But there’s also the part where I know now how much I mean to Qi. The years between then and now where he’s been the center of my gravity, and maybe I haven’t been doing that great, but even at my worst, I’ve always been loved by the greatest person I’ve ever known.
So yeah, there are a lot of really bad things here that haunt me, and maybe I see Qi’s point that I should have let him in instead of actingalone, but there are still tiny pinpricks of light that have made everything survivable. Even now, while diving into everything, I don’t think I’d be able to face it as well as I have if not for knowing how deeply unmoving Qi is by my side.
“Wow, Qiang. You look amazing!” Qi says, pulling me out of my musings.
“Qiang always looks amazing,” Marcus says to Qi before turning and focusing his eyes on mine. “But I think you’ve outdone even yourself tonight.”
I inwardly preen with delight, but outwardly act unaffected as I head towards the door.
“Are we ready? Or are you guys just going to stand there and gawk at me all night?”
“I’m good with option two,” Marcus rumbles lightly in my ear, his fingers brushing along my side as he ushers past me to hold the door open for me.
If I said the clouds didn’t part, and angels didn’t start to sing, I’d be lying through my teeth. Shit’s ridiculous.
Why couldn’t I have had these revelations two months ago, when the only thing standing in our way was me?
Now there’s Imani, and as jealous as I am and as much as I’m kicking myself in the ass about it, I can’t deny that Marcus has taste, because Imani is the type of girlI’dgo after myself if I weren’t so hyperfixated on Marcus.
Knowing that doesn’t help the jealousyat all,and sometimes it really pisses me off that I can’t just hate her, but such are the prices of spending the last several months being a twat–dammit–traumatically repressed.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Qi grumbles while lightly shoving me through the door. Tristan trails after us, laughing quietly to himself.
“Not like you guys aren’t going to just make out the whole time and rely on us to shuffle you around the event anyway,” Marcus points out while locking the door behind us.
I can’t help but bark out a laugh because there’s no lie in that statement at all.
Idon’t know what I expected when I heard about this event. Maybe the house being overcrowded, like it usually is when they have parties, only with a bunch of doors that have random artwork thrown in the mix.
I mean, I knew the artwork was good. I’d already gotten a glimpse of it when Gio had invited Tristan, Qi, Marcus, and me to spend an afternoon at the house helping them work on it. Evidently, it was a surprise for Holt, who came up with the entire frat-house trick-or-treating idea.
But I still expected more of a haphazardly thrown-together event, especially since it’s the first one they’ve thrown here. What Ididn’texpect was for the crowd to wrap from the front door to almost all the way down the frat row block. The buzz over the event had been high, but I still hadn’t expected this kind of turnout.
The point of the event was to set up trick-or-treat stations throughout the house so people could essentially ‘trunk-or-treat’ inside. It took nearly half an hour just to get in, but once we passed the threshold and got a decent look, my eyes widened with awe.
Each stop is decorated with its theme, and the frat bros manning the doors are dressed to match their door's theme. But it’s not blood, guts, and gore as you’d imagine at a college event like this; it’s childhood nostalgia through and through. Everything fromHocus PocustoCasper, and just about every other childhood Halloween movie, is on display and absolutely amazingly done.
If I hadn’t seen them working on this firsthand, no one could have convinced me that a professional hadn’t done it. Everywhere I look, there’s something new to see. Notwithstanding the banter and fun at each door, and the overall enjoyment despite the long lines. There’s just so much to take in that, even while standing and slowly moving through the house in semi-step-forward increments, boredom never sets in.
After we’d visited a couple of doors, Cade approaches us in an old,vintage red-and-black vampire costume. His white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes only add to the vibe he’s going for.
“Stunning as always, Qiang. I kind of wish we’d put up costume prizes for the event; you’d have won for sure,” he says, flashing me a wink and a bright smile.
I smile back, my vanity loving the attention. “You always did know how to turn flattery into an art form.”
“Not hard when visions such as yourself are in my home,” he practically purrs, his bright smile turning flirty.
Marcus’s fingers curl around my hipbone, sending goosebumps through my skin while he slightly tugs me backward against him, not enough to knock me off balance, but enough to have my heart skipping into overdrive.
“I think we’reallin your house, Cade,” he says pointedly.
There’s a growl of disapproval in his voice that I find most unfair since he’s already moved on, but there’s still that illogical swoop of satisfaction in my gut at his possessiveness. It’s nonsensical.
Cade huffs out a chuckle and focuses on Marcus with a teasing glint in his eyes.
“And you all look amazing as well,” he says with amusement clear in his tone.
Marcus huffs a bit as Qi nudges him with his elbow, reminding him to behave. Marcus rolls his eyes and steps to the side, pulling me with him.
