Chapter Fifteen
Carina
After I had dragged Jackson upstairs he got the wild idea of having his own little cosplay parade, with me as the opening act and only headliner. We turned it into a drinking game, where we had to roll a die to decide which costume piece to put on next. I ended up wearing bits and pieces of costumes that spanned comic books, video games, and he even dug into my brief flirtation with Manga, a style of Japanese anime.
“You were Sailor Moon and I missed it?” He gasped. “Forget the game. I need you to put this on, in full. What else do you need to complete it?” I laughed and pointed at the silver wig on its shelf and then directed him to the apothecary chest against the wall, where he could find the blue belt and crimson neck scarf.
“I’m beginning to think it’s the costumes you like, not me.” I pouted, even as I strutted across the room in the midriff top, ass-cheek baring skirt, and high-heeled white runners I’d had made especially for the costume. I’d nixed panties at the last second, because the ones I was wearing were black, but thought better of it just a moment too late, as I turned and felt the skirt lift on the breeze I created, and danced out of reach as Jackson made a lunge for me.
“Oh, come on, you didn’t really wear it like that, did you?” He sounded half-horrified that I might have, half-disappointed that he knew I hadn’t.
“No, you dork. My white spanks are in the wash.” I rolled my eyes as he sat on the floor with his back to the ottoman I used for dressing. His face was flushed from the whiskey and he looked at me slant-eyed from his position on the floor
“God, I love the view.”
“Oh, get up, dress-up time is over. We’ll just have to see if you still like me in sweatpants.” He bounced to his feet and started putting away costume pieces as I changed out of the little blue and white sailor outfit. I changed into the sweat pants and tank top I’d threatened him with, and when I rejoined him in the dressing room, everything was put away and he was lying on the floor in a staring contest with Stiles the cat.
“Tomorrow is go day for getting those wings lighter. I think we can maybe take a couple pounds off. Would that help?”
I wanted to say something about alcohol and big ideas, but he looked completely serious, and at least half sober. “Jackson, every ounce counts when you’re in four inch heels for 10 hours straight. You might have to carry me home.”
He rolled onto his back and stared up at me. “I like your ass in those pants.” He reached up with both hands and made a grabbing motion. “That might have been the alcohol talking a little bit, but I stand by my air groping.”
I laughed and shook my butt a little for him. “Ace hardware opens before eight in the morning. I am going to go lay in bed and watch a movie. Because, obviously, we haven’t had enough of those today.”
Jackson got up and brushed himself off. “You still want my company, even after I confessed to you that if you weren’t before, you are now definitely the bulk of my fantasy material.”
“I can handle it. I’ll even let you feel me up during this movie. I still can’t believe you tried in the middle of that stupid cop/bromance/frat party movie.”
“When movie is that bad, you have to find ways to take the edge off,” he shrugged. “Besides. You have the most amazing breasts, like, ever. It is an honor and a privilege to ensure that they receive the attention they so rightly deserve. I rolled my eyes and turned the lights out in the dressing room.
“I have bacon and eggs for breakfast, if you want. I got precooked bacon though, because tonight was the last time I get to eat real food for a few days. If you really want to suffer, you can eat and drink what I do. I would strongly suggest against it.” He arched an eyebrow at me and I shuddered. “Very strongly.”
He pulled out the bed while I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair back in a ponytail. He was in a white muscle shirt and basketball shorts when I came back out, lounging on the bed and scratching Stiles behind the ears.
“You may decide you don’t like me, but I have the feline vote.” I laughed and squeezed in on the edge of the bed, the only space Stiles had left me as he laid on his side, stretched out to his full length. “Seriously, though. Is he part dog? Because he’s the biggest damn cat I’ve ever seen in such a small home.”
“I think his daddy was a Maine Coon, but his momma was a lovely little grey tabby. I wanted to take them both, but an old lady was just signing the paperwork on her when I walked in.”
“And so, ends the story, of how an old cat lady saved you from becoming a cat lady.”
I reached behind me for a pillow and smacked him across the shoulder with it.
“You are so lucky you look so good naked.” He grinned at me and let Stiles attack his hand. “So, I picked the last movie, what’s your pleasure?”
I was tempted to force myself to watch a romantic comedy, just to punish him, but after a moment’s hesitation, I decided to go with something that would get me in the mood to play an ancient being obsessed with war and chaos and killing men. “Expendables, it is,” I announced as I found the movie in my digital collection.
He settled in, after looking at me for a long moment. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he was thinking harder than I had considered he was capable of. I turned out the lights to watch the movie, grateful that the darkness also hid my hot, red blush. I was used to being stared at and scrutinized every day. I was not used to those looks so obviously looking past my appearance to what lay deeper.
Jackson shoved Stiles into a pile of vibrating fur at our feet, and he stayed without complaint, happy to curl up between us and run his engine while the surround sound pummeled us with explosions and fire fights. Jackson was out before the climatic fight, so I covered him with one of my extra blankets, and finished the movie alone. I was lucky enough to have a well-insulated apartment, and the sounds of the nocturnal creatures that had come out to fill the dance clubs and watering holes of Los Angeles were only the dimmest murmur outside the windows of the apartment. There was just enough hum in the air to lull me to sleep, back to back with Jackson, my monster cat still dreaming between our legs.