Multicolored strobe lights flashed, and smoke wafted through the air. There were people everywhere, each in costume. For the girls, there was clearly a theme: slutty. A slutty devil. A slutty fairy. A slutty witch. I felt seriously overdressed. For the guys, there was no rhyme or reason. A shirt made out of cardboard. A toga with pictures of grinning waffles. Clown trousers paired with riding boats. Loud music blared, fueling the frantic motions of the dancers. I navigated up the stairs to the VIP lounge, the width of my skirt only tripping three people. I considered the low number of casualties a major win.
I scanned the top floor and saw all the faces I’d seen at the gym, plus a few extras.
Where was Cole?
Mackenzie Love caught my eye. Wearing a skimpy black dress with colorful peacock feathers stretching over her shoulders, she strutted over. “Well, well. Ali Bell. I’d like to tell you how awesome you look, and if I can figure out a way to sound sincere, I will. What is that thing?”
My cheeks flashed white-hot with embarrassment. “You can’t guess?” I asked, using a scathing tone that suggested she was an idiot. “Wow. How sad for you.”
She paled and stomped away.
“New drinking game, everyone,” the new guy, Gavin, called. Blond and handsome—and dressed as a pimp—he was surrounded by a bevy of hot brunette vampires. “Anytime someone speaks, down a shot!”
Cheers abounded.
“And meanwhile, if anyone wants a free make-out session,” one of the vampires shouted, “I’m giving them away.”
More cheers as a laughing Gavin kissed her.
Then he kissed the girl next to her. He used tongue with both.
I watched, reeling. For once, a vision just had to be wrong. There was no way I’d be into a guy like him. He was beautiful, yes. I’d give him that. But no. Just no.
“Ali!” Kat rushed over and threw her arms around me. She had to be the cutest Little Red Riding Hood I’d ever seen. Her barely there dress was red, black and white, and hugged all of her curves. The tulle skirt flared at the waist and stopped a few inches below her panty line. Long white socks stretched to her knees. “You made it!”
Before I could respond, Cole stalked past us, grabbed my hand and tugged me away from her.
I tossed her a he’s-going-to-get-it-now glance. She gave me a thumbs-up before Cole pulled me into a shadowed corner, and I lost sight of her. He crowded me against the wall, his arms at my temples, caging me in. His heat and scent surrounded me, drugged me.
Oh, no. I wasn’t going to melt this time.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
How dare he use that tone with me? “I am so mad at you,” I said, beating at his chest.
His aggressive stance softened in the slightest degree. “I know. And you have every right to be.”
“You ditched me. You want a break from me.”
“Yes. No.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Not from you. You don’t understand.”
“Of course I don’t! Moron! You haven’t explained it to me. You ignored my text.”
He glared at me, his anger heating back up. “I wanted to be with you, I did, but I couldn’t not come here since I’m the D.D.”
“And you couldn’t bring me with you? Because, and I quote, making plans with me was a mistake?”
“It was. I don’t want you here because I know...”
“What?” I demanded when he paused. I hit him again.
“Gavin is here, all right?” He flashed his teeth in a scowl. “I don’t want you around him, okay? Get it now? I need a break from the jealousy. As long as you’re near him, I can’t get past it.”
How could I want to slap him and kiss him at the same time?
But then, I already knew the answer. I’d been battling the green-eyed monster, too. “I promise you have no reason to be jealous.”
His shoulders drooped. “I know that, in theory, and I’m sorry for the way I’ve acted. I’ve never felt this way, and I’m not handling it well. If you have another vision with him...”
I slid my hands to the nape of his neck and toyed with the ends of his hair. “It wouldn’t make a difference. My feelings won’t change. But I guess we need to talk about what I saw, even though I’d rather forget it.”
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” he croaked.
I nodded, suddenly unable to speak.
“Then I’m not ready.”
He faced monsters on a daily basis, but this was too much for him? Oh, Cole. What am I going to do with you? “Will you trust me, then? Trust my feelings for you?”
A moment passed before he nodded. It was a stiff acceptance, but an acceptance all the same.
I smiled at him.
He smiled back. His gaze raked over me, and his eyelids became heavy, staying at half-mast. “You look edible, by the way. You have no idea how badly I want under that skirt.” His voice dipped huskily as he added, “I wish I had time to prove it.”
Oh.
My.
“Nana said the hat is for you. I’m Alice in Wonderland, and you’re the Mad Hatter.”
With a laugh, he took the hat and settled it on his head.
“So, what are you doing that you don’t have time to try and get under my skirt?” I moved my palms to measure the heavy beat of his heart.
His features closed up shop, displaying zero emotion. “You will just have to trust me.”
A thousand questions sprang to instant life. I ignored them all. As his tone implied, I couldn’t ask him to trust me about the vision if I couldn’t extend him the same courtesy about this. Whatever “this” was. Besides, he could have lied and made up an excuse for his behavior. He hadn’t. He wasn’t that kind of guy. He gave truth, or he gave nothing. I’d always liked that about him.
“Do you have a few minutes to spare?” I asked softly.
He fisted two handfuls of my hair, his grip hard and unyielding, holding me still for his perusal. “For you?” The panic I’d noticed last night returned for one second, two, before he gave me the softest of kisses and whispered, “Anything.”
“Yo, Cole,” a voice said. A head peeked around the corner. “I’m taking off with Kira and Jane and—”
I turned to look, and my gaze locked with Gavin’s.
The world disappeared. Cole disappeared—
—there was only here, now, and Gavin, and we were back inside my bedroom, on my bed, my body on top of his. One of his hands was in my hair. The other was sliding down my back to cup my bottom and urge me to grind against him, hard...harder—
—a low snarl snapped me back to the present. To Cole.
The growl had come from him.
“Yeah, uh, I’ll just be going,” Gavin said, and beat feet.
Cole and I stayed where we were for a long moment, silent.
“What I saw with him...” I began, fighting for calm. I’d said it wouldn’t make a difference, and now had to pray I was right. “It was the first vision all over again.” Only a bit more vivid.
“Don’t tell me,” he lashed out. “Not tonight.”
“Cole—”
“Not tonight, Ali. Please.” With that, he walked away from me for the second time that day.
He watched me from afar the rest of the night, but at least he continued to wear the hat.
* * *
As the days wore on, I had to admit my relationship with Cole was unraveling.
Every day he grew a little more distant with me. Anytime I tried to talk to him about Gavin and the vision, he would shut me down, saying, “I can’t do this right now.”
I was trying to trust him like he’d asked. I really was. But the hot-and-cold treatment was wearing me down. Even though he’d always been lavish with his praise of me, I hadn’t spent the past few weeks mutating into a secure person. Especially with matters of the heart.
Should I call him again?
What was considered good girlfriend behavior? What delved into Stalkerville?