Jo
I BLINK ONCE. Then twice. "Good for him, I guess."
Then I turn to Amanda with a strained smile. "I'm sure you know this is a simple coincidence. Hey, I saw Adam? Pretty sure there's an Eve somewhere too. Anyone thirsty? I am. Let's go."
"Enjoy the party!" Cass yells behind us as we walk away.
Amanda smirks at me and waves everyone else goodbye before taking the lead. "You seem a little flustered."
I tug at the neckline of my dress. "I'm not."
"Might be the fever, you know," she gives me an evil grin and I narrow my eyes at her.
"What the hell are you on to?"
She sighs. "Here we are," she says completely ignoring my question. She waves her hand around the kitchen and takes me by the wrist. "You can have anything you like."
Her phone buzzes and she takes it out of her pocket, scrolls and groans. "I'm sorry but I need to drive a friend home. Call Cass if you need anything."
I wave at her and she pivots on her heels and finds her way out of the throng of people ahead. I turn back to the kitchen counter and I mumble a 'wow' to myself once I see the variety of Halloween-themed snacks on several dishes. Spider-cookies, a really bloody looking velvet cake, doughnuts that have their holes filled up with creepy looking eyeballs and a lot more. I take out my phone and take a picture, just to show mum once I get home. She'd be excited to see stuff like this.
I pour myself some juice from the fridge into the cup and my face scrunches up a little when I realize it contains alcohol. Some fruit punch it is.
I don't see Flynn anywhere but I remind myself that I came here for me so I inch towards a game of beer pong and ask for a shot at it. The girl who comes up is unfamiliar. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes with the only contrast to the plainness being her skin.
A couple of people are gathered around us and I try not to look round once the game begins. She tosses the ball first and she misses. She suddenly glares at me like I'm the cause of her loss.
I clear my throat and toss the ball ahead. It lingers around the rim of one of the cups and then it plops right into the liquid. I'm taken off guard when the people around me cheer and a little smile sneaks its way into my face and I start to feel good about myself. Khalid appears next to me after a couple of rounds with the girl and wraps a hand around my shoulder while the girl tosses the ball again.
He's not wearing his ridiculous costume anymore. Instead, he's wearing a floral shirt and a pair of Hawaiian shorts. He boasts to everyone that I'll take them down and my face flushes a bit when he brings his mouth to my ear, just as I'm about to play.
He whispers fiercely. "You know how to play right?"
I roll my eyes but I don't say anything in response. Instead, I show him as I toss the ball and it lands into another cup. I win.
Khalid and the rest of everyone around me cheer and I laugh and open my mouth willingly when he pours what he calls 'a celebratory shot' into it and then takes one himself.
I'm up against a guy who's wearing a Scream costume and I don't feel intimidated at all. Instead, I win and I take another shot. And again. And again. And again. Until the only thing I can focus on are the cheers and laughter around me.
Someone pushes into the crowd and stands in front of the table. When I look up, it's Flynn and he doesn't take his eyes off me. It's the first time I've seen him tonight because I really just made the assumption that he was making out with Semia somewhere since I didn't see him.
I take in his appearance and smirk a little. He really is a Knight. He's wearing a black and very shortsleeved, collarless armor-like costume that is snug against his skin. Most of his arms are on display and I realize that there are more tattoos on his right arm than I originally thought. Right in the middle of it, is an insignia of an armor and a cross and beneath this, is a pair of black pants that go all the way down.
"What kind of Knight goes around without his armor or his sword?" I ask while placing my hands on my waist.
His eyes dip to my mouth and back to my face. He doesn't answer my question. Instead, he smirks a bit and takes up a ball. Khalidâmy ever loving, ever drunkenâ beer pong coach is sneering at Flynn. "You ready to loose?"
The games begins and it's a tipsy me against Flynn. Flynn against a tipsy me. Flynn's first throw is sleek and effortless. It moves in the same parabolic way that reminds me of the time he tossed the used paper towel into the trashcan at the library. I narrow my eyes at him when my ball lands a few meters away from the cup. I should have known he was skilled.
It goes on for a few tense minutes and my coach turns around and starts to make a bet. I feel someone's hot breath on my neck and I turn to look at a guy staring at me and the game. He's Dracula, I realize, from the overly white face and bloody fangs.
"Wow, you're good." He says.
I turn back to the game and toss a ball into the cup. My head feels a little woozy but I smile widely at him. "Thanks."
Flynn scores another point and the guy leans towards me again. "I'm John."
"And I'm playing a game."
He chuckles and irritation washes over me when I feel his arm around my waist. Flynn's eyes dart towards him and I try to shrug him off.
"Look, Dracula. You're making me very uncomfortable right now." I whisper to him amongst the cheers and look forward again.
His mouth grazes my ear. "That might be true. I am a vampire after all."
I roll my eyes to the back of my head. "Take your hands off me," I grit without looking at him and he moves away from me a bit but his hand is still snug around my waist.
"I will if you give me your number."
I sigh and turn to him with a nasty glare on my face. He's not moved. What a douche. From my peripheral vision, Flynn lifts his ball and attempts to toss it into a cup but then he lifts his arm and throws it forward. It lands right between Dracula's eyes.
He yells and his hand immediately drops from my waist. His groan of pain gathers the attention of everyone around us and I suck in my cheeks to hide my smile.
"Sorry," Flynn says in the most unapologetic tone ever. "Must have slipped."
