Ritual - Palm South University
My stomach twists again, but I force a smile. “Speaking of pressure, how is Kip doing in the film program at UCLA?”
“Oh, kicking ass and taking names, of course. He’s working on a script for an online series right now that will go up in competition against the other students in his program. He seems pretty geeked up about it, but won’t tell me much.”
“When do you get to see him next?”
Skyler frowns a little at that, squeezing more lotion into her hands before passing the bottle to me. “Thanksgiving. I can’t believe it’s already been two months.”
I reach over to squeeze her arm. “But hey, Thanksgiving is just a month away.”
“Twenty-three days,” Skyler corrects with a smile. “I hope he knows we’re not leaving his dorm room.”
I snicker. “And I hope his roommates have noise-cancelling headphones.”
It’s only a little past noon, and already the Halloween party is in full swing. Just looking around the island at the multitude of students doing beer bongs and keg stands and hammering back shots tells me most of them won’t make it to sunset. Still, I love seeing how creative everyone got with their costumes, finding ways to dress up but in swimsuits. I spot an Indiana Jones, a group of Minions from the Despicable Me movie, animals of every kind, superheroes and Disney princesses, Barbies and musicians, even a few puns — like Bear’s Little, Josh, who has a lampshade on his head and a box over his shoulders with a table cloth and some random items on top. The front of it says “one night stand.”
The girls and I decided to go for something sexy but classy, landing on pin-up dolls. For one, it was easy to transform that into a swimsuit costume, and for two, we could each dress in colors that complemented our different skin and hair colors.
I’m in an emerald two piece, the bottoms high waisted with a frilly trim, the top a shiny sweetheart cut with straps over my shoulders. I curled my short red hair and wrapped a matching green bandana around it to tie at my forehead, and painted my lips a cherry red.
Skyler, on the other hand, is sexy as hell in a yellow one piece that looks more like a man’s shirt than a swimsuit. It’s loose at the top, with a deep V that accentuates her tan cleavage and toned stomach, but it cinches at her waist and hugs her ass perfectly at the bottom. It looks like a cuffed sleeve where the straps hook around her neck, and the left breast has a pocket, like a work shirt. She’s paired it with jean shorts that I’m sure will come off at some point, and her hair is braided into pigtails, each wrapped with yellow bows.
“Speak of the devil, if it isn’t the big man on campus,” Skyler says with a grin, skipping past me. I turn just in time to see her give Adam a big high-five before hanging her hands on her hips. “This is bad ass, my friend. Well done.”
“Thank you, thank you,” Adam replies, pretending to bow.
“How the hell did you get a DJ on a sandbar?”
“With a very expensive generator and a lot of possible disaster planning.”
Skyler chuckles. “Well, it sets the tone, and the open bars, the kegs, the slip and slide…” She whistles her approval. “You’ve outdone yourself.”
“Just wait until the fireworks show.” Adam smiles, pride radiating off him. It turns me on to see him like this, exuding power and confidence, and I slide up to him, wrapping my arms around his bare torso.
“I agree,” I say, kissing his warm neck. “You knocked it out of the park, babe.”
He swallows, putting his arm around my shoulders, but I feel the hesitant way he does it, and it makes my stomach ache. “Thanks, Cass.”
“I’m going to get a drink,” Skyler says, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “Want anything, Little?”
“Just a beer for me. And a shot of something fruity, if you’re up for it?”
Skyler scoffs. “Like that’s even a question. Be right back!”
She skips off, and then it’s just me and Adam, and I turn to thread my hands behind his neck and press my lips to his. The kiss is a little too cold and short for my taste, but he keeps his arm around my waist when we break off.
“So… I thought you were going to wear green trunks to match me?” I tease, eyeing his red swim trunks. He has a whistle around his neck and a patch of white sunscreen on his nose, which tells me he went for a lifeguard. “We never do seem to get our Halloween costumes right, do we?”
It’s a joke, referencing the fact that he dressed to match Skyler my freshman year, and then last year, dressed up like Prince Eric as if to make up for it, since I had been Ariel from The Little Mermaid. But of course, I hadn’t worn the same thing twice, and was Cleopatra, with a matching Grayson as my Mark Anthony.