The Line That Binds Series Box Set (49 page)

I got on the bike and helped her behind me. “She let
you
. And she doesn’t even like you,” I teased before pulling on my helmet. A muffled grunt came out of her helmet and she hit me in the back. Her arms weren’t mad for long because they darted around my stomach immediately after I started the bike.

The afternoon ride mimicked the morning. No matter how fast or slow we rode, the wickedly cold air sliced through our clothes as if it were winter already.

When I stopped in front of her house, LJ leapt off the bike and bounced around. “My toes are numb.”

“I’m sorry, babe,” I said, killing the engine. “Randall told me that he plans to hand over the Cuda sometime this weekend, so tomorrow will probably be my last day riding the bike too.” I stepped off and hugged her. “We’ll wear more layers.”

“I’m actually sad that tomorrow’s the last day of riding.” She pouted. “I love being wrapped around you.”

I dipped my face into an exposed area of her neck, biting it playfully. “I love it when you talk like that.” I kissed up to her ear, knowing no one was watching. Her dad was at work for an earlier shift again. “We don’t have to work since the decorations are done. Do you want to take a trail ride with me on the Honda?”

She frowned again. “I told Dad I’d make him lasagna for dinner. It’s his favorite, and it takes a little while to make. He’ll be home before trick-or-treat starts so I need to get it started. Do you want to come over for dinner?”

I slid back onto the bike. “I’d better not crash your dad’s favorite dish. Can I come over to help you hand out candy? Pop’s got our house covered.”

“Sure. Dad will be here, though.”

“I wasn’t planning to do anything dirty while handing out candy. That’s a treat I’m not willing to share.” She smacked my arm and I started my bike. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

I tore up some trails without her, taking advantage of the clear days before winter turned the earth to concrete and put it to bed with a blanket of ice. After I returned to the house and took a shower, I ran into Pop.

He emptied a bag of candy into a plastic bowl on the dining table. “Are you hanging out with LJ tonight?” He sliced open the next bag and sampled one of the mini chocolate bars before dumping the rest into the bowl.

“That’s the plan. Unless you need me here to stop you from eating all of those,” I said as he popped another chocolate into his mouth.

He scowled, which twisted his mustache as he finished chewing. “No need to be smart.” His thick fingers fiddled with the empty wrapper before dropping it onto the table. “Any luck with the search?”

I ran a hand through my wet hair and turned for the kitchen to avoid eye contact and to snatch some dinner. “No luck.” The thought of eating lasagna made me grunt at the soda and Pop-Tart I’d grabbed. Maybe I should’ve crashed Carson’s favorite meal.

“There are hotdogs in the fridge. I didn’t get done early enough to make anything,” he called from the other room.

“No big deal.” I chose to stick with the Pop-Tarts.

“Are you still searching the basement?” He wasn’t going to drop it.

I stuck the tarts in the toaster. “We’ve moved up to the attic and we’re using the clothes for tomorrow’s party.”

“And that’s probably all you’ll find up there,” he said, knowing all too well.

“Yeah, I’m agreeing with you on that one,” I said after returning to the dining room.

“You know,” he started, swirling the bowl of candy mindlessly. “I’d suggest Genie’s office again. I know we went through the room once before, but she spent a lot of time there before she got too occupied with painting.” He glanced at the well painting above the fireplace.

It had always been her hobby, but Janine painted more often the further she slipped away. Pop had said it was like she zoned out in front of the canvas, not fully aware of what happened around her.

His idea about the office was good, though. LJ and I were too focused on the larger areas. “Maybe I’ll try to convince LJ to look in there tonight if we have some time.” Pop still thought LJ didn’t know about the curse, and that we were doing what she wanted, which was cleaning and searching through her ancestry. I stuffed my mouth with the tart so I couldn’t speak again, fearing I’d spill some info.

“Sounds like a good plan.” He moved over to the couch and dug into a box. After a minute, he yanked out our traditional Halloween masks. Like with all other holidays, we quit decorating inside the house. There were plenty of decorations outside to compensate. But we always wore the masks to give out candy. He tossed the hockey mask to me.

“No way,” I protested after I gulped down some soda. “I was Jason last year. It’s my turn with Michael Myers.”

