Page 36 of Moonstruck at Midnight
“Hey, neighbor!” he said as I opened the door. I greeted him back with a broad smile. I liked him. He was holding a white envelope in his hands. “So, um—Billie, we’re having a party this Saturday. We’re celebrating Midsummer upstairs on the rooftop, and we invited a couple more neighbors.” Eric cleared his throat. I could tell he was nervous. “We were wondering if you would like to join us.” He took a step forward and handed me the invitation.
I chuckled under my breath. It looked like they printed it at home and made it last minute. It was cute, though, and I appreciated the effort. “It’s been a while since I had an actual paper invitation given to me,” I said, amused, skimming through it. “I’m actually free this weekend, so I’d love to come.”
Thomas was in Canada, and it sounded like a family-oriented event and an excellent opportunity to meet the rest of my neighbors. Eric seemed genuinely excited after I accepted the invitation.
I asked Eric about the dress code because I’d never been to a Midsummer party, and I didn’t have a clue of what to expect.
“Well—we do like to dress up,” he said, lifting his brow.Note taken.“And don’t worry, Billy will be in his best behavior.”
I scrunched up my nose for a few seconds, remembering how my last interaction with William had been. He was drunk and teasing me about my date with Thomas, but I hadn’t seen him ever since, so I thought there was no reason to worry.
Just knowing he was going to be there made me feel a bit anxious and a lot nervous. He had a very imposing personality.
“Oh, psh. Of course,” I replied, trying to be casual. “I’ll see you guys on Saturday. Thanks again!”
“Sure thing.” Eric tapped the wall beside the door twice with a grin, trying to seem cool. “Later, Billie!”
June 20, 2009
I needed to be ready by noon, and Mimi was helping me with my hair. I wanted to wear it up with a braided headband. She was so good with braids, and I thought it would match my outfit and the party’s theme well.
I wore a blush pink, knee-length tulle and lace dress with sheer elbow-length sleeves. It was asMidsummeryas it was going to get. I wished that Thomas could come with me and see me all dressed up.
The morning went by quickly, and it was ten minutes before twelve. I thanked Mimi with a big warm hug and headed to the second floor. I knocked on Aaron and Caleb’s apartment, and Caleb answered the door barefoot, wearing shorts and a sleeveless hoodie. I bit the corner of my lower lip when I saw his arms sticking out all—muscly.
He looked confused, probably wondering why I was all dressed up and knocking at their door.
“Hi, Caleb.” I greeted him with a flirty smile that made me feel guilty right away. But I needed everything in my arsenal to get their approval to go to the party on my own. And it’s not like it was a challenging task to flirt with him.
Anyway, I got lucky that Caleb opened the door instead of Aaron.
“Hey, Red.” He pursed his lips as if speculating my intentions.
I got distracted looking at his arms again, becausewow, but I shook my head and said, “Um—I wanted to let you know that I’ll be upstairs on the rooftop. There’s a party, and the Sjöbergs invited me.” He leaned against the wall with a small smile as he heard my case.
“Okay, so you want to go—by yourself?” He raised a brow, aiming those hazel things straight at me. I wasn’t sure if he’d agree to my request or not. But I had to at least try.
“Well, I didn’t see the need for you to bore yourselves to death on the rooftop. I mean, I’m technically still at home,” I replied. “See it as an opportunity to take the rest of the day off.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t know, Red.”
“Oh, come on.” I shoved his arm in a swift move. His eyes followed my hand as I did it.
“Nope.” He balked.
“Caleb!” I complained with a laugh. I was doing my best to convince him, but it wasn’t enough for him. And there wasn’t much more I could do.
“Why don’t you kick Thomas to the curb, and I’ll reconsider.” He teased with a laugh. He really did hate him. I widened my eyes for a second. I didn’t know what to reply to that. “Nah, I’m just messing with you.”Was he?
I crossed my arms in front of me and stared at him with anI’m not moving until I get my waykind of posture.
He sighed. “Fine, I’ll talk to Aaron,” he said, his words colored with exasperation.
I took a small pocket perfume I had in my bag and sprayed his chest.
“Hey! I just showered!” he complained with a smile.
“That’s for rolling your eyes at me again,” I said, tossing the perfume back in my clutch.
