The Switch Read Free

skin was hardly reason to freak out.
Hell, Grayson had seen more than that himself, and he’d never laid
a finger on her. Of course, Rosaline had been coming on to him for
years, but still…
    “Wear the eye patch,” Will answered
absently. He wasn’t even looking at Corbin, though. An odd little
smile flickered over his face as he puffed on his pipe, his eyes
still fixed on the doorway.
    Grayson looked over Corbin’s shoulder.
Marion was talking to someone, and all he could see was the back of
her head. Her hair was loose - a silky, dark curtain that fell down
her back and obscured whatever she was wearing. Then, she was gone
from his sight, blocked by the small crowd.
    Rosaline spotted them just then. She made a
little gesture to her female cohorts, Emmaline Fellows and Chloe
Kristjansen. Both were baring almost as much skin as Rose.
Emmaline, a tall, willowy blonde draped in translucent, shimmering
violet with a barely-there bikini top, was apparently dressed as a
genie or harem girl. Plump and petite Chloe was cute as fuck and
fuckably cute. With her short, dark hair arranged in pin-curls
around her cherubic face and her ample tits pushed up in some kind
of skimpy French maid outfit, she was an adorable ringer for Betty
Boop.
    Grayson was sure Pete was drooling over that
one. Why she preferred that whiny little windbag over himself was
once a stinging point. But Grayson’s brief interest in Chloe had
only been a distraction from a more serious attraction. It sure as
hell didn’t hold a candle now.
    But where the hell was she?
    The guests were really filing in now, and
for a moment Grayson lost track of Marion.
    “Ho-ly shit. Surely they didn’t come with her? ” Corbin asked as the trio of women started towards
them. Not far behind them was...
    “I doubt it,” Grayson managed to croak as he
finally caught sight of Marion’s costume.
    “Unless it was for charity,” Peter
added.
    It was all Grayson could do not to knock the
shit out of both of them. In fact, he was beginning to wonder how
the hell he remained friends with people who couldn’t seem to
graduate beyond emotional adolescence. Were they always like this?
A sharp pain shot through his jaw as enamel ground and crunched
together.
    “Remind me to get you my dentist’s card,”
Will said quietly.
    “Fuck off,” he gritted through his teeth
before reminding himself it was only the evening. Tomorrow he’d
return to the more meaningful world he’d made for himself,
maintaining his ties to Beldenbrook and his old friends at a less
annoying distance. Maybe one day he’d completely walk away, but he
wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
    The topic dropped when, sure enough, the
three women dressed as adult cartoons stalked across the room in
their direction. Marion, however, paused, lingering on the edge of
the marble dance floor, alone.
    “Well, that clears that up,” Corbin said,
sounding all too relieved. “Of course, I have no idea what the hell
she’s supposed to be.”
    “Dominatrix, dumbass,” Peter said.
    “Well, obviously, but what’s that got to do
with the theme? We’re supposed to be famous fictional characters,
right?”
    Grayson didn’t respond. He wasn’t sure he
could. The sight of Marion - all curves and leather and
deadly-looking stilettos, left him speechless and dumb. Dear
fuck, he thought weakly, is that a riding crop?
    “Hello-o,” a female voice rang through his
haze. “You’re not even going to greet us, birthday boy?”
    Rose batted her false eyelashes up at him
and gave her auburn hair a flip. Jesus - Corbin was standing right
there, and she still tried to flirt with him?
    “Hey, Rose,” he mumbled. “Nice… starfish.”
He gave her a bland smile before glancing back to Marion.
    She pouted and turned to Corbin. “Honestly,”
she said in a low voice they all still heard, “did no one tell her
about the theme? We’re at least dressed as something that makes
sense. She’s just tricked out in leather like