Bared Souls - Ellie Wade Page 0,44

didn’t come up. I wanted to explain everything to Amos when I saw him in person. This is not how I saw it going. Ugh.

“So, we should probably get going. My makeup is done, right?” I ask Quinn.

“Yeah.” She clears her throat. “You’re good.”

Leo stands behind me, unmoving. His muscles are tense as fury simmers beneath his skin. I understand why he’s upset, but I wasn’t hiding him from Amos. I just didn’t get around to telling him yet. I’ll explain that to Leo later. For now, we should get going. The awkwardness in this room is suffocating.

“We should go!” I snatch my small purse off of my bed and step into the hallway, extending my hand toward Leo.

He takes it with a scowl.

Quinn locks our door, and she and Amos follow behind Leo and me. Tilting my head back, I shoot Amos a nervous smile. Quinn—bless her heart—is regaling him with some random story. That girl can talk—a skill that is easing my nerves at the moment.

Once inside the frat house, Leo drops my hand and walks ahead of me, disappearing into the crowd of costumes.

“I guess we should get a drink,” I call back to Amos and Quinn.

We make our way to the kitchen and fill three red Solo cups with whatever alcohol-infused punch they’re serving this time. It’s always a little different.

“I wasn’t trying to hide anything. I wanted to explain everything in person. Sorry this is so awkward,” I say to Amos.

We leave the kitchen and follow Quinn into the game room. I haven’t been to one of these parties in a while, but the couches in the game room seem to still be our designated spot.

“Is he good to you?” Amos questions.

I nod. “He really is. We got off to a rocky start, but things have been great, and he’s different. I’m really happy.”

“Okay, but please be careful. He rubs me the wrong way,” Amos says.

I chuckle and take a sip of my drink. “He has that effect on people, but I promise, once you get to know him and he lets his guard down, you’ll see him differently.”

Amos doesn’t respond, and I know he’s still skeptical of the whole situation, but he’ll come around when we can talk without yelling to each other over the loud music.

“You look really good as a fighter pilot,” I tell him with a wink.

“You pull off a cat pretty well yourself.” He nudges my knee with his.

I look down to my barely there black dress. “Yeah, this is all Quinn.” I shake my head.

We chat with the group we’re sitting with and watch as a few play beer pong on the table beside us. There’s a semi-innocent game of Never Have I Ever, where only half of the questions are sex-related. I try not to worry, but Leo still hasn’t come back from wherever he stormed off to.

“Hey, Alma!” Quinn leans toward me. Her big green eyes aren’t as focused as they were when we got here. She evidently hasn’t been nursing the same cup of punch the entire time, like I have. “Do you care if I steal Amos away to dance? You’ll dance with me, right?” She directs the last question to Amos.

“Of course not! I’m going to go track down Leo anyway,” I say over the music. “Have fun, Cookie!” I laugh at the uneasy expression on Amos’s face as Quinn pulls him onto the living room dance floor.

The house is exceptionally packed tonight. There’s nothing like booze and costumes to bring the college kids out of their shells. I wind my way through all of the rooms on the first floor, looking for Leo but come up short.

I’m relieved when I spot Ethan filling a cup by the keg in the kitchen.

“Hey! Have you seen Leo?” I ask.

“Hi. Yeah, he’s up in my room. Third door on the right.” Ethan nods his head toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

“Thank you.”

I step around a couple practically doing it at the base of the stairs and hurry up the steps. Taking a deep breath, I take hold of the handle and push Ethan’s door open. Leo is sitting on a futon, his eyes shut and his head tilted back. A girl who decided to dress as a prostitute for Halloween is sitting on his lap, sucking a lollipop.

“Leo,” I say, and he jerks his head up.

“Oh, look! It’s my secret girlfriend. We don’t tell people that we’re dating though because I’m such a fuckup.