It was an hour later when I saw it—more cars than usual parked on the street in front of an apartment block. It had been renovated about four years ago to make trendy apartments, and I almost kicked myself for not thinking about it being where she’d head before now, given that it was a favorite residential area for the younger people of the town.
Well, apart from people like myself who wanted a house, peace, tranquility, and space, but at thirty-one, I didn’t technically fall under the class of ‘younger people of the town’ anymore.
Finding a space near the gates, I parked up and got out, scanning the windows as I made my way toward the entrance. Through the glass on the top floor, I saw lights pulsing and people hanging out on the wrap-around balcony.
Guess I was going all the way to the top, then.
The door was open when I got to the apartment, so, with a photo of Jenny I’d taken at a party for one of the kids a couple of months ago on the screen of my phone, I pushed my way through the bodies crowded in front of it. I couldn’t stop myself grimacing when I passed someone painted in blue and felt the body paint come off on my arm.
A little voice in my head said, “Come on, Heidi, you’re the same age as some of these guys. Live a little.” But I wouldn’t be ‘living a little,’ not like this. My priorities had changed after I’d given birth to Nemi, and partying like this was completely removed from my list of ‘interests.’
Stopping once I got to the open plan living room and kitchen, I scanned the large space, looking for the little shithead.
“Hey, baby, what did you come as?” a deep voice asked next to me.
Spinning around with my mouth open to say something back, I froze when I saw who it belonged to.
A really good looking guy who looked vaguely familiar. To be precise, he was a handsome man who was close to my age, with dark skin, light blue eyes, and who was towering over me, thanks to his considerable height. Jesus, the guy had to be at least six and a half feet tall. Did he even need a ladder to change a light bulb?
And the costume he was dressed in fried my brain that bit more. I couldn’t even tell what part of it was down to the costume and which parts were purely him. I was hoping it was all down to the latter because wow. Then again, it’d be unfair on the rest of the male species if it was.
“What are you?” The words came out without me intending for them to as I scanned him from his head down to his toes and back up again. Yes, I stopped on his crotch, hoping I could see through the costume, but I also took a moment to drool over his legs which weren’t covered by it from mid-thigh down.
One side of his mouth tilted up in a grin. “I’m a condom.”
I blinked rapidly at the response, seeing as how it went against what I was staring at. “You’re dressed as a gladiator, aren’t you?”
Maybe it was a sarcastic joke?
He was the hottest gladiator I’d ever seen, and the fact no one had thought to make a movie with this guy dressed as one in it was a crime.
“No, I’m a Trojan.” He looked way too pleased with this information as he then slowly dragged his hand over what I realized was a plate on his stomach with an eight-pack on it. So, not all his own muscles, then.
And then he said something that shattered my interest in him. “I’m ribbed for your pleasure.”
All of the drooling and appreciation screeched to a halt. Women liked confident men, but when they turned onto the road to sleezeville, that’s when a majority of us shut shop. He’d taken the turning and was almost at the gates of it, and it was a tragedy.
“Good for you,” I drawled, giving him a tense smile. Seeing the change in my demeanor, the guy frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but I got there first. Holding my phone up and showing him the photo of Jenny, I asked, “Have you seen this girl here tonight?”
His eyes slowly moved from mine to the screen. “She looks way too young to be here.”
“That’s exactly the problem. Jenny’s only sixteen, and she snuck out of the house tonight. Her mom’s worried out of her mind and looking after a sick one-year-old baby on top of it.”
Turning around, he called a guy over. “Aston, you seen this chick? She’s underage and snuck out to come here tonight.”
“I don’t know for sure,” I added, “but this is the same type of party she was telling her little brother about coming to.”