Page 161 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
“Only because that’s what you call him. And the fact that Maxwell Caldwell is kind of a ridiculous name.”
James laughed.
“When was the last Caldwell Halloween party you went to? In college or something?” It was a silly question. But I kind of wanted to know if he’d taken Isabella. I hated picturing them together. Even though she was gone, it still turned my stomach. Thinking about James with anyone else made me feel sick. But the image of Isabella and him together was a special kind of torture.
“No. They stopped doing it after my senior year of high school.”
“Wow, it’s been a long time then.”
“I’m not that old. What’s with all the digs at my age tonight?”
I laughed. He wasn’t old. He was only 30. But it was fun to mess with him. “I know. I just meant…it’s been a while since they stopped hosting their annual party then. It’s weird that they just stopped all of a sudden. You’d think they’d keep doing it until at least Matt graduated. Since he’d still be home for Halloween even though you and Mason went off to college.”
“Yeah, Matt doesn’t really do Halloween.”
“What do you mean he doesn’t really do Halloween?”
“Have you really not noticed that Matt never comes out with us on Halloween weekends?”
“No…I…”Huh.The first year I moved here was after Halloween. The next year I’m pretty sure Matt said he had another party to go to. And the year after that he’d been sick. “Wow, yeah.I’ve never even seen him in a Halloween costume. That’s blasphemy.”
James laughed.
“Is he scared of clowns or something? I’ve heard that lots of people don’t do Halloween because they’re terrified of clowns and so many people dress up as them. It’s a thing.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he’s scared of clowns.”
“Then why doesn’t he do Halloween?”
James shrugged. “You should ask him.”
“Okay…” I stared at him. He was hiding something. I could tell. “Or you could just tell me.”
“You should really ask him.”
I pressed my lips together. “Okay. I will.” I already had an idea in my head. Matt was young at heart. I bet he did something really embarrassing one Halloween and swore everyone to secrecy or something. That was probably it. I’d get the truth out of him. And even if I couldn’t…he had to come to the party. His parents were throwing it. I could be very persuasive when I needed to be.
Ian pulled to a stop in front of a…ridiculous looking restaurant. There were parrots painted all over the sides of the exposed bricks. Really big parrots in tons of bright colors. And the Parrot Palace was scrawled above the turquoise front door. The Parrot Palace. I smiled. What a funny name.
“It looks very tropical,” I said.
James laughed. “Just wait until you see the inside. They really went crazy with the theme.”
“I can’t wait.”
Ian opened my door. I grabbed his hand and stepped out.
“Tell Jen I say hi,” I said.
He smiled. “Of course.”
“Thanks for the ride, Ian,” James said. “See you in a few hours.” He gave him a curt nod.
I waited until Ian climbed back into the car to turn to James. “You have to get over it. Ian and you are close. Stop being so terse with him.”
“I’m not being terse.”
“Every time you talk it looks like you’re gonna rip his head off.”
