Page 18 of The Ghost of You

“I bought a second one and it’s sitting in the car.”

I shake my head at her. “You are the worst.”

She jumps off her stool and wraps her arms around me. “You love me.”

“I don’t know why. I am starting to question my sanity.” I look down at her outfit and see she is wearing a sexy Elsa costume. “What the fuck, Sera! That was what I was going to wear.”

“Well we couldn’t both be wearing the same thing. That’s why I needed you to wear the cop one. And it looks damn good on you, girl.”

“You don’t work here. Who cares if we have the same costume.”

“They know we are besties. And if we were to match, you couldn’t be Elsa. You would have to be Ana. Duh.”

I roll my eyes at that.

“So do you think sexy cop neighbor might show up tonight?”

“Why the hell would he come here? He’s like thirty-something. Not his scene.”

She smiles at that. “Mmm. And how would you know that?”

“I just do.”

“You know you work here and you are going to be thirty in a few months.”

“Not the point. And you aren’t that far behind me.”

“I am still much younger than you.”

“By three months,” I mutter.

She sits back on her stool. “I bet I can find a way to get sexy cop here.”

“He doesn’t work tonight.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about a man you don’t seem to know.”

I start to walk away. “You are ridiculous.”

“I just think he should see you in that outfit.”

I turn back to her. “He did.”

Her eyes light up at that but I don’t give her the joy of knowing everything that happened between us in the last twenty-four hours. I head into the back and put my purse away before stepping behind the bar.

It’s still early enough that it is slow. So I am taking in the calm before the storm as best I can. This place has a costume contest every year and it gets rowdy. The managers told me they start turning people away at ten because it gets too crowded. Some will wait outside for people to leave but most people stay until close.

Two hours pass and it’s slowly starting to fill up. It’s just after eight, so I know it will be wild soon. I bring another margarita over to Seraphina, her eyes locked on my co-worker, Liam.

“How long are you going to be here?” I ask her.

She blinks a few times then looks at me. “As long as he is here, I am here,” she says pointing at Liam.

“He’s still gay. That hasn’t changed since the first time you met him.”

She shrugs. “Doesn’t mean I can’t look.”

“Let me get you a napkin. You’re drooling.”

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