Page 105 of Pretty Broken Wings

“You’re kind of an asshole,” I tell her.

“Likewise.”

But the tension falls away as we shop. She fights with me a little more about the costume, but finally gives in when I tell her I’ll pay her enough for a hundred costumes. She refuses to tell me what costume she picks, although I know she grabs something.

I walk away feeling lighter than I have in days.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

“You look like an idiot.” I stare at Gage, who’s folding into the backseat of the car. He’s wearing a cheap knight costume, complete with a hollow plastic sword that’s bent in the middle. That, paired with his old glasses, makes him look like a dork.

“Good thing I can’t see.” Gage grins in a cheery way that makes me want to knock the smile off his face.

“Well,Ican, and you’re an embarrassment.”

It’s then that Raven walks into the light cast by the garage, and I suck in a breath. She’s in a baseball uniform with tight white pants that cling to her thighs and ass. There are pink socksthat hug her legs up to her knees, and she carries that pink aluminum bat.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I collect myself, even though my dick involuntarily stiffened. There’s something about the form-fitting uniform that does it for me, and that pisses me off.

“How does she look?”

“Like a gold digger,” I mutter, just before Raven moves to the driver’s seat. She sees that I’m in the front, then throws a smile back at Gage. A beautiful smile that I’m close enough to see crinkles the edges of her eyes. Then, she hammers the nail in the coffin by reaching back and squeezing his thigh.

Gage lets out a tiny groan.

Awesome. So wonderful. I get to witness them act like fucking teenagers and pretend I’m not here.

The drive to Mom’s is silent. I try not to look at the two lovebirds, but I can imagine what they’re doing every time Raven throws a glance backwards. She’s giving him sex eyes. The half-lidded, pupils blown, come-fuck-me-now eyes.

Someone honks, and Raven cusses. I glance around, seeing a car swerve out of the way. We must be in an intersection.

“Fucking watch it!” I flip the other car the bird. “Learn how to drive.”

“Jesus,” Gage mutters. “Easy, dude.”

Oh yeah, he’s gotta get his dick wet a few more times before he dies of a broken heart. I grouse until we pull into Mom’s driveway. Correction, Rich’s driveway. Mom never had money before meeting Rich. I’m convinced that’s why she stayed with his insufferable ass all these years.

Their yard is full of Halloween decorations, complete with light-up plastic pumpkins, ghosts, and gravestones. Fake bats hang from the tree, and black cats with their backs arched line the walkway. Even with my lack of vision, I know it looks likeshit. It’s all old and sun-washed and doesn’t look a bit scary. And yet, Rich doesn’t make Mom change them out. Probably because that would be more money he has to spend.

I climb out of the car, slamming the door and not even waiting to see if the lovebirds follow.

I was going to flake out on tonight. Tell Mom I went to the Fright Night Carnival. I make it a point to avoid Rich at all costs. However, Gage was insistent on going with my girl on his arm, and I’ve seen how this ends. Not good for Gage.

I need a drink. I need a goddamn fucking drink.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Introducing Raven to Mom went well. And by well, I mean Raven and Axel sat so tense it felt like they had cactuses up their asses, and all the while, Rich threw snide comments at Axel. I’m the only one with a weapon on my costume, but everyone else feels much more lethal.

Axel gets drunk, rip-roaring drunk, while Mom tries to talk with Raven, and Rich makes tone-deaf comments.

I’m about to rip my hair out.

I interrupt before things can get worse. “Mom, where’s Mason?” There were supposed to be other friends and family at this party, and it’s well past start time. I’m painfully aware of how Raven keeps shifting in her seat and looking at the door.

She’s probably thinking about running, and I kinda want to run with her. Why the hell did I think introducing her to Mom this way would go well?