He tugged at the rubbery Michael Myers mask, contemplating. “Okay,” he agreed. “The hockey mask is much more forgiving with my mustache anyway.”

We switched masks and I went back into my room for a pair of coveralls. When I got back he handed me the plastic kitchen knife. “Thanks.” I set it down on the table and picked up the last Pop-Tart.

He placed his rubber machete by the door and situated the dirty hockey mask on the top of his head. “So, Simone told me that LJ won’t be working outside with us anymore.”

“She got her Co-op approval today.”

“Simone sounded okay with it all. At least, she didn’t complain so I take that as a good sign,” Pop said with a small chuckle. He reached back into the candy bowl and popped a few candy corns into his mouth.

“I hope so. LJ really wants to learn and I think she’ll do good things with this place if she gets a fair chance,” I replied, moving toward the door. “I’m thinking of signing up for it, too.”

“Working in the office with Simone?” he asked with wide eyes.

I roared out a laugh. “Yeah, right. I’m not a masochist. I meant Co-op.”

He laughed silently, his stomach showing his humor with a hearty shake. As soon as it stopped, he readjusted his pants on his hips and sighed. “And you’re doing this for you and not for her, right?”

“C’mon, Pop. You know how much this place means to me. There’s nothing else I’m interested in. I promise I’ll explore other roads if anything changes.”

“Just bring me whatever you need signed.”

The doorbell rang followed by tons of tiny-handed knocks. Pop’s eyes lit up before he pulled down his mask and opened the door. “Trick or treat!” four kids screamed at him.

“Happy Halloween,” he replied in his scariest voice then held out the bowl to them. They all went in for the kill at once, unfazed by the hockey mask or the machete.

When the masked marauders took off down the walkway, like they’d robbed a candy bank, I stepped outside. “I’ll be back later. Remember, you don’t get one for every one you hand out.”

“Okay, smartass,” he said, dropping a piece of candy back into the bowl. “You better go before I tell Randall not to bring your car tomorrow.”

I started walking backward and pulled on my mask. “He said it was ready for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, now get lost,” he said as another group of kids walked toward the house.

I traveled the lawn, avoiding most of the people walking the pavement. Cars were pulled along the side of the main drive and there were a few over in the parking lot. People knew the event house never handed out candy, but they came to look at the decorations anyway.

I reached LJ’s front step at the same time as a mini Spiderman and princess.

“You’re a little old to be doing this,” Mini Princess squeaked and rushed in front of me.

“I’m just here to scare my girl,” I said with a laugh then hid beside the door.

She looked at me as if she’d worn her tiara for years and beat down commoners for fun, but didn’t squeak another word when she pressed the doorbell.

“Trick or treat,” they both said when someone answered.

LJ’s voice floated outside. “Happy Halloween, you guys. I love your costumes.”

They pushed their bags close to the entry and her arm emerged to drop some candy. “Thanks,” they both replied. Mini Princess backed up and looked at me stone-faced before calling out, “Your boyfriend’s here to scare you.”

LJ’s peeked out of the door and I threw my hands up. “Thanks a lot, you little tyrant. I hope you lose a shoe.”

They both ran away laughing and LJ smiled. Her hair was pulled back into pony tail and she was wearing my green T-shirt with a pair of jeans. “You thought you’d scare me, huh?”

“Don’t believe the princess. She’s pissed because she wanted to dance with me and I told her I was busy.”

“Why didn’t you remind me that you were dressing up tonight?” she asked with a giggle then looked to see if there were any more kids around before motioning me inside.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were dressing down?” I ran my fingers along the bottom edge of the shirt, thinking of her without jeans. She smirked mischievously, but didn’t respond as she closed the door. “Pop and I’ve had these same masks for years. It’s nothing special.”

“Well, it’s creepy. You probably would’ve scared me,” she admitted, setting the candy bucket on the entry table.

“It is one of the only Halloween masks worth wearing. The only bad thing about it is that the mouth doesn’t open.”

She stepped closer to me and said, “Let me help with that.” Her fingers lifted the bottom of the mask as she pressed her body to mine. Then she rose onto her tiptoes.

I leaned down so she could plant her fine lips on me. Moments later, a cough interrupted us. We broke apart awkwardly, realizing her dad was watching from the kitchen entry.

