Skin Deep (Skin Deep #1)

“Whatever it is that has put that evil light in your eyes, I’m in! Now what is it?”

I started breaking my idea down to her, and she immediately jumped in with both feet, tweaking my idea and taking it to places I hadn’t thought of. “Allie? You…are a genius!”

I called Luke to let him know not to pick me up tonight because I was going to Allie’s. He asked what we were going to do, but of course, I wouldn’t tell him. I hung up, telling him that Allie would bring me home later, but I didn’t know what time.

Allie and I spent the evening putting our plans into place, and when she took me home at midnight, we were giggling gleefully and praying that Friday came quick.

When Friday came, I was almost giddy with excitement, and asked Floyd if I could leave at noon. He agreed, and I called Luke to let him know that I was leaving work, and that I would meet him at the party that night. He and Brandon and Jackson had refused to tell us what they were going to wear for costumes since Allie and I wouldn’t tell them.

Allie picked me up and we headed first to the hall she had rented for the party to decorate. It was a big open room, with a smaller kitchen/banquet area attached and we went crazy with spider webs, caution tape, fake blood, and everything else we would find. We hung black material over the windows in the big open area to darken it, and placed black lights at intervals on the tables and around the room. We also filled a few cylindrical vases with tonic water and sat them on the tables. Instant glow lamps! Tonic water glows under black light, fyi. Allie had hired Jeremy to come in and DJ for the party tonight, and he was setting up in the corner with a little lamp over his computer and equipment so he could see to do his job.

We left a large area for dancing and did a little bit of decorating in the smaller room, setting up the snack/drink area so it was ready for the food to be put out when it was time. We had enlisted my mom and Jenna to help with the food, and Allie and I had each made a few things, too. I’d been up late the night before making buffalo chicken dip, which I know isn’t scary or Halloween themed, but it is orange colored and frankly, a party isn’t a party without that shit!

We also set up a bar area and Leah agreed to come in and “bartend” for us for a bit. We had gotten the things to make Black Apples, which is blackberry schnapps, apple pucker, 7up, and sweet & sour mix (Yum!), Axe Murderers, which is (Drunk City) amaretto, gin, rum, Southern Comfort, tequila, Triple Sec, vodka, 7up, grenadine, and pineapple juice, Ghostini’s, which are simple but delicious martinis made with vodka, melon liqueur, and sour mix, and my favorite punch of all time! It was called simply Halloween Brew and was vodka (I went big with the 110 proof), 7up, lime sherbet, and dry ice to make it look like it was smoking.

Once we finally got everything ready to go, we rushed back to Allie’s house to get ourselves dressed. We had found long, billowy, hooded cloaks to wear over our costumes so we could hide them until we were ready to surprise everyone. Well, not really everyone. Our goal was to drive the guys insane, and I think Allie and I were definitely on point.

We headed back to the hall about fifteen minutes before everyone was due to begin arriving. My mom, Jenna, and Leah were all there already, setting up the food and getting drinks ready. They raised their eyebrows at us when we refused to show them our costumes, but didn’t say anything.

My mom was dressed as Julia Child, wearing a button up blouse and long, slim skirt with a gravy spattered apron tied around her waist, brown curly wig, and a bottle of wine sitting at her side. She also had a rolling pin and spatula tucked into her waistband.

Jenna was wearing a long, black trench coat that she kept tightly closed. She looked beautiful with her hair perfectly coiffed, and her makeup flawlessly done. We asked her what she was supposed to be, and we lost it when she simply reached down and tore open the coat (which she had apparently modified with Velcro) to reveal a flesh covered body suit with stuffed pantyhose attached to resemble long, stretched out boobs with pasties on the nipples that hovered around her belly button, and an afro wig attached to her pelvic area.

Leah was…well, not creative. But I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. She was wearing her red and white high school cheerleading uniform, but she had modified the skirt so it was barely covering her ass, and turned the top into a bra. Instead of wearing sneakers, she had on thigh high red boots with stiletto heels that were at least six inches tall. She looked like a high school hooker. She had installed herself behind the table we had designated as the “bar” and had even put a small jar in front of her that said ‘TIPS’ in heavy black letters.

Allie looked at me and whispered, “She does realize that we’re throwing a party with an open bar and she’s not really working, right?”

I shrugged. Ten to one, that jar would be full twice over by midnight.

People began arriving and Allie and I stood by the door, greeting them as they came in. We kept our hoods pulled low so no one could really see our faces. We had just abandoned our posts to head over to Leah to get drinks when we saw Leah’s jaw drop and heard her gasp, “Oh, holy shit!”

Allie and I spun around and we grabbed onto each other to keep our knees from buckling at the sight standing just inside the door.

Luke was standing there in a tight, ribbed black tank that was tucked into camouflage pants. The pants were tucked into black combat boots that laced up his shins, and he had a camouflage ball cap turned backwards on his head. Silver dog tags gleamed against the darkness of his shirt where they lay against his chest. His tattoos stood out in stark relief on his skin and he looked dangerous and sexy and I wanted to jump him where he stood.

Jackson was standing beside Luke, shirtless, with faded, ripped jeans slung low on his hips. He had steel-toed boots on his feet and a tool belt around his waist. He had a hard hat on his head that had something written on it, but I couldn’t quite make it out. I also saw that he had varied items shoved into the loops and pouches of the tool belt. He smirked and took a couple steps toward us so we could see the details of his costume. His hat said ‘Women’s Tool Kit’ on it and his belt was filled with condoms, flavored lube, and various vibrators. Oh. My. God.

I heard a choked sound beside me and looked at Allie. I couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh or drool as she stared at Brandon. He was standing there in nothing but a pair of leather flip flops and black Calvin Klein boxer briefs.

His costume, or lack thereof, broke us out of our daze, and we smiled as they walked closer to us, moving out of the way as more people came through the door.

“What the hell are you supposed to be?” Allie asked Brandon.

“An underwear model, of course,” Brandon replied, striking a pose and flexing his muscles.

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Luke. He was peering intently at Allie and me, trying to get a good look at our faces. I stepped back away from him and Allie followed. Without a word we walked into the big room. Allie nodded at Jeremy, who we had enlisted to help with our plan to bring the guys to their knees, and he hit a button, filling the room with Kid Rock’s So Hott.

As the intro played, the guys followed us, attempting to get close enough to see what we were dressed in. On cue (we worked this out earlier), Leah abandoned her bar position and pulled all three of them back from us, pushing them into chairs by the closest table. In the meager light afforded by the lamp on the DJ table and the glowing vases on the tables, we could see the guys look at each other in confusion, but that changed quickly.