Jessica's Fate

Chapter 103

My days had been full of school and work and a definite uptick in time spent with all the guys in my life.

Seriously.

ALL the guys in my life.

Strangely enough, I hadn't spent much time with my actual boyfriend beyond a couple quick breakfasts at Glazed before he headed to work and I made my way to class.

But my brothers? There seemed to be a revolving door at the diner. If Luke wasn't sticking around for my shifts then North would pop in and hang out. My Halloween costume had been set for months but that didn't stop Gabriel from dragging me out on a shopping trip, with Victor and Sang. I managed to get out of further shopping trips by begging him to color my hair blonde so that I wouldn't need to get a wig for Halloween. I could look like Emma Swan to my Captain Hook and then we could change it back again before I went to Paris.

Outside of those boys, I was suddenly having time with Raven twice a week. Sometimes Corey was there but he brought Marc at least once. I withheld rye bread once until he told me that he was merely stocking up on time together before I went to Paris and cut him off completely.

Well, that just made me feel horrible because Raven had turned from Professional Russian on standby to my best friend.

Was that odd?

I mean, he was older than me by a good six years but I guess we really did get along so well after meeting once a week for years. I have to admit; I will miss him. I'll miss the chance to cook for him and jabber for hours in Russian.

However, the strangest and oddest part of all of this was the fact that while I wasn't seeing my boyfriend very often, I was seeing his team frequently. Marc, Jake, Tanner and Bryce were suddenly at the school café almost every afternoon for dinner before their shift. I wasn't sure why they were showing up but it was nice to be able to talk to someone who could tell me Josh was fine, just stuck on a case. He made out like a bandit because I would usually send something for his dinner when they headed to work.

Maybe he was keeping busy at work because I'd pushed too much with the Halloween costume.

Maybe he was allergic to guyliner.

But he was going to be a majorly hot Captain Hook.

And he was all mine.

I blew out a breath. "Oh well, so there's less time right now." I muttered before thumping the bread dough hard and scooping it into a bowl to rise. I needed to get over myself, honestly. He was getting himself back into work and that was no grounds for me to feel like a pissed off girlfriend who was mad about his return to his normal.

Besides, the party was tomorrow, and I'd get him all to myself for a while.

~ ~ ~

Sang and I got ready for the party together. She was going as a blonde Black Widow from a recent movie while Sean was going for Captain America. Last I heard, Raven and Corey were planning on pulling off a Tony Stark, Peter Parker combo. I couldn't wait to see which of them won their battle to be Tony Stark.

Josh and Sean arrived at the same time and mom let them in. "Well boys, you're looking good tonight." She laughed, accepting a kiss on the cheek from each of them. "Your beautiful ladies are in the kitchen."

I glanced up as they walked in, smiling when Sean planted a kiss on Sang. "Hey there, Captain Hook."

"Ah, the ever-adorable lass, Emma Swan." His eyes swept my body, taking in the tight jeans and tank top under my red leather jacket before smiling when he saw the blonde tousled curls my hair was styled in. "My, my, you do look ravishing tonight." He raised my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it."