Bellatrix had some of the same issues which is why she got taunted almost as much as I did. It was easier for us to laugh the teasing off than get upset and brew over it. We preferred to live as if we were just like everyone else—normal. Besides, there wasn’t anything wrong with being single.
The food arrived and officially saved our table from any further embarrassment or disagreements. Alex ranked food right up there with good-looking men.
“This smells delicious,” Jacob moaned, deeply breathing in and out.
I positioned the basket of garlic wings and fries between me and my sister so that we could share.
The waitress topped off my water and then rushed off to another set of diners.
I risked a glance at the group that had come in and found they were all watching our table. I hoped they hadn’t overheard Alex and got offended. I believed they were locals based on Elizabeth’s explanation. The last thing I wanted to do was disrespect this village’s natives. I’d have to apologize on his behalf.
Or not…
My eyes locked with the man in the center, the one with the head of dark hair. I think he smiled; his teeth seemed to sharpen at the change in expression. The guys with him stared too, regarding me with open interest. It was unnerving, to say the least, almost as if I were a deer in headlights.
If there were a chain running across the room one end would be tied to him and the other would be around my throat.
I couldn’t compare the feeling to anything else, it was entirely foreign.
He wouldn’t look away.
None of them were looking away, but he was the one my eyes stayed on. It didn’t feel as if he were looking at me as much it did through me.
“Angel?” Collin leaned over and effectively cut off my line of sight. I would’ve thanked him if it wouldn’t make things awkward.
“Sorry, I’m fine.” I diverted my gaze away from his concerned one.
“That was different,” Bellatrix mumbled.
I looked over to see her staring at the basket between us. Had she felt that too?
Whatever just happened it was fucking weird.
CHAPTER
I stepped backward, narrowly avoiding a Slenderman on stilts and consequently bumping into one of the two women that were walking behind me.
“I’m so sorry,” I quickly apologized.
“Don’t sweat it. You gotta get the shot, right?” she joked, motioning to Jacob.
“Well, as you can see, he’s a little extreme,” Bellatrix chimed in, moving closer to me.
As soon as Jacob saw Freddy’s Shop of Horrors, he demanded to use the window as a backdrop for a photo opt.
Now he was shouting orders at Alex, Ty, and Collin as if he were doing an editorial spread.
The woman eyed my costume with a smile. “Wizard Of Oz, right?”
I swiped a hand over my checkered blue dress. “Only missing Toto and the wizard.”
It was easy to tell what she and her friend were, dressed in skintight leotards with the description draped over them in sashes--salt and pepper. Salt being the one I bumped into--a stunning dark-skinned woman with spiral curls twisted into an updo and a body that would take me years in a gym to achieve.
Bellatrix and I may have been fortunate to have kick-ass metabolisms but we most certainly were not toned like athletes.
Pepper was a bigger woman, almost as pretty if you ignored her terrible bangs.
It looked like someone had taken kid zig-zag scissors to her otherwise gorgeous, wavy red hair.
“Y'all don’t have accents as strong as the other locals. Are you visiting?” Salt asked.
“Oh, no. We’re not from here at all. We came for the festival.”
“We did too! I’m Sasha. This is Amber.”
“Angeline, Bellatrix.” I motioned between me and my sister. “Back there is Tyson, Collin, Alex, and that crazy man with the camera is Jacob.”
Amber narrowed her eyes and looked at us closely. I knew what was coming. We weren’t considered identical but there wasn’t any denying the obvious.
“Yes, we’re twins,” Bellatrix smiled and answered her silent question.
“I love that. I’ve always wanted to be friends with twins!”
Sasha laughed. “Don’t pay her any attention. She’s half tipsy and on her way to drunk as hell once we find this Faust bar.”
“That’s where we’re going!” Alex exclaimed, suddenly behind me. “Are you joining us?”
“Alex, you can’t invite random people to join you on vacation. Didn’t we just go through this?” Tyson chastised. There wasn’t any heat in it, though. His brown eyes were homed in on Sasha as if she were the sun itself.
He was far too obvious not to notice. Sasha was kind enough not to embarrass him. “If you guys don’t mind, we actually would love to. It’s only the two of us here.”
“Say no more. You’re officially part of the gang,” Jacob declared, carefully placing his prized camera back in its bag. “We can go get wasted now. I’ve got enough shots.”