Chapter 12 #2
Holy hell, he looked so unbelievably hot.
He’d gotten changed after work, something I noticed immediately, because I couldn’t help but notice everything about him.
I greedily cataloged every tiny detail I could at every possible moment.
The husky sound of his laugh, the way his head tilted a fraction to the right when he was listening intently, the trio of freckles I’d noticed at the base of his throat.
His slightly too sharp canine teeth that made his smile look a little wild, a little feral in an unbelievably hot way.
He’d changed into a pair of ripped acid wash jeans, the cuffs rolled up above thick-soled black boots that were scuffed from heavy wear and draped in a couple of little silver chains.
Under a worn leather jacket decorated with a few pins and patches, he had on a loose tank with a logo on the front that I couldn’t make out, because it had been mostly hacked off, exposing his lean, pale stomach and pierced navel.
Oh my god. He had a pierced bellybutton.
I was going to get a full-blown erection in the gas station forecourt just from looking at him.
I was so shocked by his sudden appearance, by how unbelievably good he looked, that I just stood there gaping at him at first, my lips parted and my eyes wide.
His face broke into a devastatingly handsome grin as he jogged the last few steps, shoving his hands casually into his jacket pockets when he came to a stop right in front of me.
“Hey.”
My tongue felt too thick for my mouth, which had dried out at the sight of him, so I had to swallow before I could answer. “H-hey.”
“What’re you doing here?” He was still grinning, his face animated and lively, like he was as pleased as I was by this unexpected meeting when we’d both figured we wouldn’t be seeing each other again until work tomorrow.
I realized I couldn’t stop smiling either. My face hurt from how freaking wide my smile was. “Um, just… had to get out of the house for a while.” He nodded, briefly glancing over his shoulder, which made me ask, “How about you?”
He made a face. “I arranged to go play pool with some buddies. Only ’cause I knew you were having your family dinner thing tonight. They picked me up from work. Shane’s just getting some gas.”
I should not have been so pleased to hear that he’d only made plans because I’d had plans. Right? Or maybe it was totally fine for me to be so secretly happy about that. Because maybe it meant he liked me as much as I liked him.
“Sweet. Sounds good. I’m, like, so bad at pool.”
He laughed, shifting closer to me without seeming to realize it. “Yeah?”
“Uh-huh.” My smile somehow grew even wider, as if it was a barometer that measured his proximity to me. I nodded at his leather jacket. “Didn’t wanna wear mine tonight, huh?”
He laughed, but a faint blush colored his cheeks, making my chest ache a little.
“Well, I didn’t want to wear it to work in case you spotted it and asked for it back.
Plus…” He shrugged and raked his teeth over his lower lip, then eyed me through dark lashes.
“If I wear it too much, it’ll stop smelling like you quicker. ”
A throb of want pulsed low in my belly, making me swallow thickly.
Before I could think of a response to that, movement behind Elliot drew my gaze.
Three guys were heading our way, and I knew they were his friends, because they all looked like him.
As in, they all definitely had the same condition.
Pale skin, dark shadows under their eyes, and sharp, angular features that were almost gaunt.
They were all dressed similarly to him too—a little punk, with shitkicker boots and chains hanging from their jeans and jackets, dangling earrings and nose piercings. One of them had a mohawk.
They would’ve intimidated me if it weren’t for Elliot, because Elliot probably looked intimidating to a lot of people, but he was all sweet and tender with me in a way that made it impossible for me to see him as anything but perfect. Because he was. Perfect. He was everything I wanted.
As much as I was greedy for all of him, I didn’t want to monopolize his time. He was having a night out with his buddies, and that was fine. I was the one who’d had plans originally. It was my fault we weren’t hanging out tonight.
“Anyway, it was… good seeing you,” I said in a casual tone, because his friends were in earshot now, and I had no idea whether they knew certain things about him or not.
His features tightened a little, pale eyes flicking to the side when his friends came to a stop beside him.
