Balancing a tray in one hand, Justin quietly opened the door to Brenna’s room. He called her name once and went over to her bed. She woke up as he knelt down on it and she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Happy birthday,” he said, holding out the tray towards her. She smiled.

“You made me breakfast in bed?” she asked, pulling herself up to a sitting position and leaning back against the headboard.

“Only the best on your birthday.”

“You know how to make waffles?”

“It’s not that hard. There’s a mix downstairs.” He nudged her. “You have no faith in me.”

She smiled and rested the tray on her lap. “Well you never cook. I must be pretty special.”

“Sure are.” He leaned back against the headboard and watched her eat. “Your mom called about an hour ago. I told her you’d call her when you woke up.”

Brenna nodded. “Yeah. These are good waffles, Justin.”

“Why thank you. So are you excited for your big day?”

She adjusted the strap of her tank top. “Yep. Kate says I’m gonna love the spa we’re going to.”

“Probably will. Just make sure you guys are back by six. Cause then we’re going out for dinner and then to Eclipse for the night.”

She took a sip of orange juice. “Sounds busy.”

“I’m sure you’ll be relaxed from being at the spa all day.” He perked up when he heard the intercom buzzer going downstairs.

“Who’s that?”

“Not sure. I’ll go check.” He jumped off her bed and left her room, running down the stairs two at a time. He opened the front gate and went outside where Brenna’s present was being delivered. By time he stepped back into the house, Brenna was coming down the stairs, still in her pajama pants and zipping up a thin sweater over her tank top.

“Who was it?”

“Come here.” He motioned her over to the door. “I have your present outside.”

She gave him a confused look and came over. “Outside?”

“Yep.” He put his hands over her eyes and she laughed.

“This had better not be some mean trick.”

He smiled and opened the door, keeping his other hand over her eyes. “Kay, take a step forward.” He kept his hands over her eyes and followed behind her. After a few steps, he halted her. “Okay, ready?”

“Yep.”

He moved his hands away form her eyes and she blinked a few times at the sunlight. He smiled as her eyes focused on the driveway and a gasp escaped her.

“No way,” she breathed out and took a few steps forward. “You got me a car?!”

His smile widened as she went over to the silver Porsche with the large red bow on it. She slid her hand over it and then let out an excited shriek. She ran back over to him and jumped on him in a hug.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, squeezing her arms around his neck.

He laughed and hugged her tightly. “You’re welcome.”

“I can’t believe you got me a car!” she exclaimed, letting go of him and going back over to the car.

He joined her. “You liked it so much when we saw it that I couldn’t resist.”

“But it’s way too much money to spend on a birthday present,” she protested.

“You deserve it,” he replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. “Wanna take it for a test drive?”

A bright smile appeared on her face as she took the keys from him. “Yeah. I have to change first though.” She stepped towards him and hugged him again. “Thank you so much, Justin. You’re amazing.”

He smiled and rested his chin on her shoulder as he hugged her back, trying not to think about how good she felt against him and how much he wanted to keep her there.

Halloween night, Justin sat in the entertainment room on the main level of the house, waiting for Trace and Brenna. They were supposed to have left for the club five minutes before but both his friends weren’t finished getting ready. He had thought about telling them to hurry up but he had made both of them wait for him countless times before so he figured he could cut them some slack.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, he looked up to see Trace coming into the room in a typical Trace Halloween costume-a hobo.

“Brenna’s not ready yet?” Trace asked, plopping down on the couch.

“Nope.”

“What’s she dressing up as?”

“She wouldn’t tell me. Kate helped her pick it out though.”

“Are we meeting Kate at the club?”

“Yeah. Her and Tyler.” He checked his watch. “We’re gonna be late if Brenna doesn’t hurry up though.”

As if on cue, there was the sound of someone coming downstairs and Justin looked over to see Brenna appear in the doorway. He swallowed hard as his eyes moved over her. She was dressed as Cat Woman, wearing head to toe black leather and black stilettos. Cat ears perched in her curly hair and a tail completed the ensemble. He immediately knew the night was going to be torture. Her outfit was tight and it dipped low enough in the front to show the smallest amount of cleavage.

Kate was evil.

“What do you think?” Brenna asked, twirling in a circle.

“Looking good,” Trace said.

“Justin?” she asked, turning toward shim.

He forced himself out of his trance and wet his dry lips. “You look nice,” he got out, shooting a glare at Trace when his friend snickered.

“Thanks. Oh shoot, I forgot my purse upstairs. I’ll be right back.”

Justin’s eyes followed her as she turned to go back upstairs, her tail bouncing behind her.

“Oh man, this is gonna be torture for you,” Trace laughed. “Kate really knew what she was doing when she picked that outfit out.”

Justin groaned. “Damn her.”

“Man, just ask Bren out. Don’t torture yourself like this.”

“I can’t and I’m not going to. So you and Kate need to drop it.”

“Hey, this one is all Kate. She knew exactly what she was doing when she got Brenna to wear that outfit. Talk to her.”

