Page 100 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

Oh my god. Everyone was either staring at me and laughing or staring at the screen.

“Sadie.” Miri’s hand came to my shoulder and she gave me an understanding expression. “It’sokay. Women’s sexuality is nothing to be ashamed of. We’re all very excited for this new phase of your life.”

“Miri, play it again,” someone called.

“No—” I started, but Miri unlocked her phone and pressed play again.

Beside me, Holden shook with laughter. I covered my face with my hands as the bear slapped the other bear with the toy.

“I’m posting this.” Miri’s fingers flew on her phone and my stomach tightened again. “Sadie, can I tag you?”

“No,” I gasped, and Holden laughed harder. “Don’t tag me.”

She winced. “I already did.”

“Oh my god.” I wanted to disappear into the couch. “They must have dug it up in the forest?” I asked Holden.

He shrugged, eyes bright with amusement. “You should have left it up at the bar.”

Another round of laughter rose as the video played again and again and I sighed.

“That thing is cursed,” I muttered to Holden, and he grinned and put his arm around me.

37

Holden

“It’s loud in here,”I yelled over the thumping music.

Sadie beamed at me. The person at the door had painted a butterfly on each of her temples. Sadie had insisted I get the same. Under the black lights, her teeth flashed white.

“I know.” Her gaze snagged on a person walking by, covered in glowing paint. “Welcome to the Queen’s Cove art scene.”

I stared around the packed warehouse Sadie had navigated us to. On the dance floor, paint-covered people writhed to the beat. Along one wall, a bar served drinks. Paint pots and brushes sat near the entrance and giant canvases hung from the walls as people flung paint at them.

No wonder Sadie had told me to wear clothes I didn’t mind throwing out.

“Come on.” She slipped her hand into mine and pulled me toward the bar while I admired her ass in her mini-skirt.

Someone passed me, their face painted like a glow-in-the-dark lion. I cringed at Sadie. “I’m too old for this. Let’s go home and watch another Twilight movie.”

That made her laugh. “I knew you liked those.” She kept pulling me. “By the time I’m done with you, Holden, you’re going to be the king of fun.”

When Sadie had told me she was taking me on an adventure tonight, I never, ever would have expected this.

I frowned down at her, hiding a smile. “I’m going to ask them to turn the music down.”

Her outrage nearly made me break. “No. You’re being grumpy.”

I grinned at her.

“You’re kidding.” Her tone was flat but her mouth curled up.

I nodded, smiling at her, before I lifted her hand and spun her in a circle. “I’m having fun, only because I’m with you, though. You know this is a rave, right?”

Her mouth fell open. “What? It’s not a rave, it’s a party.”

A guy holding a dozen glowsticks appeared at our side. “Two for ten bucks.”

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