“You look great!” A sudden flush traveled up my cheeks, remembering the wet trash bag. “I, on the other hand, look ridiculous.” I looked around the bar, admiring all the costumes.
“Black bin bag?” Toby Keith asked.
Pleased with his recognition, I clinked my pint glass into his.
“Cheers,” Owen said, raising his glass. “To new friends.” We all clinked again, and I took a sip. The alcohol zipped around my body and the movement around me started to slow. “Tell me about you,” I screamed to him. The loud music and jumbled conversation reverberating against the wooden beams drowned out my regular speaking voice.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, eying me curiously.
“Tell me about you and your family.” This was my round-about-way of getting to know Aoife. “You and your sister seem close.”
“Aye. We’re twins.”
I nearly fell out of my chair. They looked nothing like twins with Owen’s shorter stature and her mile long legs. They reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Really?”
“Aye. We’ve been inseparable since birth.” He chuckled at his pun. “We’re at the same college but study different courses, and we live in different flats but in the same building.” He shrugged. “It’s a twin thing.”
I couldn’t believe Jaime hadn’t told me this. Things started to click.
“And how long have you known Jaime?” I thumbed the pint glass, feeling the golden harp emblem against my skin.
“Since our first year of college. He’s a good bloke. A good friend.”
I nodded. There was zero attraction between Owen and I, despite the shot of whiskey clouding my judgment. I couldn’t get Jaime and Aoife out of my mind. “I heard that he and your sister were dating.”
Owen snickered and took a gulp. “I guess you can call it that. I think it was more of an instant attraction than anything else.”
I pictured her silky blonde hair, clear skin, and long legs—an instant attraction. Comparing her body to mine, I understood why Jaime would like her. I shook my head, wiping the image of them as a couple out of my mind. “Yeah?”
“Aoife and I are so close, I can feel her pain when she’s hurt. It’s a twin thing,” he said again. “She likes him, but she bounces around.” He took another deep sip. “She doesn’t get serious with anyone.”
I nodded, confused. The alcohol affected my thinking, and I couldn’t figure out what Owen was saying. Were they using each other? Were they friends with benefits? Were they actually dating? Are they still kind of seeing each other? Or using each other? He wasn’t making any sense. I leaned into his chest, and his hand pulled my shoulder closer.
“So, how’d it end?” I asked.
“I don’t know that it has.”
My heart dropped to my feet. I didn’t know Owen well, but he had no reason to lie. Maybe I didn’t know Jaime as well as I had convinced myself, and I promised to be more watchful, intentional, and cautious.
I pulled back from him and ripped the trash bag over my head, tossing it in the bin.
“What are you doing?” Owen asked.
My black sweatshirt and jeans stuck to my slender frame. “I don’t want to be a pirate anymore. Call me a thief instead. It’ll be grand.”
I motioned Owen to follow me and led him back to the table.
Various costumes pushed up against me, and I stepped back into Owen, feeling my body press against his leg and arm. He put his hands on my shoulders, directing me through the crowd. When we got back to the table, Marissa and Zoey were gone. I scanned the pub and found them in front of the band. Emotionally weak, I didn’t want to talk to Aoife or Jaime.
Instead, I excused myself and approached my two roommates at the private table away from our other friends. “Hey, girls.” I glanced at Marissa’s hand, resting on Zoey’s leg. “Tell me, what’s going on with you two?”
Marissa pulled her hand away and bunched her sequined skirt in her fist. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? I’ve been watching you guys for a few weeks now. I saw you. The night of Owen’s party. We saw you.” I pointed to Jaime across the room and returned my finger to me. I lowered my voice and hissed, “Kissing.”
Blushing under the dim light, Zoey stared at her pint glass. Her pursed lips and shaky hands waited for Marissa to say something.
Marissa grabbed Zoey’s hand. “We’re just having fun.” She looked at Zoey from the corner of her eye, and Zoey nodded.
