When we arrive at Alpha Delta Phi, I abandon Zara and Jake and go in search of Tanner.
It's not long until I catch sight of him among the sea of other hockey team members playing beer pong around the kitchen table and as I weave through the spectators and make my way closer to him, I manage to get a clearer vision of Tanner and my mouth drops open in a breathy laugh. I can't believe this is what he chose his Halloween costume to be.
My mind travels back to my first party here when I called Tanner a firefighter after he took care of me when I was drunk. I was hoping that he would have forgotten this, but it seems he didn't and has chosen to remind me of this in his costume.
Though, I have to admit he does look incredibly hot in the uniform. He's wearing a navy shirt that clings to his chest and has red suspenders on top that secures to the waist of his black pants. His bare biceps are on show showing off his ink and as he focuses on his turn in the game and rubs the ball between his fingers, the muscles in his arm flexes, and it's a beautiful sight to behold.
"Yes!" Tanner cheers, slapping his hand against his teammate after he gets the ball in his opponent's cup, bringing me back to the present.
I shake my head and watch his opponent down the cup, reminding myself that I am in the middle of a party and shouldn't be thinking of climbing Tanner like a firefighter pole. When the guy drains the cup and throws it in the trash can, I look back at Tanner and see him watching me. From the smile creeping on his face, I take it that he likes my skeleton bodysuit and that I may be having the same effect on him as he is on me.
He says something to his friend before leaving the table, and he skirts around the room and envelops me in a hug, squeezing my ass in the process.
I squeal from his touch and push his chest back. "Tanner! People might be watching."
He chuckles deeply and caresses my cheek. "Sorry, babe. You just look so fucking hot."
"Thank you."
"Your contacts look so sexy," he croons, tipping my head back so he can look into my eyes. "So mesmerizing," he murmurs, leaning in and kissing me lightly. Before I can get used to the feel of his lips against mine he pulls away.
"I'm glad you like them," I breathe, feeling light-headed all of a sudden.
"And what do you think about my costume?" he asks, spreading his arms wide.
I lift a brow and try my hardest to look unimpressed, but I can't stop my cheeks from heating as I get a full view of him in the uniform once more. "A firefighter? I can't believe you would wear this, no wait, I actually can. Did you really wear this after what I called you?"
"Yep."
Hm, maybe I should start comparing to him to more people in uniforms if this is how he's going to respond.
"You're so childish."
"But do you like it?"
"It's... okay."
"Just okay? I've heard a few of the other girls here say I look hot."
I know he's trying to make me admit how I really feel about him looking like this, and hearing that he may have some female admirers here tonight is annoyingly making me jealous.
"Fine," I cave, rolling my eyes. "Yes, you look freaking hot. Happy now?"
"Yes," he smiles, clearly pleased with himself. Leaning forward, he lowers his voice and breathes against my ear. "You know, I can always take my shirt off and just have the suspenders over my chest if you want."
Even though my mind drools at the thought of Tanner shirtless and oiled up, my rationale kicks in, and I know that I won't be the only one to see this and if what he told me is true, I don't like the thought of girls looking at him or worse, coming on to him. "No, don't. I don't want my night ruined by having to pull girls off of you all night."
"Don't worry, Le-Le. You're the only one who gets to see my strip tease later, and I can't wait to see yours as well."
Sweet Jesus.
He takes hold of my face and plants his firm lips against mine, this time moving at a fast pace and not letting me go. I breathe in his delicious cologne and entwine my arms around his neck, kissing him back just as fiercely, getting lost in the moment with him.
"You taste like apples," he murmurs when we finally part.
"I had some apple Sourz before coming out. What about you? How much have you had already?"
"I think about five beers and some vodka shots. You don't mind if I get wasted tonight, do you? It's just the boys want to really party."
"No, I don't mind. You deserve it after your win."
I hear one of Tanner's teammates calling his name to get back to the beer pong, and he groans.
"Go. I'm gonna go meet up with Zara and wait for Ben and Toby to arrive."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, absolutely."
He gives me one more final kiss before striding back to his friends with his hands in the air. I give a small smile as I watch him, and then exit the kitchen and maneuver around the mass of people to find Zara.
After searching the house twice over, I still don't see her. I huff in frustration and go to the backyard and skirt around a few people who are dancing near some speakers.
I notice that the backyard is cast in a low glow from strings of lights that have pumpkins and ghosts on them. I squint my eyes as I take in the rest of the backyard and realize the boys have set up some inflatable Halloween items and have sprayed the trees with string to look like cobwebs. It's cool that they have made the effort to make this party more themed.
I carefully descend the wooden patio and head towards the back of the yard where some people have gone to sit on deck chairs and tree logs.
"Leah! Over here."
I turn my head to the left and spy Zara, Ben, and another guy with bleached-blond hair all sitting around a fire pit. I skip over to them and am immediately enveloped in a delicate hug from the new guy. I smile widely and hug him back. "You must be Toby."
"That I am, girl. I'm so happy I get to meet you at last. Ben has told me all about you."
Toby releases me from the hug, and I see that he is dressed as the Mad Hatter, Johnny Depp style. His makeup looks amazing, and it seems as if he spent hours on it to perfect it.
He goes to sit back by Ben, who is in a Fred the Flintstones outfit, and I grin. Only Ben would dress up in something like that.
"You guys look awesome, by the way."
"Thanks," Ben replies.
"Thanks, babe. I love yours, though. A sexy silver skeleton. So hot!" Toby responds enthusiastically.
"Aw, thank you. My boyfriend loved it as well. His jaw practically hit the floor when he saw me."
He grins. "I bet. I've heard about your man too and how he held poor Ben up against a door."
