"Uh, okay ..." I cocked one eyebrow at him. "So why did you end up sleeping here?"
"Girl, I was like ... super drunk. I came in to wake you up from your hectic nightmare and then just kinda passed out. I blame how long it took me to get into this damn fortress with all those new locks and shit. Do you have any idea how hard it was to remember the passcodes when I was faery-farting drunk?" He yawned again and snuggled his face into my pillow, leaving streaks of glittery makeup everywhere. "Anyway, what did you want to do tonight? Hit up some gay bars to get me laid?"
"No, you asshole." I whacked him with the back on my hand. "No getting laid tonight, for anyone! This is a girls’ night out. No boys allowed."
"Hmm so that predatory vixen from the other night isn't joining us? Because she is totally one of the boys, penis or not." He gave me a look that said he knew that I knew he was right. Bastard.
"No, Revel is not invited. It's just you, me and Bex. And this chick Shelbi if she gets my message. You'll like her, though. She's an omega wolf so I kinda think she doesn't have many friends?" I headed over to my walk in closet and started flipping through the racks, looking for something to wear out. My phone sitting on the bedside table said it was already seven at night, so I may as well get tarted up now.
"Omegas don't tend to have any," Chris agreed. "Oh my Goddess, no!"
This last exclamation was in response to the dress I'd just picked out and held against my body in the mirror.
"Why not? This dress is cute, and it hides at least seven blades." I whirled from the mirror to glare at Chris as he infiltrated my closet.
"Uh yeah babe, so does a nun's habit." His voice was muffled from deep inside my racks of clothes. "How about this?" He pulled out a hot pink satin mini-dress that I'd picked up for a disguise at some point.
"Foxfire, no!" I screwed up my nose. "You totally need to be a sassy blond with big tits and ass to pull that off."
"Good, I was just testing you," he muttered, throwing the pink dress on my floor and diving back into my closet. "Ah hah! Perfect."
He reappeared back out of my closet holding ... not a lot.
"Seriously?" I deadpanned, seeing what he was holding. "With what else?"
He scowled at me. "With these." From behind his back, he whipped out a pair of killer boots that I bought on a whim and still hadn't had a chance to wear yet. "Now get dressed. I'll go figure out where I dropped my bag last night."
"Just follow the glitter trail," I yelled after him and snickered at my own joke as I hopped in the shower for a quick wake up rinse and then put on the ... er ... clothes that Chris had picked out.
Dressed, I inspected my appearance in the mirror. The boots were tall, coming two thirds of the way up my thigh and with a solid six inch stiletto heel on them. They fastened down the back with a series of buckles which was seriously bad ass and totally me.
Above the boots, I had on a pair of black leather hot pants that were so short they were practically underpants, and on top ... a black bra with enough straps to make me look like I was semi-tied up.
All in all, it was totally porno and incredibly sexy. Perfect.
"Chris!" I yelled out, spotting a problem.
"Yes, my foxy friend?" he replied, popping back into my bedroom wearing nothing but a blue tulle tutu and glittery nipple tassels. "Hot damn, girl. You sure you're not getting laid tonight? You've almost got me in a fluster and you know how much the fish taco scares me."
"Very funny, Fae-Bitch. But where the hell do I put weapons in this outfit?" I propped my hands on my hips and glared at him.
He shrugged and sashayed into my bathroom to start his makeup. "Nowhere babe, it's girls’ night, remember? No stabbing or shooting people allowed."
"Chris. I am not going out totally unarmed. Are you kidding me? Have we even met? Trouble finds me, not the other way around." Okay so that was a little bit of a truth stretch, but the point was valid.
He sighed dramatically as he dusted glitter around his eyes. "Fine. Do you have a whip? Like one of those super long ones that Catwoman uses?"
"Yeah?" I replied. I owned just about every weapon under the sun.
"Wrap it around your waist like a belt or some shit. It'll totally work with the outfit. So dominatrix chic, I love it. I don't suppose any of your lovers are into pain, are they?" He chuckled to himself even as I froze, thinking of Bennett. "Because they would shit their pants to see you right now."
I smiled tightly, and joined him at the mirror to do my own makeup.
When we finished, we turned to inspect each others work.
"You look so fabulous," I laughed. His eyes and cheekbones were decorated with pink and blue glitters and he had on a unicorn horn headband over his cotton candy-colored hair.
"Thanks, bitch." He grinned. "You look pretty badass yourself. Now let's go pick up Bex and your new friend, and then get our drink on!"
He led the way downstairs to my garage and we both hopped into my bigger car, a Jaguar F-pace SUV. I may or may not have bought it just to remind me of Riot. A memory I now needed to stuff into a little ball in the back of my mind so as not to ruin my make up by crying.
"I should have grabbed a bottle of vodka for the drive," Chris muttered as we headed into the downtown and he fiddled with my radio.
"Oh my God, we will be there in ten minutes, Fae-Bitch." I rolled my eyes and pulled into the driveway of Bex's concrete house. That wasn't an exaggeration either. She'd had the entire house custom built out of concrete and installed light-proof shutters on every window and door. There was no chance of any accidental sunburn inside her place during the day.
Not bothering to get out of the car, Chris leaned over and tooted my horn to let Bex know we were there, and seconds later she came strutting out in an aquamarine polka-dot pin up dress and baby-doll heels.
"Shit, Bex," I commented as she slid into the back seat and we merged back into the road. "If I'd known you were going bright, I would have worn something else."
"Oh shush," Chris scolded me then turned in his seat to blow air kisses at my vampire friend. "Bex, doll. You look hot. Ready for a night out with the green fairy?"
Bex snickered. "I hope you mean Absinthe and not some green haired twink friend of yours?"
"Hah, I didn't think of that," Chris replied with a grin. "But yes, I meant Absinthe!"
"Oh wow, tonight is going to hurt tomorrow, huh?" I commented, and both my friends seemed to cackle with evil laughter.
Chris turned up the stereo and the two of them belted out some Cher classics as I headed for Rioja, the restaurant that Shelbi worked in. On my message, I'd said I would pick her up out front at the end of her shift, assuming it was the same finish time as the other day.
Sure enough, she was standing near the front doors with a frayed denim mini-skirt on and a heavy suede jacket.
"Holy shit," she breathed as she slid into the back seat beside Bex and looked over what we were all wearing. "Aren't you all freezing? It snowed the other day for Fenrir's sake!"
The three of us all chuckled.
"I'm a vampire," Bex introduced herself. "Bex, by the way. I don't feel the cold."
"I'm freezing," I admitted, "but seriously doubt Fae-Bitch will let me put a coat on, no matter how cold I get."
"Awww, honey you know me so well," he cooed, fluttering his false lashes at me. "As for moi." He swiveled in his seat to look at Shelbi. "I'm simply fabulous. You can't cover fabulous with a coat."
Shelbi laughed, and I knew these three would get along like a house on fire.
The club we were heading to wasn't far from Shelbi's work, so within minutes we were inside the warm confines of a techno dance bar, sipping on fluorescent green drinks.
"Holy shit," Shelbi spluttered after taking her first sip, "This is ... ah ..."