AllFreeNovel
Share Us
October chill follows me across the parking lot. There’s a flash of metal in the sunlight as the door swings open. Trinity rushes out, slamming into me. I curl my arms around her and lift her for a kiss.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she whispers against my lips. “Can’t wait for you to see everything.”
I set her down and hold her at arm’s length. “I want to look at you first.”
She grabs the sides of her long, white dress and swings it from side to side. Braided gold thread on the sleeves flashes in the sunlight. Her bright blonde hair’s a mass of long, spiral curls spilling down her back. She touches her shoulders. “I still have a few pieces to add before the event starts.”
I’m struck stupid and can’t say a damn word. Fucking Angel. She’s turned my nickname for her—Angel—into a reality. Well,myversion of an angel. “You look perfect as is.”
“Thank you.” She flutters her lashes. “The costume gets sexier as the night goes on.”
Great. Now the last thing I want to do is deal with screaming kids all afternoon.
“I’ll just need you to help me put my wings on in a little bit.” She taps her shoulders.
“I don’t want to put more clothesonyou. I want to rip everythingoff, Angel Face.”
She trails her fingers over my chest, stopping to play with the buttons of my flannel shirt. “If you’re good,” she purrs, “by the end of the night I’ll be wearing nothingbutthe wings.”
“Promise?” I should get this in writing.
She wiggles her eyebrows.
That’s not exactly confirmation.
The back door swings open again. Jake throws his arms out in a what-the-fuck gesture. “Been waitin’ for your big ass all day. What’s the hold up?”
“Watch it, you suicidal little ferret.” I curl one arm around Trinity, tucking her against my side, and reach out to slap my palm against Jake’s cheek. Lightly. Well, lightly for me.
“Ferret?” Jake shouts, pointing to the dumbass brown ears sticking out of his wild mop of curly brown hair. “They’relionears.” He points to Trinity. “She made me wear them.”
Laughter rumbles through me and I hug Trinity tighter. My wife’s givin’ me gifts all day long.
I step through the door and stop in my tracks. While I’d helped Jake and Murphy move things around last night—according to Trinity’s strict directions—I steered clear of the decorating. I have to give my talented wife credit—she and Carter turned my gym into a fun but spooky little hellscape for the kids of Empire.
Equipment has been moved and hidden behind black panels to keep our visitors safe. Trinity went with a “dark forest” theme. Carter painted ominous pine trees and stone paths against a midnight blue background on the panels. Goblins and other freaky creatures peek out from behind branches and orange leaves. Ghosts and spiderwebs dangle from above. Small purple lights dot the path our visitors are supposed to take throughout the “forest.” As we venture deeper into the maze, spindly black trees with orange pumpkin ornaments appear. Buckets of candy are tucked away in different corners.
“They have to work to find the candy,” Trinity says.
“Is someone handing it out?” I ask. “Or is it just a free-for-all?”
She shrugs. “Does it matter? Trust me, I bought more than enough. If anything’s left over, I’ll bring it to the clubhouse for tonight’s party.”
“What if some little goblin steals the whole bucket?”
Another shrug. “Then I guess they earned it.” A sad expression crosses her face. “I never got to do fun Halloween stuff when I was a kid, so I’m not saying no to any of these kids and ruining their fun.”
How can I argue with that? “All right. Maybe we should have Hope draw up a waiver saying if some kid pukes all over his parents’ house, they won’t sue us?”
She rolls her eyes but laughs, which is what I was after. “You’re the owner.” She pats my chest, then turns to fix one of the hanging pumpkin ornaments. “I’ll leave the legal stuff to you.”
“Hey.” I grab her hand, tug her backward, and wrap my arms around her. Leaning down, I kiss her cheek and whisper in her ear, “Thank you. This is really…everything you did is amazing.”
Her body melts against mine and she tips her head back. “It wasn’t me. Bricks added the glow in the dark paint. And Carter’s been painting his ass off for two weeks.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think Scribbles will appreciate a kiss from me.” I attack her neck and shoulder, kissing and nibbling loudly until she’s squirming and giggling in my arms.
“Maybe not,” she gasps, and laughs some more. “But make sure you thank him.” Her tone turns more serios. “He’s still having a hard time since the toe incident.”
