Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
“Okay,” I said slowly, even though he’d skirted around the answer to my question. Knowing Cole’s history, some old hookup probably texted him today to see if he wanted to go. “Why are we here?”
He picked up a feather boa and wrapped it around his neck with a flourish. “To find our costume, obviously. I wanna get a head start before everything is picked over.”
“
Our costume?” Even though it was awfully presumptuous of Cole to assume my plus-one would go to him, my heart thumped. His assumption was one hundred percent correct, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t give him a hard time. “What if I want to take Nathan instead?”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“Then why—“
“Because,” I said, shooting him a duh look, “I don’t remember us having a conversation about it.”
With a dramatic sigh, Cole unwound the fluffy scarf, discarded it on the table, and turned to me, his eyes wide and imploring. “Jackie, can I pretty please come to Chase’s party with you? I’ll let you choose whatever cheesy couples costume you want.”
Leaning in, I plucked a feather out of his hair. “
Anything?”
He hesitated, then nodded.
“Well, how can I possibly say no to that?” I grinned and brushed the feather across the tip of his nose. “Thanks for asking, Cole. I’d love for you to be my plus-one.”
He swatted my hand away. “You know, when I first met you, I never expected someone so prim and proper to be such a menace.”
“That’s because I wasn’t,” I said with a sniff. “It’s a reflex developed from spending so much time around you and your family. I’ve been corrupted.”
A low chuckle escaped him. “You say corrupted, but I think we’ve brought out the best in you,” he replied as he gave my ponytail a gentle tug. “I love your sass.”
I blushed. “Aren’t we supposed to be looking for a costume?”
“You’re right.” He turned back to the Halloween display, and after a moment of consideration, he picked out a silver, foam helmet and a matching shield. “I’m sure we can find a tiara around here somewhere. What do you think about being a princess? I can go as your—“
“Knight in shining armor?” I finished for him. “Don’t make me laugh. You’re more the pompous prince type.”
But Cole wasn’t listening. He’d caught sight of something that made him perk up and toss the helmet and shield aside. “Hey! Alex had one of these when we were kids,” he said, seizing a green lightsaber from a box of plastic weapons. He bent his knees into a fighting stance, then gave the sword a wave. “I think I ran over it with my bike and broke it,” he added. “We should totally go as Luke and Leia. You can wear that sexy gold bikini.”
Oh, hell no.
Cole must have clocked my reaction. Before I could open my mouth to tell him off, he beat me to it. Squaring his shoulders, he held up a finger and, in a bad mimicry of me, said, “First off, I refuse to wear an overtly sexual outfit that will result in me being objectified like a piece of meat. Second, the party is in October, Cole! Do you want me to freeze to death? And third—” He stopped ranting and frowned, but after a few seconds, he continued in his own voice. “Actually, I can’t think of a third thing.”
I hid a smile. “Those are both exceptional points, but what I was going to say is that it’d be weird for us to go as a brother-sister duo.” Nobody knew about the conversation I overheard between Megan and Savannah. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing; Cole and I weren’t stepsiblings, and there was no shared blood between us, but Savannah’s comment about how weird it was that we were dating hadn’t left my mind since yesterday morning.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
“This is supposed to be a couples costume, but Luke and Leia are twins,” I explained. “Her love interest is Han Solo, and he doesn’t use a lightsaber.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, nerd.”
Hold on. Since when was it was a crime to remember the plot of a famous movie franchise, one his brother forced me to watch?
“Well, at least I don’t have such kinky tastes,” I said in an attempt to goad him. “Pain and incest, really?”
It worked. Cole blinked at me in bewilderment, then slowly set aside the lightsaber when he realized what I’d said. “That tongue of yours is awfully sharp.” He took a step toward me. There was a wicked glint in his eyes. “You better watch it.”
“Or what?” I stuck said sharp tongue out at him.
“This.” Cole caught hold of my wrist, reeled me in, and crushed his mouth to mine.
It wasn’t a sweet kiss. It was hot and demanding, and when he backed me up against the table, his fingers digging into my hips, something rolled off the edge and hit the floor with a thud. I responded in kind, sinking a hand into the hair at the nape of his neck and tugging. Someone cleared their throat, and if it weren’t for the interruption, we probably would have gotten carried away.
I tore away from Cole, heart jolting in my chest, and noticed a guy in his late twenties wearing a Pearl Jam T-shirt and frayed jeans. He was standing in the door to the stock room, a steaming coffee cup clutched in his hand. His expression was neutral, but it was apparent from the way his lips were clamped together that he was trying hard not to laugh.
“Can I help you two find anything?” he asked.
“We’re good,” Cole said, sounding completely unfazed. By contrast,
I buried my face in his shirt to hide my embarrassment. “Just looking for Halloween costumes.”
“Okay then,” the guy replied. I stole a glance at him, and he gestured toward the front of the shop with his mug. “If you two need any help, I’ll be up front at the register.”
Once we were alone again, Cole tried to pull me into another kiss, but I ducked under his arm and flitted away, telling him in no uncertain terms that we wouldn’t be picking up where we left off. As it stood, there was no way I’d be able to look the store employee in the eyes when we checked out. Cole laughed but thankfully suggested a return to the task at hand—finding something we could wear to Chase’s party.
It turned out to be easier said than done.
“How are we going to get through all this?” I asked. After spending thirty minutes searching, we’d only gone over a quarter of the clothing section. The sheer amount of stuff was daunting.
“Divide and conquer?”
“Okay,” I said, nodding at the suggestion. “You stick to the tables and bins. I’ll take the racks.” Starting on the far side of the room, I quickly worked my way through the men’s clothes, but the only items I found with potential were a faded tie-dye shirt that looked too small to fit Cole and a red robe that gave me Hugh Hefner vibes, which was an immediate no.
Another half hour of scouring in silence passed, then Cole held up a stethoscope. “Thoughts on a doctor and nurse?”
“Overdone,” I said, skipping over the selection of kids’ clothes and moving on to the women’s. Like the rest of the store, all the clothing lacked organization. Fur coat. Flip. Lime-green polo. Flip. Polka-dot skirt. Flip.