Red Hot Night (Trick or Treat Collaboration)

“They are. Your mother was, but that bastard she’s with demanded they go back to the house.” He scowls and he gets the same crease between his brows that I do when he’s thinking hard.

“The house? Theirs or yours,” I question.

“Mine.” Now, I can see why he had a heart attack.

“Damn, I wouldn’t let them inside,” I confess. My feelings for my birth mother have pretty much disappeared, and there’s only the tiniest thread of gratefulness that she brought me in this world.

“I know. They wanted to stay at your place.”

“There’s no way in hell I’d let that happen. Maybe my mother, but her loser husband I wouldn’t let sleep on my lawn because it might be ruined.”

“You’re a smart boy.” He pats my knee.

“Thanks. I got my smarts from my grandma.”

“Hey, I can’t lie there. So tell me. What’s going on? You were in Europe. Everything okay?” He changes the subject to something much lighter. It’s easy for me to talk about my business because I know it makes him proud.

“Great. I’m working on a large commercial building in England and a small one in Milan. It’s been busy, but after this is all done, I’m lightening my load.”

“That’s what you need to do. And you need to find a girl.”

“I can agree with you on that. But once I do, I can’t promise I won’t take her to city hall right away and get married.”

“Hey, some great-grandkids sounds nice.”

“As soon as I find that spark, I’ll be working hard at that goal.”

“What goal?” my grandma asks, munching on a cup of ice as she enters the room.

“Snagging a wife,” my grandfather answers her.

Instantly her eyes are as wide as saucers. “What? Have you met someone?”

“No, Grandma.”

I can see that temporary joy leave her eyes, but then she bounces back with sass. “Well, get to it.” She then looks at her husband and says, “Did you ask him?”

“I asked him to handle the Halloween party.”

“Thank you, good boy,” she says as if she knows I already agreed.

“I didn’t tell you he accepted.”

“But I know Everett would do anything to help you.”

“You’ve got that right, Grandma.” I give her a squeeze. “I need to get home to get some sleep since someone’s got me working hard tomorrow.”

“Get some rest. Thank you, Everett.”

“Anything for you.” I walk out after giving them each a kiss on their cheeks. As soon as I head to my house, I’m so damn jet-lagged that I barely get naked before I fall asleep.

Chapter Four

Lena

Briana grabs my arm and leads me to the door of the bar. “Just act normal. No one’s going to know we don’t belong in here. We’re not from this town anyway, and we sure as hell look old enough to be here.” I look down at my vampire vixen dress, and it’s so much shorter than the image on the packaging. I tug it several times because I can feel the breeze on my ass. It came with a large gothic cross choker that digs into my chest when I tilt my head. With this outfit on, I might need some prayers. “Did you take your pain meds?”

“Yes, I did. I left them in the car,” I shout. The music is a little loud where we’re standing.

“Then no more than one drink. I don’t want you to pass the fuck out. I may want you to get lucky, but I don’t want someone to take advantage of you,” she says, moving away from the door. Sometimes she can be a wonderful friend. We’re not even close, but it’s moments like these that show her kindness.

Sensing I’m about to be ditched, I lean in and ask, “Where are you going to be?”

“Hunting down my man,” she says, scanning the room that is decked out in full Halloween décor. Pumpkin lights on strings create a frame around the ceiling and fake webs are stretched out in every corner. Each small table has a Halloween tablecloth on it, and from the looks of it, all drinks are being served in orange and purple cups. It’s pretty festive.

“I hope he’s happy that you came.” I wish I had her confidence.

“He will be.” She wags her brows up and adjusts her breasts.

“This isn’t going to end well,” I mutter.

“Relax. How about you act like you’re not an eighteen-year-old freshman?”

“Fine.” I roll my eyes. She catches me and nudges my shoulder.

I do my best to act cool. All I have to do is hang out and avoid going to get a drink. There’s so many people around that I’m a little nervous. I take a deep breath and remember the key is to have fun. It helps that everyone is in costume so it’s hard to tell who is who.

My eyes move around the room, checking out each cool outfit and wondering if they run a contest or something. When I see the sign above the bar, I’ve got my answer. The winner will be selected at eleven-thirty. It’s almost that time now.