Jax

A laugh bursts from me when Raegan opens the front door of her house, grimacing. She quickly turns it into a smile when Sam hugs her legs, but I continue to laugh.

Her bumblebee costume is terrible. The antennae on her head shakes with each movement she makes. She looks like a giant potato, painted yellow and black.

Sam zips inside, and Raegan crosses her arms, scowling at me as she blocks the doorway.

“Where’s your costume?” she asks, her eyes traveling over my jeans and T-shirt.

“Arya wasn’t in charge of my wardrobe.”

“Lucky,” she mutters.

I try to step inside, but she spreads out her arms, gripping the doorjamb.

“Not gonna let me in?”

She frowns. “Nope.”

“You know”—I grab her around the waist, causing her to drop her arms—“you’re cute when you pout.”

She pokes my shoulder. “If you wanted to get on my good side, you should have talked sense into Arya at the store.”

“Forgive me?” I kiss each of her cheeks before my lips connect with hers.

She opens her mouth, allowing me access, and I take advantage, kissing her like my life depends on it.

Even dressed as a bumblebee, she’s perfect.

“Didn’t know that’s what did it for you!” Arya shouts from inside the house.

“What’s that mean?” Sam asks.

I groan as I pull away from Raegan.

“Oops, didn’t see you there, shorty.”

I glance at Arya over Raegan’s shoulder, and I know the girl in my arms is going to blow a gasket when she sees what her best friend is wearing.

“Let’s go,” I say, urging them out of the house as I tug on Raegan’s hand.

“Wait, I have to get Stella.” She jerks her thumb behind her.

“Arya will get her,” I say loud enough for her to hear me in the house.

Sam comes rushing past me, acting like she’s hopped up on candy already. “Rae, can you help me get in the truck?”

Raegan walks around me without question, and Arya struts out of the house with Stella on her leash.

“Are you asking for trouble?” I ask her as I take in the police-officer outfit she’s wearing.

“No. Why?” She picks Stella up off the ground, and Walker starts barking from the back of my truck.

“No reason.” I scratch the back of my head and turn around at the same time Raegan shuts the door.

“Are you kidding me?” she yells, her antenna bouncing on her head. “Where’s your bee costume?”

I flinch, moving out of her path to Arya.

Arya smiles, knowing exactly what she did even though she played dumb earlier. “Sam and I found this costume at the register. It was the only one left.” She shrugs. “I gave my bee costume to the person checking me out to put back on the shelf.”

Raegan points at Arya, stalking closer to her. “You will pay for this.”

“You can’t be mad at me. From what I saw, your boyfriend likes your costume.” She wags her eyebrows. “So, you’re welcome, but some of us still need to look for a man.”

Arya struts past Raegan and hops in the backseat with Sam and Walker, still holding Stella in her arms.

I throw my arm over Raegan’s shoulders and kiss her cheek. “You’re the hottest bumblebee I’ve ever seen.”

She elbows me in the stomach, and I grunt, dropping my arm from around her.

“You and Arya suck.” She stalks away from me and gets in the truck, closing the door.

I shake my head, knowing I’m going to have to deal with a sulky Raegan the rest of the night.

We all file out of the truck as Graham parks next to us in the parking area by the neighborhood pool. We came to one of the nicest neighborhoods in town. They go all out for Halloween, decking out their front yards with headstones, ghosts, and fog.

“What’s he doing here?” Arya asks as Graham strides up next to her.

Stella barks in her arms as Graham bumps Arya’s shoulder.

“I know you missed me, babe.” He grins and throws her a wink. “Do you want to play another round of beer pong? Maybe we can make a bet this time? Loser strips—”

“Graham,” I grit out, pointing to Sam, who’s clutching my leg.

You’d think he’d have remembered she was here since Sam was the one who’d invited him. I think she has a crush on him.

“What’s up, pumpkin?” He kneels next to her.

Sam smiles, swinging her bucket from side to side, blushing. “Hi, Graham.”

Arya scoffs. “Of course, she can say his name.”

Raegan comes walking around the truck with Walker. He drags her as he runs up to Graham, jumping on him, nearly knocking him over.

“Sorry, Walker had to pee,” Raegan says.

Sam giggles as she glances up at Raegan before she looks back to Graham, who is kissing Walker. “What are you supposed to be?” she asks him.

He stands, stretching out his arms. “I’m a criminal.” His eyes slide to Arya. “I need to be arrested.”

“And you call me the freak for wearing a matching costume,” Raegan grumbles.

“With your dog,” Arya corrects as she points to a wiggling Stella in her arms.

“Since you two are the tagalongs,” I say to Graham and Arya, “you’re both on dog duty.”

I take the leash from Raegan and shove it at Graham. “Have fun.” I pick Sam up and grab Raegan’s hand, leaving Arya and Graham to be as inappropriate as they want without my sister witnessing it.

“Why’d you invite them if you were just going to ditch them?” Raegan asks, squeezing my hand.

I smile over at her. “Munchkin here invited them, didn’t you?”

She nods her head.

“But we don’t want them to get all the candy, do we?”

Sam’s mouth drops open. “No, I want the candy.”

I laugh, setting her on her feet, as we stop at the end of the driveway at the first house. She grips my jeans, her eyes wide as she takes in the scarecrow, cobwebs, and giant black spider in the yard.

Raegan leans down, grabbing her hand. “It’s okay. It’s not real.”

Sam doesn’t seem to believe her as she continues to gape at the decorations.

Raegan walks through the grass as Sam and I stand by the driveway. She hits the spider on the head. “See?”

She does it three more times, and Sam breaks out in a fit of giggles.

“Want me to go with you to the door?” Raegan asks.

Sam shakes her head, grinning. “No, I wanna do it alone.”

Raegan moves back to my side as my sister runs up the driveway and knocks on the door.

“Red,” I say, stepping in front of her and placing my hands on her face, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You would have your hands full—”

I cut her off, smiling, as I kiss the girl who has made everything in my life infinitely better.

Her lips are soft, and I devour her, warm vanilla surrounding me, as my tongue snakes into her mouth. Her hands fist the sleeves of my shirt, and I savor the way she seems to crave me as much as I do her.

I haven’t lost myself in her like I thought I would. Instead, she’s made my world brighter and my breathing easier.

I nip at her lips, wishing I could do so much more than kiss her right now.

“Ew, stop kissing,” Sam complains.

I pull away from Raegan. “I’m gonna remember you said that the first time you kiss a boy,” I tell her.

“I’m never kissing a boy.” She shakes her head.

I laugh as I pick her up, throwing her over my shoulder. She shrieks in my ear as I run down the street with her bouncing on my shoulder.

“My candy,” she squeals.

“I got it!” Raegan shouts.

I look over my shoulder to see the hottest bumblebee bent over with her stinger in the air.