6. Char
6
CHAR
Had it really been four years? It seemed like a lifetime. But it was definitely Todd. His hair was a little longer, but otherwise he looked the same. Same confident swagger, same arrogant smirk.
And he was looking right at her with those piercing silver eyes.
Fuck. Delete that.
piercing silver blue eyes
She swallowed her pride and smiled back.
“Todd. Didn’t think I’d ever see you here.”
“I bet you didn’t.” His gaze was hungry as it drifted over her face, hovering on her lips.
She cleared her throat.
“How are you? Everything going well with the garage?” She glanced over at the huge, gleaming Harley tentacle parked in the lot.
Fuckity fuck fuck.
Harley tentacle motorcycle
W hat was wrong with me today?
Definitely not enough sleep. Friday was usually a good writing day for me, but the entire week I’d been waking up multiple times each night to reach for a vibrator. My dreams continued to feature tentacles. Maybe that was all my pussy wanted now, so my regular arsenal of toys wasn’t cutting it.
During the daytime, my mind wandered, returning over and over to thoughts of a certain doctor. Impressions of him that didn’t make sense.
Maybe I was hungry. It was almost lunch, and I’d made plans to meet Naomi for a sandwich. With another wince at my document, I saved and uploaded it to online storage, then shut my computer.
I’d been up since dawn, my beauty routine consisting of putting my hair in a ponytail, but the place we were going was casual, so I didn’t bother to get made up. My jeans and t-shirt were fine, plus red-framed glasses for color. I got up and grabbed my purse and a coat.
The days were getting warmer, and the midday sunshine made the whole block look bright and new. My powder blue house tended to stay cool, so I didn’t realize how hot it was until I walked outside the door. I turned around and tossed my jacket back inside, then locked up.
It took about ten seconds to cross my tiny porch, go down three steps, and take the narrow walkway next to my driveway out to the sidewalk. Then I turned down the identical walkway next to Naomi’s driveway, toward her sunny yellow house.
We had twin bungalows, built in the 1920s as mirror images of each other. Same interior layout, but with everything opposite. Naomi had welcomed me to the neighborhood with a homemade gingerbread cake when I moved in, inviting me over to see how the houses were related. That was five years ago, and we’d been friends ever since.
I’d always known she had an inherited disease, but she’d been managing it okay until recently. To be honest, I usually forgot about it unless she mentioned a doctor’s appointment. She was busy with her career as an architect and always so happy. Even after she dumped her ex, she stayed positive.
Lately, her cheerful facade was showing cracks.
I knocked on her door and waited. After a minute, Naomi opened it. Her posture was slumped, exhaustion written all over her face. She still smiled.
“Good thing you’re driving.” Her voice was raspy, like she had to work to force out the words.
Were the transfusions doing anything? She looked just as pale as on Sunday. I stuffed down my worries and smiled back, pretending nothing was the matter.
“Yep, let’s get you some food. Still want to go to Out of This World?”
“Absolutely.”
I noticed the slightest flush to her cheeks. Good. Maybe she was improving?
We drove downtown and found parking near the shopping district, a short walk from the bakery. The line was already out the door. It was moving fast, but I wasn’t sure she could stand that long.
“Want to get us a table while I order?”
Naomi sighed. “Yeah, that’d be great. The steak special with extra onions for me.”
“Sounds good.”
She put her hand on my arm. “Thanks, Char.”
It felt like she was thanking me for more than a sandwich, and I had to fight back tears. None of that .
“No problem. Go sit.”
As I waited in line, I noticed that Naomi had found us a table in clear view of the back kitchen. She had her phone out, but she kept stealing glances in that direction. Her cheeks would flush before she looked back at her screen.
I grinned.
When I sat across from her with our sandwiches and a couple of cans of sparkling water, she looked up innocently.
“Thanks, this looks great.”
“Sure. So, who are you checking out back there?” I glanced over my shoulder toward the pass-through, but only saw the back of someone’s head. A muscular guy with brown hair.
Her entire face flushed, and she covered her cheeks with her hands.
“Fuck. Am I being that obvious?”