“I’m planning on it,” he muttered and then shut his mouth because he could hear Brenna coming back downstairs. He stood up and grabbed his car keys. He tried no to stare at Brenna, silently cursing Kate the entire drive to the club.

The party was in full swing once they got there. Trace spotted Kate and Tyler at a table in the corner of the club and they made their way over to the table. Justin rolled his eyes when he saw Kate’s costume.

Angel, my ass.

“Hey!” Kate yelled over the music as they approached. “You guys look great! Ooh, Bren, you look awesome. Doesn’t she look awesome, Justin?”

He gave Kate a look worth a thousand words. “Yeah.”

She smiled sweetly at him and winked. He simply sighed and shook his head.

“I’m gonna go get some drink,” Trace said. “What do you guys want?”

“Rum and coke,” Justin said.

“Yeah, me too,” Brenna spoke up.

Justin glanced over at her, surprised. She hardly ever drank. She caught his look, smiled, and shrugged.

“Might as well have a fun time tonight. Just don’t let me have too many, okay?”

He smiled. “Okay.”

His drink and the one that followed it managed to loosen him up a bit and he was able to start to have a good time instead of constantly thinking about his feelings about Brenna. That is, until she insisted he dance with her. She was bordering on tipsy and extremely persistent until he agreed. He finished off the last of his drink as he stood and then allowed Brenna to pull him out towards the dance floor.

He pretty much knew he was in trouble the minute he started dancing with her. Dancing with her involved touching her and he bit his lip as his hands met the cold leather covering her waist. His fingers slipped over it easily to her back and then rested there. He forced himself to relax, realizing Brenna was going to pick up on it and ask what was wrong if he didn’t.

After a couple minutes, he was able to relax and simply have a good time dancing with Brenna. She had definitely become a good dancer over the past few months.

After a few songs, he had lost himself in the music and forgotten all about he people around them. He was pulled back into the present when he heard Brenna’s breath hitch in her throat. He focused his eyes on her and found her looking at him and then she looked to the side. He suddenly became aware of just how low his hands had slid on her back and they were definitely not in ‘friends’ territory anymore. He quickly moved them higher and felt his face redden.

“Sorry,” he said loudly enough for her to hear.

Her eyes connected to his again and she smiled. “It’s okay.”

Still embarrassed, he made sure to hold his hands firmly on her back and nothing else. He was now distracted though and he couldn’t help the thoughts of Brenna from going through his mind. When he breathed in, he could smell her perfume and the faint scent of hairspray. It was intoxicating. And the cold leather was warming under his hands and his fingers were not itching to move. He suspected that’s what had happened the first time and he didn’t want that to happen again so he forced his hands to stay still.

It was hard to stay normal in the club. Everyone around was dressed up in costumer making him feel like he was in some kind of weird hallucination. The alcohol in his system was helping any. It was all so surreal that it was hard to just dance when Brenna when he couldn’t concentrate on what he was doing.

He allowed himself to move his hands from Brenna’s back to her hips, figuring that was safe territory. She had grown comfortable again and he knew the alcohol had started to affect her a bit because she was dancing pretty close to him. Closer than she had ever before. He swallowed as he realized how much of her body was pressed up against his. Her arms were draped around his neck and her head resting on his chest.

He realized after a few more songs had passed that she was becoming a bit of a deadweight. He lowered his head to hers.

“Are you doing alright?”

She lifted her head. “Alcohol’s getting to me a bit.”

“You only had those two drinks, right?”

“Kate made me do a couple shots while you and Trace were at the bar.”

“Wanna go sit down for a bit?”

“Yeah.”

He pulled back and took her hand and led her towards the table. Kate and Tyler joined them a few minutes later. Kate handed Brenna one of the drinks she had in her hands.

“What is this?” Brenna asked, sniffing the drink.

“Screwdriver.”

Brenna glanced over at Justin and he shrugged.

“Oh, you’re fine,” Kate said. “You won’t get drunk form one more drink. Justin, get off her back.”

“I didn’t say anything,” he said. “Brenna can drink what she wants.” He leaned back in his chair and listened as everyone talked. Brenna’s drink definitely made her tipsy and it wasn’t long before Kate was dragging Brenna out to dance.

“Now they’re gonna have the attention of every guy in this place,” Tyler said, taking a drink of his beer.

“Cat Woman and an angel?” Justin smiled. “Yeah, they will.” There was a moment of silence. “So I’m guessing Kate’s told you about me and Brenna.”

Tyler smiled. “She’s obsessed with getting you two together. I think she was hoping something would happen tonight.”

“I figured that was her thinking after seeing Brenna’s costume. I know there’s no way she picked that out herself.”

“Yeah, Kate was saying it took some convincing.”

Justin looked out to the dance floor and spotted Kate and Brenna dancing together. They definitely had the attention of the males around them.”

“I’m gonna go join them,” Tyler said, standing up. “Are you coming?”

Justin gathered his willpower and stood up as well. “Yeah, let’s go.”