Page 53 of For the Plot
I forced a nonchalant shrug. “What’s the problem? I pretty much only do casual, and Nikki just needed to get out of her head and past her writer’s block. Why not?”
Collins just looked at me, and I looked away, unable to hold his stare. I felt like he could see through me, tell how I was really feeling, and I wasn’t ready for that.
Will shook his head, “I mean, you two are adults, you can do what you want. Just don’t fuck this up, okay? We have a great thing going here with the four of us.”
Nikki just rolled her eyes. “OK,Dad. Now can you get out of here? We were kind of in the middle of something.” She winked at them and they both shuddered, quickly exiting the room, shutting the door behind them.
Nikki turned back to me, lip between her teeth. “Now, where were we?”
As she prowled back towards me, pushing me back to the bed and pulling my sweats back off, I shoved aside all my emotionsand tried focusing only on how she was making my head spin with her wicked mouth.
It worked.
Mostly.
30
James
The Words - Christina Perri
Collinsknew.ObviouslyaboutNikki and I having sex. But I meant he knew how I really felt about Nikki. I don’t know how he knew, if he’d seen something in my eyes that night he’dfound us or what. He hadn’t said anything to me about it, but I could see it in the way he watched me when we were all together.
I was extra careful around her now, trying to go back to looking at her the way I had before this all started. But when we were alone, we were usually fucking, I kept trying to show her how good things could be between us if this were real. I just needed to get her to come out with me again, and finally, I had the perfect excuse.
Sasha had invited me and a plus-one to the annual Halloween bash she threw at the bar, invite-only. Collins would be on shift that night, and Will was going to a work party, which he usually never attended, but this year surprised us all when he said he was going.
Which meant it was the perfect opportunity for me to take Nikki to Sasha's party. I’d asked her a few days ago, while we’d been lying in bed after a vigorous round of fucking. And luckily, it hadn’t taken too much convincing on my part. NikkilovedHalloween and loved dressing up for parties.
I asked Will to drop me off at the bar a little early to help Sasha out with setup, but really, I just wanted to surprise Nikki with my outfit when she showed up at the party later.
I’d winked at her as I walked past her in the living room on our way out the door, my costume in a garment bag. Will dropped me off at the party, telling me not to do anything he wouldn’t do, before cackling and driving away. I let myself into the bar, which was currently empty, just a few decorations thrown up on the walls so far.
“Sasha? Where you at?” I shouted.
I didn’t get a response, so I went through the door in the back, which was propped open, that lead up to Sasha and Lauren's cozy two-bedroom apartment, the second bedroom being used as storage for all of her photography shit. They were witha handful of their friends were hanging around the high-top dining room table.
“Ahhh, I guess I found the real party,” I called out, tossing my garment bag onto the couch. I didn't know most of them, but they all boisterously welcomed me, already half-drunk. Everyone took a shot, then we all broke apart to go finish getting all the decorations and food set up and get into costume.
I couldn't help myself from smiling giddily as I got dressed. I looked in the mirror, adjusting the sleeves of the long, leather coat. I was gonna be hot as fuck in this and would probably have to take the coat off quickly, but the rest of the outfit would still clue people in to who I was.
I couldn't wait for Nikki to see me in my costume. I was dressed as Captain Hook from the showOnce Upon A Time, aka Nikki’s favorite fictional pirate, and biggest crush. To be fair, I also loved pirates—maybe it was a bisexual thing? I smiled as I took in my reflection, loving the way it looked. Under the pirate coat, I had a red brocade vest over a black button-up. They were both opened up halfway down my chest, revealing a light sprinkling of chest hair.
The shirt under the vest was tucked into the black leather pants, in turn tucked into boots. A black leather belt was slung around my hips, a fake sword hanging from the scabbard. I even got a necklace similar to the one Hook wore, along with two chunky silver rings on my right hand. I added some smudged eye liner as a finishing touch, then held the hook inside the cuff with my left hand.
Honestly, the whole thing turned out pretty great.
By the time I was done and back downstairs in the bar, the party was just getting started, the first few people arriving, music pumping through the speakers. I pulled my phone out to find a text from Nikki saying that she’d be here in twenty. The party isalways impressive, mostly so that Sasha has so many friends. I definitely couldn't relate.
I mingled, chatting with different people as I killed time waiting for Nikki to show up. I kept looking towards the door to see if she had arrived, but the song “Monster Mash” came on and everyone cheered in excitement, distracting me for a moment. When I turned back to the door, I caught a flash of a brown pirate costume. I froze, my mouth hanging open, when I saw who it was.
Nikki stood in front of the door, staring back at me, her lips just slightly parted. Her hair was straightened, falling around her shoulder in silky black sheets under a dark brown pirate hat. She wore a long brown leather coat with gold buckles, a brown cross shoulder belt holding a fake sword at her side. A reddish-brown vest was buttoned right under her breasts, over a white button-down pirate shirt, unbuttoned enough to show a drool-worthy amount of cleavage. Brown trousers and brown pirate boots completed the ensemble. And in her hand she was clutching a replica ofthecompass.
Nikki was dressed like fucking Elizabeth Swann. OK, so pirates weredefinitelya bisexual thing. I was already hard just from the sight of her in that costume.
When our eyes met after our mutual perusal, Nikki’s pupils were blown as wide as mine probably were. We both devolved into laughter as we made our way towards each other.
“Well, hello there, Miss Swann.” I grinned cheekily at her, my eyes unwillingly sliding down to her tits.