"Yeah. I'm sorry about that. Tanner was a bit jealous at the time."
"Ah, no worries, hon. I'd expect Ben to do the same for me."
I grin at Toby's playfulness and go sit on the log next to Zara. She hands me a red cup filled with shimmery red liquid in it, and I look at her in confusion.
"What is it?"
"It's some concoction the guys mixed up in one of the fruit punch bowls. They've got one which is green and blue as well."
Gross. "Ah, nice."
"It's not that bad. Tastes a bit like strawberries."
I tenderly take a sip and realize that Zara is right. It has a hint of strawberry in it, mixed with something that tastes like aniseed.
"Where's Jake at?"
She pouts. "No clue. Some of his roommates dragged him away from me. Luckily, Ben and Toby showed up soon after, so we headed out here to talk."
I look at Toby, who is nuzzling Ben's neck. I blush from his gesture, and he catches this and winks. "I haven't seen him in a few weeks, so I'm like a cat in heat."
I spit out my drink as I laugh from his statement, and the liquid runs down my chin. I wipe it with the back of my hand and shake my hand on the floor to get rid of the droplets.
"Well, you two look cute together. From what Ben has told me about you, it's not hard to see that you two are crazy for each other."
"You're so sweet. I'm beyond happy that I get to spend a proper week with him. Don't get me wrong; it's nice to video chat and sext, but it's not the same as having him next to me."
Ben goes beetroot red the moment Toby mentions the word sexting, and Zara quickly taunts him for it.
"And that's enough of our love life for now," Ben grumbles before taking a huge mouthful from his cup.
We move onto a different topic and spend the next hour just chatting and drinking. The heat from the fire keeps us toasty warm, and it casts a faint glow around us.
After a while, Toby pulls on Ben's arm and begs him to go dance with him on the patio with the other dancers. Ben rolls his eyes and gives in. "Fine. Are you two coming?"
I look to Zara, and her eyes light up.
"Yeah, all right."
We all rise and trudge across the grass, moving closer to the music that's blaring out of the speakers.
There's more people out here now, and the entire patio is covered with people in different costumes dancing and gyrating on the makeshift dance floor. Toby leads us to the center of the floor, and we start dancing together as a group. The dance beat soon takes over my body, and I sway to the rhythm of the music. Every so often, Toby or Zara spins me around, and I twirl them in return. I catch Ben singing along to the song, and I'm glad that he's having a good time.
After about ten minutes of dancing, I spot Tanner and Jake staggering out of the door with a few of their friends. He looks a bit more disheveled than earlier, and the way he is holding himself up tells me that he is so drunk. His blue eyes find me on the dance floor, and he holds up his cup to acknowledge me. I wave back, but instead of coming over to join me, he follows his friends to the corner of the patio to talk to them some more. Disappointed, I turn my back to him and continue dancing.
Zara tuts as her head faces the direction of Tanner and Jake. "Looks like they're having fun. I can't believe they'd rather carry on drinking than come over to say hi."
I shrug. "Boys will be boys, I guess. At least we have each other."
"Yeah, I know. He's in the dog house, though. If he thinks he's gonna get laid tonight, he's got another thing coming."
I twirl Zara around and reply. "I have a feeling Tanner will be too drunk to even snuggle. It looks like it may be my turn to look after him." It probably also means that I won't see Tanner strip out of his firefighter uniform after all which kind of sucks as I was looking forward to it.
"Ha, true."
Zara grabs hold my hand, taking me out of my momentary slumber in mood and we carry on dancing to each new song that comes on.
Eventually, I feel a pair of hands wrap around my waist, and I lean back into them happy that Tanner is finally joining me for the night. I close my eyes and shake my backside against him just to tease him a little, and he presses himself against me. I purr and open my eyes as I continue to dance against him.
When I look at Zara, I notice she has stopped dancing and is staring at me with wide eyes. "What's wrong?"
I turn to look at Tanner and immediately jolt away from him as I realize the person I have been dancing with isn't him. The guy looks nothing like Tanner as he has a shaved head and is much shorter than him.
"Oh my God! You're not my boyfriend."
He edges closer and grips my hips tightly. "No. But I can be."
Ugh! "Look, I made a mistake. I'm sorry, but I'm not interested."
I try to break free of him, but his hands continue to grip me tightly, refusing to let go. He pulls me flush against him, and I attempt to push him off me, but he's too strong. His alcohol and smoke breath infiltrates my nostrils, making me cringe.
"Get off of me!"
"Come on sugar, it was just getting good. Just one kiss."
He leans his head forward trying to kiss me, and I fist my hands together preparing to defend myself when he's pulled off me. I look at who stopped him and meet Tanner's angry frame standing above the guy who is slumped on the floor.
"Don't you ever touch my girlfriend again, you fucking piece of shit," Tanner growls.
The guy on the ground has the nerve to laugh. "You can have her. She's a frigid freak anyway."
Before Tanner gets the chance to lunge at him, I step in front of him and place my palms on his chest. His storm-filled eyes finally look into mine, and I know I only have a few seconds to convince him not to attack the guy, even though he deserves it.
"Tanner, you don't need to do this. I'm okay."
His eyes drop back down to the guy, who is attempting to stand.
"Tanner! I'm fine. Don't let that asshole ruin tonight. I'm yours, only yours. Let's go inside and get away from here." I take hold of his arms and gently tug on them. "Come with me."
Tanner edges a step forward, then another, and he keeps his eyes trained on me as he follows me back into the house. I can see the anger, pain, and confusion written on his face, and I'm so proud of him for listening to me.
How do you think Tanner handled the situation? Do you think Leah has become a positive influence in his life?
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