Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 96(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19281 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 96(@200wpm)___ 77(@250wpm)___ 64(@300wpm)
How did I not see it? But they all looked so different in there.
Jack’s mask is off now, and the white paint on his skeleton face is smeared. Xander’s mask is off now, too, and it’s all painfully obvious. Shouldn’t I have recognized his bare chest from trying so hard not to look at it when he’s shirtless around our house? And Victor, my playful mad scientist, I should’ve known him from his smile, regardless of the makeup obscuring it.
“What’s going on? What are you all doing here?” My voice is trembling.
“You’re not an idiot,” vampire Xander says gently. He takes a step toward me, but I shrink back.
He’s right. I’m not an idiot for not recognizing them—it was dark, they’re wearing costumes, they hardly spoke, and when they did I could barely hear them with all the noise. I am an idiot for thinking they were my friends.
“Why did you trick me? Why did you lie to me?” None of them answer. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d be here?”
“We didn’t know you’d be here,” Victor says, as if that answers anything.
“It was a shock seeing you here,” skeleton Jack says.
The night has been a blur, and it takes me a moment to think back to my encounter with Jack, now that I know it was him. He didn’t kiss me, but he sure looked at me like he wanted to. My skin, already flaming from anger and embarrassment, heats further at the memory of how special he made me feel.
Why did he look at me that way tonight, and never before?
“Was this just a game for all of you?” I’m on the verge of tears, tangled up in so many intense emotions. They all made me feel so good earlier, and now I just feel like a fool.
“No fucking way,” Damien says adamantly as he moves toward me.
“Then what the hell?” Tears are falling now, making me angrier still, because I can’t control my emotions. I bend my head to use my sleeve to wipe my eyes, and when I look back up, they’re surrounding me.
“We didn’t mean to hurt you, Sab,” Xander says, his voice gentle as a feather.
“We didn’t mean to trick you either,” Victor says. “I guess we just couldn’t resist.”
“Couldn’t resist what? It’s not like you’ve never seen me in a dress before. Do you all have a thing for witches?”
Heavy silence hangs in the room until Jack cuts through it. “We all have a thing for you. That’s the problem.” He runs a hand through his hair, his voice edged with frustration.
More words that need time to sink in. “What?” I ask, finally, my eyes wide, blinking, as I look at each of them, wanting to see if there’s evidence of this on their faces. To my continued surprise, the truth is obvious.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“We all like you, Sab. We always have,” Xander says.
I’m frozen, afraid that if I move, none of this will be real. Of course they like me, as friends and as housemates, but it’s clear from his tone that’s not the kind of “like” he’s talking about.
“We’ve all been in love with you ever since we first met you,” Victor says. “Tonight was a chance to pretend it could be real.”
In love with me? I can’t believe it, but I know they wouldn’t tease me about something like this.
I don’t know whether to be elated or angry. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask finally.
“Because we knew it wouldn’t work.” Damien sounds angry, too.
“Early on, we realized we all liked you,” Jack explains, “and we decided that none of us should try to date you, because we couldn’t decide who among us should have that chance.”
“But you never told me. Shouldn’t you have given me that choice?” I ask, irritated that they kept this from me for all these years, even though I’ve hidden my feelings, too.
“Who would you have picked?” It’s Damien putting me on the spot, direct as always.
Anger fizzles out of me, like a bucket of water dumped on a fire. I could never have picked one of them, and I wouldn’t have wanted to have hurt their friendship by getting tangled up in some kind of competition or jealousy.
“As time went on,” Xander says, “we noticed you looked at us like brothers, and we realized that’s what was for the best.”
My throat goes tight, and my body suddenly feels very heavy. Tonight’s fun was a one-time thing. Obviously, it can never be anything more.
I don’t realize tears have started to fall again until Xander blots them with his fingers. “What’s the matter, Sabby?”
I never dreamed I would tell them this, but they’ve put it all out there, so I may as well do the same. “I’ve always been in love with you. With all of you. And you’ve always treated me like a sister.”