All Hallows Eve, Vol. 3

Chapter 2

Two

Jamie

I can’t get the guy from the street off my mind.

He was walking so fast that I had to run to catch up to him, but something was screaming at me that he was having a bad day. His head was down, but I could still see his tear-stained cheeks. What I didn’t expect when he turned around was how gorgeous he was, even with the harsh expression. The thing that stood out the most was his eyes. They were so dark they were almost black.

“Are you daydreaming about the hottie from the street again?” my best friend, Shane, teases. “Why didn’t you get his number?”

I shrug and take a sip of my drink. After I gave the mystery guy the flower, Shane and I decided to grab lunch at our favorite diner. “He looked really upset. I didn’t think it was a good time.”

Shane bumps his shoulder against mine. “You probably made his day a million times better. Maybe you’ll see him again.”

That makes me snort. “New York City is huge. I doubt it.” We sit there for a while just talking when I start getting a weird feeling. I look around the diner but don’t find anything out of the ordinary. I scan the windows and my heart stutters in my chest. The mystery guy is standing across the street, leaning against the building with one boot propped on the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. His hood is pushed back, and I see a mass of dark brown curls. “It’s him,” I gasp. He’s looking this way, but there’s no way that he can see me with all these people.

“Who?”

I roll my eyes and point across the street. “Mystery guy.”

“No shit?” Shane leans his elbow onto the table and squints through the glass. “You should go talk to him.”

“What? No.”

“It’s, like, fate or something,” Shane argues, practically pushing me from the booth. “Go.”

“I can’t do this,” I hiss. I’m not the one to make the first move. I even surprised myself when I approached him with the flower, and I’m not even sure if he’s gay.

“Dude, if you don’t go on your own, I’m going to carry you out there.” Shane pops a fry into his mouth with a grin, making me roll my eyes again.

“It’s different for me.” My voice is small, and Shane immediately softens. “You’re hot and straight. I’m average and gay.” I point out the window. “And that man is way out of my league.”

“You don’t see all the men that check you out on the daily because you let some piece of shit fucking ex break you down. Even as a straight man, I can confirm that you’re fucking hot. I mean, if I played for your team, I’d fuck you.”

That shocks a laugh out of me, which is what he intended. “What do I even say?”

“Want to go back to my place and slide inside me?” I punch him in the arm, making him laugh. “Just start with hi, my name is Jamie.”

I nod, trying and failing to get my nerves under control. I spin toward the door, but when I shove through it, he’s not there anymore. I look around the crowded sidewalk and start questioning my sanity. Did I imagine him? No. Shane saw him, too. Did he see me coming and hightail it the other way? My stomach drops at that realization, and I turn around to go back into the diner, only to run into Shane.

“Why are you still standing here?”

“He’s gone.” I shove my hands into my pockets, going into full pout mode. “I want to go home.”

“Absolutely not,” Shane argues. “I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. He might have needed to go somewhere.”

“Or he saw me coming and ran away.”

Shane grabs my shoulders and gives me a hard shake. It wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t the size of a linebacker. “From the deepest part of my heart, shut the fuck up. You need to get laid.” Shane nods once and steps back like he’s come to a decision. “That’s exactly what you need. Some big ass dude to twist you into a pretzel.”

“Shane,” I whisper, trying not to cringe at the people staring at us because he’s not being quiet at all. “Please stop.”

“No. I’m on a mission now.” Shane grabs my wrist and starts dragging me down the street. “I’m taking you to that club you’ve been talking about.”

“Shane,” I laugh. “That’s a gay club.”

He looks at me over his shoulder. “So? I’m secure enough to let some guys rub on me.”

Guys will definitely want to rub all over him. He’s tall and muscular, with blond hair and the prettiest green eyes. He’s also one of the best friends I’ve ever had. We met in middle school when a couple of his jock friends were bullying me. I cried when I saw him pushing through the crowd, coming right toward me, thinking that he was going to be the next to kick the shit out of me. But the opposite happened. He was big even in middle school, and he placed himself between me and his friends, telling them to back off or answer to him. After that, he helped me up, took me to the bathroom, cleaned me up, and told me I had nothing to worry about ever again. No one even looked at me wrong after that, and we’ve been best friends since.

“I don’t know if I’m up for it.”

“Too damn bad.” Shane takes a sharp right into a store, and my eyes widen when I see where we are. “Buy something sexy. My treat.”

“Uh, none of this is my style,” I say, looking around at the leather and lace. I would love to be secure enough to wear some of this stuff, but I’m not.

“How can I help you?” a guy asks with a big smile as he bounces over. He gives me the once over and then his eyes stray to Shane to linger. Typical. “Anything specific in mind?” His gaze strays down Shane’s body and then slowly crawls back to his face. I’m sure he was imagining him in a tight pair of those leather pants.

Shane slings his arm around my shoulders and pulls me into his body in a protective manner, making me bite my lip to keep from laughing, even though I have to admit that it feels nice. I fit perfectly under his arm and it makes me think about the mystery man. Shane is just slightly taller so it would be about the same to press against him. Stop thinking about him! “He needs something to wear to the club tonight. Something that shows off his gorgeous ass.”

The sales guy has to fight every facial muscle to keep from wrinkling his nose at me. “Of course. What are we thinking?”

“Those.” I follow Shane’s finger and feel my face flame when he points to the leather pants. “And that.” The “that” in question is a bright blue crop top.

“Shane,” I hiss. “I can’t wear that.”

“Yes, you can.” Shane drops his arm and slaps me hard on the ass. “Try them on.”

The sales guy walks away to grab the clothes and I whirl around on Shane, who’s grinning from ear to ear. “I’m not going out in that.”

“Come on. Live a little, Jamie.”

“What is with you today?”

Shane shrugs. “I don’t know. I hate seeing you like this. I’m here to protect you and push you out of your comfort zone. You’re twenty-one years old, living like a monk.”

“I’m not living like a monk,” I argue. “I’m just being safe.”

“Then wear a condom.”

I try to punch him in the stomach, and he evades me easily. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I have you set up in dressing room four. If you need a different size, let me know, but those should fit your…” the sales guy looks me up and down, “body type.”

Shane gives me a gentle shove toward the dressing rooms and steers me inside before getting comfortable in the chair in front of it, pulling his phone out. I shut the door harder than necessary. “I want to see them!” Shane calls out, and like the mature adult I am, I flip him off behind the door.

I angrily kick my shoes off, fully aware that I’m throwing a tantrum. I quickly strip out of my clothes and give the leather pants an angry look while pulling them from the hanger. I slide my legs in and have to wiggle just to get them over my ass. “I hate you, Shane,” I mutter under my breath before snatching the shirt from the hanger. I slide it on and look at myself in the mirror.

I feel ridiculous. I’m not built for stuff like this. Clothes like these require confidence, something that I used to have until my ex literally beat it out of me. Just so we can get this over with, I yank open the door and prop my hands on my hips. Shane raises a brow, looking me over. “Turn around.”

“Do we really have to do this?” Shane does a spin motion with his finger, and with a huff, I do as he says.

“Abso-fucking-lutely. You’re wearing that.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Too bad.” Shane jumps to his feet and shoves his phone in his pocket. “I already paid for it because I knew you’d look good. The sales guy is grabbing some boots to go with it and some other things.”

“I hate you so fucking much,” I declare before going back into the dressing room, slamming the door in Shane’s laughing face.

“Oh! And it’s masquerade night,” Shane calls through the door. “Which means we can be whoever we want to be.”

Good damn thing because I want to be anyone other than Jamie tonight.