“No, don’t worry. Everyone’s focused on getting lunch.” I unwrapped the paper around my club sandwich and took a bite to prove my point. “Mmm. So good,” I muttered with my mouth full.
“I love the food here.” She let out a gusty breath and started eating, which effectively shut down any further talk about Bakery Guy. If she didn’t feel like sharing, I wasn’t going to pry. And I wanted her to eat.
The lunch crowd ebbed and flowed around us, a steady stream of background noise and movement, while my thoughts drifted. Back to Sunday at the hospital. To Ryoch. I’d gone over it a thousand times, but I still wasn’t clear about what had happened.
When I was sitting in the waiting room, I’d smelled him. Which was ridiculous.
Any guy whose cologne was that strong probably wasn’t my type. And yet. Had I spent some time exploring the men’s shampoo section at the store the other day, searching for that signature scent? Something spicy and earthy that I couldn’t quite put my finger on? Maybe. A few minutes.
My reaction to Ryoch in that hallway had been concerning. When I came out of the waiting room and saw him walking away from me, tall and sure in his white coat and scrubs, my heart ached like it was reaching for him through my chest.
Why? Because he smelled nice? We’d barely talked at the bar, certainly not enough to justify obsessing over him, and I knew better than to be seduced by a pretty face. Good looks like his often came with some arrogance. Plus, there was the glaring issue of all the weird shit Jess and I had seen.
And then he’d stopped walking and turned to face me, holding himself rigid. He looked so uncomfortable, so anxious to get away. It wasn’t like I expected him to tackle me and declare his undying love, but I thought maybe he’d be happy to see me.
Of course, I understood why he might not be. After all, I did run away from him at the bar. Maybe running from me was the obvious reaction to seeing me again. Except, I wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to avoid me. It was more like he was…hiding something.
Under the bright hospital lights, I was certain Ryoch’s face…wavered. All the same things I’d seen at the bar, I saw again. The eyes, the skin. Horns. But did I? Was it real?
He’d excused himself abruptly, and while I should have been relieved, my heart squeezed painfully as I stared after him. The white chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting I bought at the cafeteria afterward helped.
It was all so strange. Strange enough that, up until I saw him again, I’d managed to convince myself I’d been mistaken before. That the fear I’d felt at the bar was misplaced and it was all in my head. It was too crazy.
Even though Jess had seen silver eyes too.
I’d been avoiding her calls, telling myself that I wasn’t ready to discuss any of it. But I was making excuses. If we talked, I’d have to confront all the red flags. She’d probably tell me to forget about him.
I didn’t want to.
Because despite everything, against my better judgment, I wanted to see Ryoch again. To get some answers, yes. But also, just to get close to him. Fuck . I’d almost driven out to the bar last night, alone. That would have been dangerous and stupid.
Maybe Naomi could go with me? If she felt well enough. Annabelle would probably be up for it.
Across from me, Naomi shivered. She wasn’t looking at the back kitchen anymore. Her whole demeanor was withdrawn, her lips pursed.
Pain. She was in pain. I wished there was something I could do, and my helplessness made me want to scream. But all I could do was be her friend.
“Ready to head out?” I asked. She’d eaten half the sandwich. That was something, anyway.
“Yeah.” Her voice was faint as she nodded. “I’m ready for a nap.”
I wrapped up the leftovers and drove us back, then got her tucked into bed. She looked so frail. My stomach twisted with worry.
Before I left her bedroom, I paused at the light switch by the doorway. “Do you think we need to go back to the hospital?”
“No, it’s not that bad. Don’t worry.”
Right . “I’ll hang out on your couch and read, okay?” It wasn’t like I was going to get more writing done, and it seemed to comfort her that I was there. I didn’t want to leave her.
“Okay.”
Naomi’s head relaxed onto the pillow. She closed her eyes, and I turned off the light. A minute later, I could hear her snoring softly through the open door.
I quietly made myself a cup of tea in her kitchen, then carried it over to sip while I perused the collection of books in her living room. She loved romance novels, so I knew there’d be something good to distract me.
One title caught my eye, and I pulled it off the shelf. My Peculiar Date . The mug almost dropped from my hands when I read the subtitle. A Tentacle Monster Romance.
Well.
I grinned. Perfect.