“I thought you had more sense than to get mixed up with psychopaths,” Carson said with the tiniest of smiles. I got his joke, and its undertone, though it seemed LJ missed the joke part.

“Dad,” LJ said. She sounded honestly offended.
Does she not know whose face I have on?
I started to laugh as I yanked off the mask and she looked at me, confused.

Carson laughed, too, and stepped closer to us. “I knew she wouldn’t get that reference.” He tucked his hands into his pockets.

LJ was clearly puzzled. She put her hands on her hips and looked at the mask in my hands.

“Michael Myers,” I said and she frowned.

“I told her a Freddy Krueger joke the other day and I got nothing,” Carson said. “It hurt what little faith I had left in the younger generation considerably. I’m glad you know something about horror classics, though.”

“Nothing beats a good slasher movie,” I jested, happy that he was more relaxed with me tonight. “So what was the Krueger joke? Does it have something to do with yo’ momma?” I asked, remembering that I’d passed that same joke around the property a while back.

“That would be the one. A friend shared it the other night because sh—they said it was the only joke they could remember.”

LJ’s hand flinched beside me. She noticed his correction, too, but didn’t comment. The person was definitely more than a friend if he was trying to cover up something that innocent.

The doorbell rang. Carson moved back to the kitchen and I threw my mask on to help LJ hand out candy. When she opened the door, I’d planned to creep behind her and act like I was about to kill her to scare the kids.

“Trick or treat,” a boy’s voice came from around the door.

“Happy Halloween,” LJ said. “Here ya go.”

“Hey, LJ.” A familiar guy’s voice also came from behind the door.

“Hey…” LJ paused as if she’d forgotten his name.

As soon as I registered who it was, I immediately abandoned my act and opened the door wider to be seen. “What’s up, Ryan?”

LJ dropped some candy into Ryan’s little brother’s bag. Jacoby was dressed as Iron Man. Ryan wasn’t wearing a costume. Then again, he didn’t need one since he looked like a dick anyway.

Ryan smirked and shook his head. His laid a hand on one of Jacoby’s shoulders. “Not much, Benj. Just thought we’d come check out the decorations,” he said. His eyes shifted to LJ and he added, “They’re a lot better this year.”

I clenched one fist automatically and tugged the mask off with my other hand. I wasn’t planning on beating him down in front of his brother, but it would happen if he kept it up.

“You make a great Iron Man,” LJ said to Jacoby, ignoring the obvious tension.

“Thanks,” he replied, standing taller and removing his mask. “You’d make an awesome Pepper Potts.” He winked at her boldly.

“I’m flattered.” LJ giggled with a smile that the kid would probably think about later in his room, and Ryan laughed.
Dammit!
It was bad enough that Ryan was hitting on her, but now his ten-year-old brother was, too?
Unbelievable.
I couldn’t get mad at him, though. If I were ten again, I would try the same thing.

I put on a smile and shook my head, not wanting to be the dick in this scenario when I really wanted to slam the door in their faces.

“Tomorrow’s the Halloween party, right?” Ryan asked, looking at me and raising his brow smugly.

I was tempted to lie, but I knew it wouldn’t work. “Yeah. No cover, but for you we’ll make an exception.”

“I’ll be sure to bring some cash,” he said with another smirk, confirming his intentions. “Thanks for the candy, LJ. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

I clenched my teeth as they turned to leave. LJ shut the door then covered my shaky fist with her hands. “Hey,” she whispered. “He wants you to get mad, so just let it go.” Her hands moved up my chest, unzipping the top of my coveralls to get closer to me.

With a lengthy sigh, I shrugged out of the arms then tied them loosely around my waist. This left only a thin, T-shirt barrier between her fingers and my skin. “Okay. I have to admit that I was close to slicing Iron Man with my plastic kitchen knife.”

She giggled and smiled just for me. “Baby, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I’ll never stop worrying about you,” I admitted, dipping my face down and slowly brushing my lips over hers.

The doorbell broke us apart again. We stayed in the front foyer for an hour until the flow of hooligans died. After a while, I mentioned Pop’s office idea. With Carson home, we knew he wouldn’t let us “clean” the attic this late, so the office was a logical substitute.

We had about an hour to pick through some ledgers and photo albums before Carson came to kick me out.