“What’s her name?”
“Stephanie. She’s from Mississippi. Her daddy is a preacher, so Steph is straitlaced and all that.”
“Really? So, no, um . . . action?”
Hogan shakes his head. “Nope. We play around a little bit, but nothing that’s going to give her any regrets or anything.”
“Damn, you must be serious about her.”
“I am. I’m going to ask her to marry me sometime around Christmas. That’ll give her six months or so to plan the wedding and then we can marry after graduation. Or before. I don’t really care. I just love her, man.”
I pat him on the shoulder. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.”
“Are we picking out her ring or something? What are we doing at the mall?”
“Well, Stephanie was with me when I called you and she reminded me about the party we’re having tomorrow.”
“At the mall?”
Hogan laughs. “No, at a hotel. Anyway, it’s for my birthday. Steph wanted to do something fun for it and planned a masquerade ball since it’s Halloween.”
“Okay.”
“We’re here to get your costume.”
“What?” I shake my head. “No way. I love ya and all but I’m not going to some masquerade ball. Besides, it’ll be mostly your buddies from school and awkward.”
Hogan isn’t listening and parks the car. He glances over at me and smiles. “Come on. It’ll be fun, and Stephanie’s friends are coming.”
“Are they like her?”
He looks at me oddly. “You know . . .” I move my hand in a circle to try and get him to remember without me having to say anything.
“Oh, hell no. Most of her single friends like to party. One of them, Allie, we like to compete and see who can do a keg stand the longest. And then there’s Jamie; girl is freeeeeaky if you know what I mean.”
“And they’re her friends?”
“Yep, and they tell her everything and she tells me everything. No secrets, although I believe we should have some because there are things I just don’t want to know.”
I follow Hogan into the mall, thinking of ways I can get out of the party. I like the idea of hanging out, but it’s lost on me when I have to dress up. Millie made us do that last year, and while it was fun, it’s hard to flirt when you’re pretending to be Captain America.
Inside the Halloween store, Hogan starts to rummage through things, determined to find something. “A couple rules about tomorrow night.”
“Eh, I don’t do so well with rules.”
“Tough,” he says. “Play along. I don’t want Steph to be upset because you’re a party pooper.”
Damn, okay.
“It’s a masquerade party, but Steph sent the invites out to say Mask or Raid, which means, keep your mask on at all times or you’re out.”
“What if I have to go the bathroom?”
Hogan gives me a sideways glance. “The mask isn’t covering your junk. Come on, Devon. Think.”
“Right, sorry.”