to do, he would have stopped them, parents be damned.”

Blinking, I think about that. I’ve never thought about what would have happened if the girls hadn’t gone rogue and switched their evil plans to me when I helped Allegra Constance Holmes on that fateful night. She was a late transfer—moving here in our senior year—and besides the Nip/Tucks torturing her; she spent a lot of time in Andromeda’s office.

That wasn’t necessarily suspicious because quite a few of us took more time with her than others, but Allegra eclipsed the rest of us by far. She had a class period in counseling every day, and the elites loved to rub that in. They were convinced she belonged in a loony bin because of her daily appointments and appearance.

I didn’t know her well; no one did. The only reason she wasn’t the recipient of their wrath that evening was because I was walking by the room where Amy Matilda and the others were discussing the plans. I scurried back to the dressing rooms, filling Antigone and Allegra in as quickly as I could. Antigone came up with the plan for me to switch places in the lineup with Allegra and rushed off to let the escorts know.

The boys—Edgar, Benjy, Billy, Sander, and Dylan—were nowhere to be found, according to Antigone. I remember assuming they were out smoking weed and it wouldn't have been unusual for that to be the case. Once all the athletic scholarships were locked, the boys went a little crazy with rebellion. WHFS’ janitor quit over some pranks they played in the last three months of school. So the three of us worked to execute our plan to prevent them from making Allegra the butt of the jokes for the next decade.

Unfortunately, I claimed that title. How is another story, but perhaps I need to forgive Teddy for not being able to control the girls when he wasn’t even around? It’s always been possible that the boys didn’t even know about the original plan to hurt Allegra, and his behavior afterward was a stupid kid doing stupid things because his parents encouraged him.

Well, shit. I may have some apologizing to do.

“Hold that thought, sugarplum. You haven’t seen what we’re all wearing yet, and we haven’t opened your bag. Reserve some of that fire for the big reveal,” Wolfie says as he holds his hand out.

My eyes narrow. “Why would you say that?”

“I’ve guessed what the theme is, and based on everyone else, I can’t WAIT to see what your crazy bestie did with your costume. You’re going to need to walk in with the confidence of Beyonce, love.”

Oh, fuck me.

Couldn’t things be simple just this once?