Free After Summer by Hailey Abbott Page B

breathed a sign of relief. She loved a good scandal almost as much as she loved getting what she wanted.
    Then she was back on the hunt, dodging and weaving though Darth Vader costumes and lip-locked couples in her search for the master of ceremonies. A fog machine purred out smoke, making it hard to see through the crowd. Animatronic spiders dropped down from the ceiling only to climb back up their silk webs. The DJ, wrapped in Ace bandages like a proper mummy, worked a crowd of gyrating dancers, dropping one amazing record after another. The party boy himself, however, was nowhere to be seen.
    She finally found him over by the keg (marked appropriately as poison), dressed like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, all braids and stubble and dirty pirate swagger. Yummy.
    He flipped up his eye patch when he saw her coming. A slow smile stretched across his mouth.
    “You are the hottest girl at my party. Without. A. Doubt.”
    Ella smiled and gave a little twirl. “A beer for the lady?” She giggled.
    Ryan growled, stepped closer, and nuzzled his face into her neck. The prickles of his facial hair ignited in friction on her skin.
    “I thought you said you were hanging out with the boyfriend tonight,” he said, stepping back passing her a foaming plastic cup. “Not that I’m complaining. This pirate feels like he’s just found his treasure. Arrrrgh!”
    “Plans change,” Ella said carelessly, and smiled back at him. “I decided to make this party epic after all.”
    “Lucky me,” Ryan said. He nodded toward Marilee, who was now practically giving the guy a lap dance. “I knew she liked me, you know.”
    “Really,” Ella said, tilting her head to one side and smiling.
    “I had to blow her off,” Ryan said, moving closer. “I’m interested in someone else.”
    “Oh, yeah?” Ella teased him. “Who’s that?”
    “Someone I consider a friend.” Ryan replied. “Someone like me. I could tell we were alike since the moment we met.”
    “Happy Halloween,” Ella said with a grin, and tilted her face up to his.
    Ryan grinned back, and didn’t wait one more second. He took Ella’s chin in his hand and kissed her—hard. And hot. His lips were demanding, and his arms that slowly snaked around her waist felt wildly possessive. Ella pressed right up against him, delighting in the feel of his muscular frame. She kissed him right back, her tongue teasing his, her lips tempting him with everything she had. And he tempted her right back.
    When they both drew back to catch their breath, they were smiling at each other in the same knowing, devious way. Ella was flushed with pleasure, but she wanted more.
    “Come on,” Ryan said in a husky voice, pulling Ella right up against him. “I want more.” And they started kissing again, hotter and hotter, oblivious to the party around them.
    Finally, Ella thought, things made sense again.

11
    Beth had never seen George look so excited. And she found that the tired feeling she seemed to carry around these days was no match for George being excited about something. In fact, it was breaking right through the fatigue and kicking her into high spirits, too.
    It was Saturday, late afternoon. The annual big Halloween party, thrown that night at the summerhouse of one of their Martin friends, was out on Cape Cod. George had decided that they should book a hotel with some of the money he’d saved up working construction over the summer.
    This was an exciting prospect, considering the sleeping arrangements at this particular party were first come, first served. Beth remembered last year sleeping on top of thepool table when all the floor space was occupied. Still, she had been better off than the kid who had slept on top of the washing machine. But nothing could beat their own private hotel room.
    It was to be, as he’d told Beth a zillion times, the Weekend of Beth and George.
    “This is going to be legendary,” he told her again, navigating his way through the traffic. His