Chapter 10 Joel
Joel
Unknown: Just to clarify, it’s to eat, not be eaten.
Staring down at my phone, I read the texts for the third time.
I couldn’t help the giddy excitement flooding me.
I could practically picture the face he was making while he composed those words—undoubtedly frowning because he was so focused on getting it just right, charming with a touch of flirty.
Just like I knew he was still clutching his phone, waiting for my reply.
Well, it wouldn’t be polite to keep the man waiting…
Me: Who is this?
As I imagined him debating whether I was kidding or not, I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to muffle my laugh.
Outside the bathroom where I was currently hiding, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Kedi and three of his “pack” friends were having a few beers and playing Mario Kart.
They just loooved to tease me every chance they got, and if they found out about my crush on North, there was no chance they would leave me alone about it.
I quickly saved North’s number in my phone and changed his profile name. My phone buzzed in my hand with his incoming reply.
Stalker: It’s North. You gave me your number, remember? I’m totally not stalking you.
Me: That’s too bad. I have to admit, I kinda like the idea of you stalking me.
Whoops, I probably shouldn’t have hit send on that one.
It felt a little too honest, and maybe we weren’t at that stage yet.
We were still in that early getting-to-know-each-other phase, but so far, there wasn’t a single thing about him that I didn’t like.
That probably meant I should behave so I didn’t scare him away before he learned how weird I was.
Stalker: That can be arranged.
My breath left me in a whoosh. Now I was the one wondering if he was kidding. Was his reply a red flag… or a green one? I nibbled on my thumbnail, my knee jiggling and setting the shower curtain flapping. Did I want to encourage this line of conversation? A smile spread on my lips. Hell yes, I did.
Me: You’re watching me right now, aren’t you.
Stalker: I wish. You’re way better-looking than this guy.
He attached a picture of his brother, Mace, making a face for the camera. I laughed, a comfortable heat spreading through me.
For someone who claimed he didn’t date—ever—he was doing pretty well at this flirting thing.
Did he mean he’d never had a serious relationship before?
Or did he mean he hadn’t, like… dated before.
Like, of the one-night variety. Was North a…
virgin? It seemed unlikely. He was so damn sexy, and he was in his mid-twenties, so it wasn’t like he wouldn’t have had plenty of opportunity.
Besides, I never would’ve guessed it by the way he’d kissed.
Yowza, that was hot. But maybe he was just a quick learner. Would that make me his teacher?
Did it bother me that he wasn’t experienced?
No, not even a little. If anything, I felt guilty for not being a virgin too.
It was like he’d been waiting to meet me specifically, but how was I supposed to know to wait for him?
It was complete chance that led me to his tattoo parlor that day.
Under different circumstances, I might not have ever crossed paths with him at all.
What if I’d listened to Kedi that day and backed out at the last second?
It wasn’t like North would’ve remained a virgin forever, waiting to run across me. Right?
The thought made my heart do a little skip. I snorted, shaking it off. No, that was crazy talk. He wasn’t actually obsessed with me, and it would be conceited of me to expect him to be.
Fidgeting, I stood from my perch on the tub and hiked up my shirt, twisting in the mirror so I could look at my tattoo again. North had set this ink on my body before he even knew me, and it felt important, but… what did it mean?
“Did you fall in?” Kedi called, banging on the bathroom door. “I’ve gotta take a leak.”
“No,” I snarked back, quickly tugging my shirt back down. “I’ll be out in a minute. Keep your pants on.” Just an expression, but with these guys, you never could tell.
I quickly picked up my phone and texted North back to tell him I would love to come for dinner tomorrow, and he directed me to meet him at Karma Katz at 7pm.
Me: I look forward to eating you.
Me: I mean your food. *eggplant emoji* *drooling emoji*
Stalker: You’re killing me, sweetheart. What did I say about teasing?
Me: Still not teasing. *wink emoji*
Stepping out of the bathroom, I was still floating on cloud nine.
What I really wanted to do was video chat with North so I could see proof of what I was doing to him.
I told myself the wait was good for me, anticipation making everything that much sweeter.
Besides, all flirting aside, if North was a virgin, he probably wanted to wait a little longer. Like, until marriage…
With that thought, I dropped back into my spot on the couch beside Sierra, chewing on the inside of my cheek.
My mind was so busy conjuring an image of what a future with North could look like—marriage, white picket fence, 2.
5 kids, and maybe a dog or two—that I wasn’t even aware of how eerily quiet the apartment had gotten.
