I’d be lying if I confessed that the image she’d conjured up wasn’t appealing. “Was that an option? Do you have the bikini back at your place?” I asked. “We could have our own private party later if you insist.”
She rolled her eyes. “So predictable. But this,” she said, pulling away and sweeping an arm down her soft, crimson body, “is as sexy as you can handle.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward Gabriel’s drive. “If we stay here in the dark a moment longer, I’ll have you unzipped and naked in the back of the Sentinel.”
“If I’m completely honest, I’m not feeling hugely sexy,” she said, holding on to her hat as we crossed the road.
“My jumpsuit is chafing if it makes you feel any better.”
“It does. It’s good to know it’s not just women who suffer for their fashion choices. I’m a fire hazard most of the time given the materials in my clothes.”
“Well, at least tonight, no one will miss you in a fire.”
I knocked on the door and went in. The hallway led into the open-plan kitchen area where Gabriel and his daughter spent most of their time. The glass doors into the garden had been opened and the party had spilled out onto the patio.
I didn’t see anyone I knew. Probably due to the fact that we were all dressed up and pretending to be someone else. Then Stella, in a gold helmet and blue cloak, came toward us, her gaze pinned on Hollie.
“Hey!” she said, brandishing a spear. “You must be Hollie. I fucking love your outfit. Just my type of girl. I thought you might turn up in a Princess Leia bikini and I’d have had to take off your head,” she said, wiggling her spear.
“What the fuck is with the spear?” I asked, kissing her on both cheeks.
“I’m Boudica, you walking cliché. You know that film is full of homoerotic imagery?” she asked.
“I like fast planes and good-looking guys,” I replied. “Shoot me.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Hollie said, laughing.
“He is,” Stella said, grinning as if she finally had a partner in crime. “I’m so pleased I don’t have to break it to you. Come and get a drink. You have to see what Beck has come as. He’s even more ridiculous. The testosterone is exhausting. Gabriel’s the only normal friend they have.”
Hollie looked at me and smiled, her blue hat wobbling to one side. “Thank you,” she said.
I wasn’t sure what she meant, and I didn’t have time to ask her before we found Tristan, Gabriel and Beck. I couldn’t help but laugh at how predictable Tristan’s outfit was. “Han Solo?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m hoping there’ll be a few women here dressed as Leia. You know,” he said, making a cupping gesture in front of him. “In the bikini.”
“You know I’m carrying a spear,” Stella said. “And you’re just asking to have me target your balls.”
Tristan just shrugged.
I turned to Gabriel. “Happy birthday.” I looked him up and down. “Did you two come as a couple?” I asked, taking in his Darth Vader costume. The five-year-old in me was dying to know if the mask pushed to the top of his head did the voice.
“No. And I have to say, I think Han Solo is a weak costume. It’s too conventional. Tristan’s basically rummaged at the back of his wardrobe and found what he wore to university and picked up a plastic gun. Unlike me. Or you.” He held his hand out to Hollie. “I’m Darth,” he said.
“Thing 1. Happy birthday,” she said. They shook hands as if this was any old introduction in the pub.
“Very good,” he said. “I read Dr. Seuss to my daughter. She’s three so I’m not sure she appreciates all the nuances, but I do.”
“How’s it going?” I asked. It was his first birthday since his wife had left.
He nodded and took a large swig of wine. I didn’t press him. It was his birthday, and I was sure he didn’t want to get into it.
“Why are you so pissed off at Beck?” I asked Stella, taking in Beck’s Hulk costume.
“I’m just irritated. He’s greener than I ordinarily like a man. I wanted him to come as Batman,” she said. “That’s a manly costume. And much less green.”
“Yeah but too Vader-y,” he said, indicating Gabriel’s billowing cloak.
“It was thoughtful not to upstage the host,” Hollie muttered beside me.
Stella leaned toward us both. “I know. It’s very sweet that he didn’t want to overshadow Gabriel, but I’m hoping he’s going to put on the costume I got him when we get home so I’m pretending to sulk.”
Hollie laughed and her blue hair fell off, revealing her own dark tendrils. “Oh, this thing is so hard to keep on,” she said. “Where’s your restroom? I’ll go reattach it. I have some bobby pins with me.”