Dracula's face is a blotchy red and his hand covers his forehead in pain. "Slipped?!"
"Yeah," Flynn responds without looking at him and the he turns to me. "Your turn."
I stare at the red solo cups and the ball in my hand. If I toss it in, I win. Khalid wraps a hand around my shoulder and tells me I can do this. And that he's made a couple of box and won't like to go home without it. Dracula is forgotten and so, I toss the ball and my heart beats faster when it lands at the rim and rolls around before dropping into the alcohol with a splash. Cheers break out. Khalid lifts me up so I'm bent over his shoulder and I can't stop laughing while he instructs everyone in the kitchen to give me a high-five.
He takes me to Flynn and I raise my hand for a high-five but apparently he has other plans. Khalid wraps his arm around my waist and lifts me away from his shoulder and I'm likened to a sack of potatoes, because I'm collected by Flynn and tossed over his own shoulder.
"Yup. My work here is done," Khalid says and dusts his hands together. "She's all yours now."
"What?"
They both ignore me. Flynn wraps his arm around my legs to steady me. "Thanks man."
"Put me down, Flynn," I threaten and look away from his butt. "Or else, you'll get it."
"Get what?"
I knock a fist into his back. He doesn't flinch. "It," I drive my fist into his back again like it's a screwdriver. "You'll get it."
Flynn takes us to a makeshift counter at the corner of the room and puts me down on one of the two stools in front of it. He takes a seat on the second one and faces me.
I fold my arms and glare at him. "What?"
He leans down and encloses his fist around the leg of the stool I'm seated on and drags it forward in one fluid motion until we're close enough that my thighs are lodged between his legs. I grab his wrist in a death grip and shoot daggers at him.
"Did you just try to look under my skirt?"
He narrows his eyes at me and grabs my wrist with his other hand. "I'm anything but a pervert."
"So you admit to being a kidnapper? You just kidnapped me from Khalid."
"He gave you to me."
I catch a sight of Khalid collecting cash from all the people he made bets with and I release my grip from his wrist. Khalid meets my eye from a distance and gives me a toothed smile and a thumbs up. "Son of a bitch," I mutter under my breath.
"You're a damsel in distress," My kidnapper says. I turn my attention back to him and he's watching me with a little smile.
"And you're a knight in a ridiculously snug outfit," I reach forward and pinch the fabric from his skin. "Can you breathe in this thing?"
"As a matter of fact, yes I can."
"It looks so tight," I say more to myself than him and continue tapping the cloth until I get to his stomach and my hand stops there.
"Oh," I move my hand around and feel hard muscle against it. I look up at him. "That's strong."
"Jo," he calls my name for the first time and gently wraps his hand around my wrist. I take it away from his stomach and lean back. Light splays across his face and I realize he's blushing. "How much have you had to drink?"
"I don't know," I shrug. That's a lie. I had a lot. "I had a couple shots here and there."
"You're a lightweight. I think you forgot that."
I ignore him and he reaches across the counter and grabs something. He unsheathes it and thrusts it in my hands. "That's my sword. I have no armor."
I look down at the silver weapon in my hands and the blade and tip glint in my eyes. "What theâ" I lift it up and wave it around. It's sturdy and regal. "Is it real?"
"'Course not, stupid. I got it from a thrift store."
I point the sword at him. "It looks real."
"Yes." His eyes are on my mouth. "That's the point."
A popular Rihanna song is playing right now and I sheathe the sword back and place my hands on my thighs before looking back at Flynn. His legs are clamped around my thighs and he crosses his ankles behind mine. I think I'm seeing two of him but I don't move away.
"I don't know when Cass's party ends and I need to be home soon. So, maybe you should get Semia so we can wrap this up sooâ"
He leans forward and his hands are on the sides of my waist. My eyes widen immediately and I stare at him. "What are you doing?"
He tugs at the rope and looks up at me through his eyelashes. In this corner, his eyes are dark and hooded. His breath grazes my chin. "Can you breathe in this thing, Pryce?"
I don't respond. There's two of him again.
"Did you really have to tie a rope this hard around your waist to prove your point?" He tugs a little bit harder on the rope and starts to loosen it. I don't have any difficulty breathing but I let him do what he wants to do.
"I'm not trying to prove a point. It comes with the outfit."
"I'd know what you were even without the rope on."
"Then I wouldn't be in distress."
He loosens it completely and places his hands on his thighs before leaning upwards. His eyes move from my hair to my feet and back. "You don't have to be."
He leans forward again and raises his thumb to my mouth. He drags his thumb over my bottom lip and lingers there for a second too long and then down to my chin, smearing the lipstick around. "There. Better."
I glare at him. He just ruined my lipstick and I just let him. "What'd you do that for?"
He leans back and releases my legs from his grip. "It's hard to focus with you looking like that."
I arch a brow. The music is deafening in my ears and my head feels a little light. "You just ruined my makeup."
He nods with a satisfied grin. "And I'm not sorry."
I scoff and get to my feet, wobbling a little bit. "Whatever. Look, go get Semia. I need to use the restroom. I'll be quick."
I don't wait for a response. I turn around and leave him there and ask a random girl for the location of the nearest restroom. She describes it and I thank her before going into the hallway. Someone grabs my arm and I rip it away from his grip in my intoxicated state before taking a step back.
I look up and see Craig smirking at me. He's not dressed as anything. He's only wearing a plain black, t-shirt and Jeans and he's staring at me like I'm a piece of meat.