A tingling sensation spread across my skin, almost like an instinctive warning, and I glanced around the living room, searching for a threat.
Sierra, Oliver, Ricky, and Kedi were all staring at me, wearing different shades of the same amused expression.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” I asked, patting at my cheeks.
They exchanged glances. “No, we were just wondering what you were thinking about?” Ricky asked slyly.
“Or who…” Sierra muttered under her breath with a smirk.
I shot a glare over at Kedi. “You told them?”
He laughed, offering a shrug. “I didn’t need to. The moony look on your face says it all. You, my friend, are smitten.”
“I am not,” I said in defense, but I knew it was a lie the moment the words were out of my mouth.
The level of “smit” I was feeling was, in reality, far more intense than anything I’d felt before, for any of my previous boyfriends.
I would even be tempted to call it love, if that wasn’t the most ridiculous thing ever.
Obviously it wasn’t love. Lust, sure. Infatuation?
Absolutely. “I’m just… curious about a guy, that’s all. ”
“Mm-hm, sure,” Oliver said skeptically, eyebrow arched.
He pulled a small glass pipe out of his pocket and filled the bowl with a purple-hued weed from a baggie.
This was a pretty common occurrence when the pack gathered together.
With the flick of his lighter, he brought the pipe to his lips and inhaled deeply.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain tattoo artist, would it?” Sierra asked, nudging me with her elbow. “I saw that tat he marked you with.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, marked?” Accurate, sure, but the word felt important.
The air quickly filled with the odd smell of their weed, unlike any pot I’d ever smelled before.
It stank like wet forest, like damp undergrowth and leaf litter.
The pipe came around, but Sierra passed it to Kedi in front of me without offering it.
I reached for it, but Kedi shook his head.
“None for you.” They never let me partake, saying it wasn’t good for me. Hypocrites, the lot of them.
“Right, it’s only for the big dogs,” I muttered, inexplicably annoyed with the lot of them.
Kedi sputtered on his inhale, clouds of purple smoke puffing out his nostrils. He turned to me with a serious expression, as if trying to impress something important at me. “Yes, exactly. For the big… dogs.”
What was his problem? Frowning, I slouched back in the couch, crossing my arms over my stomach, and Kedi shook his head, as if he was disappointed about something. They went back to passing their pipe around.
I sighed. My skin felt itchy, and no matter what I did, my thoughts kept circling back to North.
“I can’t get him out of my head. He makes my heart race, but not just because he’s hot—which he totally is—but also because there’s this hint of danger about him.
Almost like... I’m being hunted. And I think I’m into that,” I whispered. It felt like admitting a dirty secret.
It didn’t help when Sierra smirked. “Kinky bastard.”
“I don’t know what it is about him,” I muttered.
Kedi tossed the pipe onto the coffee table and rubbed his hands over his face. Then he rounded on me, pupils blown wide from the drugs. “Seriously? How can you still have no clue after all these years.”
I gaped at him. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’ve only known North for a couple weeks.”
Kedi scowled at me, lips pinched. Finally, he blurted, “Haven’t you noticed any similarities between him and, oh, I dunno… me? Or him, or him, or her?” He pointed at each of his friends in turn.
I frowned. “What, like, your tattoos?”
He growled in frustration, and the rattle in his chest sparked a thought. Now that he’d mentioned it, there was something familiar about the way they expressed their irritation. The aura they put out, that tingle of danger.
“More than the tattoos?” I asked, desperate for a hint to whatever he knew. “More than piercings?”
Kedi just shook his head. “Forget I said anything. It’s not my secret to divulge. You’ll just have to ask him.”
I glanced around at the others, but none of them would meet my eye, their expressions guarded.
They all knew exactly what he was talking about, but I knew better than to try to pry it out of them.
These three were a vault when they had a secret to keep.
I would always be the outsider. A friend, sure, but never truly a member of their pack.
Frustrated, I stood up from the couch. “Fine, whatever. I’m going to bed,” I mumbled, but it was more than that.
More than their secrets and their drugs.
It would be easy to blame on hormones and my impending heat, but in truth, being around them right now felt wrong.
I knew these guys would be peeling out of their clothes in a minute—they always did after toking.
It had never bothered me before, but for the first time, the thought of being around another naked man made me intensely uncomfortable. Not when it was anyone but North.
Feeling lonely and confused, I crawled into bed. I needed some answers, and there was only one person who could give them to me. I reached out and touched a fingertip to the napkin flower North had given me, where it had been sitting on my bedside table since that night.
Tomorrow. I would have my answers tomorrow.