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I surveyed the apartment, seeing if there was anything else last minute that I wanted to grab and bring, something that would maybe spice up my costume. Not really. The apartment was pretty bare bones, actually. Furniture that had seen better days and not a lot of it—just a small table with a couple mismatched chairs, a large lumpy leather couch, a bookshelf, and a bed in the small bedroom. Everything was old and worn, although Jones had kept the place clean. I wasn’t worried about cockroaches or something appearing out of nowhere.
And even if the place had been a bit rundown, I would’ve fixed it up and not complained. I liked living above the garage. It made me feel at home. Sure, I didn’t want to live here forever, but it was a good stopover. Not like I had to hurry up and find a place so that I could move in with my girl and start a family.
I had always wanted a family. It was something not a lot of people knew about me—Morgan was one of the few. My parents were… well they weren’t worth talking about, let’s put it that way. But I’d always wanted to be a father. I’d seen how Morgan was with his dad, and I felt how Jones was with me, and something about babies and little kids had always… I don’t know, it had always just opened up this soft spot inside of me.
But there was a fat chance of that happening until I found my life partner, the person I wanted to help me raise my kids, and the only person I’d ever considered doing that with was Billie. So… until I finally got over her and found someone else, this apartment would do just fine.
Y’know, maybe it was a good thing I was wearing a mask. I’d make sure to put it on before I walked up to the front door. This way, nobody would recognize me. Anyone who wasn’t happy about my being back in Canyon wouldn’t even have to know that it was me. I could be anonymous.
I’d always been the life of every party. Going to be the opposite of that, to go basically incognito, wasn’t my usual style. But hey, needs must and all that.
I took a final look at myself in the mirror, nodded, and grabbed my car keys. Time to meet all my old friends and see who else, and what else, had changed over the last four years.
The party was in full swing by the time I got there fashionably late. Back in the day it had been so that I could make an entrance and get everyone’s attention on me, especially since I’d swagger in with a new black eye, or a huge keg of alcohol, or some other crazy accessory to accompany an equally crazy story that I was about to tell.
Now, I was arriving late not to make an entrance but because I really wasn’t sure how long I wanted to be here. I’d arrived late, great, I could spend less time here, and duck out a little early. No problem. And hey, everyone was already here so the party was thumping and nobody was going to look twice at another random person arriving.
And when I said thumping, I meant thumping. Music was blasting out of the old house, probably annoying every single neighbor in the area. Damn, a scene like this used to get me pumping like nothing else.
I got inside, skirting around all the people, and I grabbed a beer to sip. I’d cut out a mouth hole in the mask so that I could eat and drink without having to take it off. Sure, I was a little sweaty under here, but it was a small price to pay for keeping my anonymity.
Oh, shit. Amber. I ducked into the kitchen, then remembered that I was wearing a mask and she had no idea who I was, and I relaxed and ducked back out.
Amber Bell had been my on and off girlfriend for years, and I was not keen to see her. Things were over between us and the last thing that I wanted to do was hash things out with her again or talk with her about our shared past or whatever.
She was dressed as… I was pretty sure it was a celebrity, but I didn’t recognize her. It was a clear excuse for her to wear a tight dress and to do her hair and makeup so that she looked sexy, like she was stepping off a runway, which if you asked me wasn’t really the point of Halloween. Sure, wear a sexy costume but make it creative and fun, don’t just put on a fancy dress and decide to call it a day.
“They can find anything, anything, anything, under the sun!” As I was avoiding the one woman I most wanted to avoid, I heard the voice of the woman I did want to see.