The one with a mohawk gave me a brief smile and said “Hey,” while another, wearing a ripped fishnet top under a patched-up denim jacket, nodded at me as he headed inside, so I was guessing he was Shane and had to go pay for gas.
The third friend was a dude in skintight tartan pants and fingerless leather gloves, and much to my surprise, he was eyeing up a plump middle-aged mom in a brightly colored sweater vest and high-waisted blue jeans as she bustled out of the store, too busy rifling through her purse to notice that she was being ogled by a young punk.
I guessed it wasn’t all that weird—some people liked older women, and probably moms especially—but it was more the fact that he looked…
hungry. And not even in, like, a sexual way.
He looked literally hungry. My dad eyed up a steak on the grill the exact same way.
“Uh, so…” I slowly tore my confused gaze away from him to give Elliot one last smile. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
He raked his teeth over his lower lip, those slightly too sharp canines leaving delicate little lines in the fragile skin that faded a second later.
He nodded, but he was looking at me like all he wanted to do was grab my hand and come with me.
There was this subtle kind of desperation creeping into his expression.
Almost panic. And god, it did something to me, seeing that look on his face, because it reflected what I was feeling so succinctly.
It was physically hard to walk away from him, like I was pulling on millions of little threads that were doing their best to keep us together.
The snap of those threads as I stepped into the store was something I almost tangibly felt, too.
A series of jarring little plucks, one after another, like someone running a sharp blade over the strings of a guitar.
Elliot’s friend Shane was heading away from the checkout counter as I walked inside, tucking his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. We exchanged another nod as we crossed paths, but I noticed him eyeing me a little oddly, as if he’d found it weird that I was talking to Elliot.
Yeah, well, whatever, Shane. I don’t get it either. Elliot is so far out of my league it’s not even funny.
I headed for the snack aisle. I wasn’t feeling quite so sorry for myself anymore, that impromptu little moment with Elliot having sustained my addiction to him for the time being, but I was still getting snacks.
They were just no longer pity-party snacks.
Now, they could just serve as a poor substitute for Elliot’s tongue in my mouth until we could be alone together again.
I was still getting the slushie, though. Although, maybe a bucket of sugar wasn’t actually a good idea at this time of night. I’d rather go to sleep as soon as possible so I didn’t have to consciously wait as long to see Elliot again. Damn, maybe moms were actually right sometimes.
I’d just picked up two giant bags of salt and vinegar chips, and was on my way to select a candy bar or two—or five—when I was hit with a sense of déjà vu, because I once again heard someone say my name from behind me.
But this time, I recognized the voice immediately, and I was already grinning before I’d even spun around to see him striding down the aisle toward me.
He grinned back, giving me that devastating smile that made my knees weak. “Hey.”
“Hey.” The bags of chips in my hand crinkled as I clutched them tighter.
Elliot tilted his head toward the exit behind him.
“Took a chance and told the others to go play pool without me this time.” As my insides roiled with a rush of excitement and want and pleasant nerves, that faint blush appeared on his high cheekbones again.
“Just, uh, in case you wanted to hang out for a while.”
“Yes.” I was already nodding. I was so not cool, in any way, and I didn’t care at all. “Yeah, I want to.”
His grin widened and his shoulders relaxed a fraction, making me belatedly realize that he’d actually been nervous to ask me, which seemed unbelievable to me.
The urge to close the distance between us and kiss him was so strong that I had to bite down hard on my bottom lip until the shock of pain brought me to my senses.
“Sweet.” His hands were stuffed in his jacket pockets, so he tilted an elbow in my direction to gesture at the snacks in my hands. “Loading up, huh?”
“Oh. Yeah.” I chuckled sheepishly. “Um, so, do you want to… We could get a bunch of snacks and go for a drive or something?” I blushed as soon as I said it, wondering if he’d think that was a totally lame suggestion.
But his face lit up and he nodded quickly. “That sounds perfect.”
I relaxed myself, once again grinning so wide my cheeks hurt. “Sweet. Let’s do it.”