Page 53 of The Risk Taker

She rolls her eyes, unfazed. “Stop being so dramatic. It’s a dress.” Her eyes find Ryan beside me and she ignores me completely. “Mario,” she says, grinning as she slides her arms around his neck. “You clean up nicely.”

He slides an arm around her waist with a cocky grin. “So do you,” he murmurs, his voice dropping into that low, flirty tone I wish I could unhear. “Fuck, curls, you look?—”

I cut him off with a glare. “Finish that sentence and I’m throwing myself through a window.”

Ryan just laughs and leans in to kiss her.

Annnd here comes the vomit building in my stomach.

I grab the nearest drink off the counter and take a long sip. “Someone fucking shoot me,” I mutter.

“Move, peasants.” Austin strolls in, wearing brown pants, a half-buttoned white shirt, blue vest, and a stuffed lizard hanging off his shoulder. “Flynn Rider has arrived.”

He flips his cheap-ass brown wig dramatically and winks at his girlfriend, who’s rocking a short lavender dress and a tiny gold crown glittering in her dark hair.

“And my princess, of course,” he says, looking down at Maisie with a lovesick smile on his face.

“Oh my god!” my sister says with a grin. “You two look so cute.”

I glance at them, then nod, my brow lifting. “I know this is going to inflate Austin’s ego tenfold, but she’s right.”

“Please.” Austin scoffs. “My ego’s been inflated since birth.”

Maisie chuckles, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Thank you. You look good, too,” she says, eyeing my costume. “Very… um… green.”

I sigh. She’s too nice for her own good. Can’t even lie and tell me I look like an idiot. “Thanks.”

She smiles, but her boyfriend—unsurprisingly—starts humming the Super Mario Bros. theme under his breath.

He elbows me, grinning. “Come on, do the voice.”

“Fuck off,” I mutter, shoving him away.

Austin just laughs, slinging an arm around Maisie’s shoulders like the smug bastard he is.

And that’s when Cole steps through the door, in what I guess technically counts as a costume—black hoodie, jeans, and black paint across his face in the shape of a skull.

Austin whistles. “Holy shit, Ellis actually dressed up.”

Ryan scoffs, shaking his head. “This is the least amount of effort I’ve ever seen someone put into Halloween.”

Cole shoots them a look. “Wasn’t planning on coming.”

“And yet you did” Aurora says dryly. “How tragic.”

He meets her eyes, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Careful, Viper. Your fangs are showing again.”

Ryan exhales beside me. “Jesus Christ.”

If glares could kill, Cole would be a dead man. Aurora turns without another word and heads for the exit.

Cole knocks back the rest of his drink and follows a few seconds later. Or maybe he just happens to be going the same way.

Austin grins. “Ten bucks says they hate-fuck before the semester’s over.”

My brows dip. “Doesn’t she have a boyfriend?”

“Not anymore,” Ryan tells me, shaking his head.