“No, but you thought it.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Cole, what are you talking about?” I ask. “How would you know he was thinking that?”
I watch as his cheeks go pink, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“So, I...uh...may have gained a slight ability to read people’s thoughts.”
The entire room erupts into curses and growls. I sigh. Both because it’s yet another thing he hasn’t shared with me and because I’ve probably had some not nice thoughts he’s picked up on as well. Oops. Sorry, not sorry, Ass-Cole.
“Look, it’s not every thought, usually just ones sparked by powerful emotions and only what’s at the forefront of someone’s mind. Even then, it seems I need to be fairly close to the person for it to work, and I only get short bursts, not a running dialogue. I can’t mindmeld or anything.”
“Seriously, bro?” Levi asks. “You didn’t feel the need to share that with all of us?”
“None of you asked.” He crosses his arms over his chest, daring us all to question him.
“We shouldn’t have to ask that sort of shit, jackass,” Knox mutters with both of his hands on top of his head this time.
My head tilts as I study him. “So, is it one hand when the problem seems kind of bad and two when we realize we're in deep shit?”
His gaze whips my way, his expression clearly telling me now is not the time for random ass thoughts. I shrug. What can I say? Now I’m curious.
“Okay, let’s all cool down while we try to figure out what’s causing this.” I look at the twins. “What about you two? Feeling okay?”
Thad and Levi share a look and shrug in unison.
“Try using your light and your shadows,” Mack suggests.
Thad brings his hand up, and all of a sudden, the shadow schlong appears, twirling around the room, diving in and out of us all. It starts rubbing itself on Cole’s leg, practically dry humping it.
“What the fuck is that?” Knox asks in shocked wonder.
Macklin laughs. “Peen puppets is starting to make a whole lot more sense now.”
“Really, Thad? Now is not the time to bust out the shadow schlong.”
“Um, babe. I’m not doing that. I tried to get the darkness to descend on the entire room.”
“Oh. Well, fuck.” I look at Levi. “And you?”
Colorful lights appear, much like the disco ball from the club the night before.
“Guess that answers that question.” My hands land on my hips as I try to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do now. “Mack, any ideas what’s going on?”
“Wait,” Mack says, walking up to me and rolling up my left sleeve. “What happened to your marks?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, glancing at my bicep. A gasp escapes my lips, seeing the once beautiful crisp black lines that now look as if they’re dripping down my arm, like ink down a page. I bring my fingers up to run along the lines. They’re dry, not wet at all, but something is happening. Then my mind flips back to last night. Nick’s hand on my arm and the tingly, burning sensation that followed.
Oh fuck. We’re in trouble, and it’s all my fault.
They’re all circled around me now, or at least all of them except Knox who is trying to maintain a certain distance, discussing what could have caused this and how we’re going to fix it.
“Uh...guys?”
Apparently, I wasn’t loud enough since they continue to talk around me. Macklin is spouting theory after theory, none of them even close to being correct.
“Guys!”
Nope. That didn’t work either. Fuckers. I bring two fingers up to my lips and whistle as loudly as I can. That gets their attention.
“I know what caused this.”
All of their eyes land on me. Waiting. I’m not sure I really thought this through. If they were pissed before, they’re going to be uber pissed now. Fuck my life.
“What aren’t you telling us, little ghost? I’m not feeling anything warm and fuzzy right now.”
“Remember how Nick grabbed hold of my upper arm last night?”
They all scowl in unison. It’s honestly fascinating to watch, and I’d ask them to do it again if I wasn’t already anticipating the shit storm I’m about to throw myself into the middle of.
“Well, I kinda sorta felt this weird sensation the longer he held on to it. I think he might be the one responsible.”
The room erupts into chaos, the guys shouting and cursing and overall losing their effing minds.
It’s going to be a long day. Le sigh.
“Bro, I feel ridiculous.”
“You look ridiculous too.” Levi chuckles, smoothing his skirt and turning side to side in front of the full-length mirror. “Does this skirt make my ass look big?”
“Really, wankstain?” Looking down at my own skin-tight black dress, I wiggle, trying to get it to lay right. Big dudes just weren’t built for strapless micro mini dresses.
“Why do we have to do this right now? Isn’t there more important shit we should be working on?”
“There is, but Fate is stressing the fuck out, and this might make her smile.”
I consider him a moment. Sometimes the wankstain has good ideas. I can give him that much.
“Fine,” I mutter, adjusting the long red wig so the fringe bangs stay the fuck out of my eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Don’t forget the heels.”
“Hell no, bro!”
His laughter echoes through the room. “Come on. Don’t be a pussy.”
“Why not? I’m dressed like one.”
He lifts one leg, stepping into the four-inch heel before lifting the other leg and attempting to stuff his foot into the empty shoe. He wobbles precariously before reaching out and planting a hand on the wall beside him, almost falling into the dresser.
We’re in his room, getting ready to make good on our bet, and I’d prefer to be any-fucking-where else. The connecting door to my room is on the other side of the dresser in the middle of the adjoining wall. With two queen beds in each, everything in here is the mirror image of what’s in mine, with the exception of his whites and grays, while mine is all blacks and reds. To be fucking honest, I’m not even sure why we have our own rooms since we always sleep in the same one every night.
“How the hell do chicks wear these things?”
Now it’s my turn to chuckle. He’s standing there in a red and black plaid skirt, white shirt that’s knotted just under his pecs, showing off his tattoos and chest hair, and knee-high white socks that are now crammed into the black heels. His long blond hair is parted and fashioned into rough pigtails. Then there’s the makeup. Bright blue eyeshadow and red lipstick. Mack was very specific about how this was supposed to go down.
Fuck. They’re never going to let us forget this one.
“We never should have made that bet with the nerd,” Levi grumbles as he attempts to take a few steps and almost falls flat on his ass. Again.
“Lot of good that does us now,” I grumble.
“C’mon, dipshit. I’m not sure how long I can stand in these fucking things. My feet are already killing me.”