Chapter Four
Rowan
The neon lights of The Blue Tentacle club flashed in the alleyway of a street that had looked unassuming during the day, but was alive on a Friday night.
I passed several restaurants, bars, and a sex shop, until I reached the establishment with Cryptid Alliance and rainbow flags draped over the sides of the entrance.
A large werewolf at the door in a security vest eyed me and sniffed the air.
“You’re new,” he said in a gravelly voice.
“I’m in town for a few weeks for work.”
“Don’t stir up trouble.”
“I'm not planning to.”
We shared a look of understanding, from one big cryptid to another, knowing how we were judged by our looks and expected to be aggressive. But he’d smelled my intentions and knew I wasn’t lying.
With a nod, he let me in.
The loud beat of the music mixed with excited chatter hit my ears and settled in my chest in the form of anticipation. I would let loose tonight and see what this town had to offer.
I approached the crowded bar area and waited my turn to order my drink.
Apart from the long mirror behind the display of alcohol bottles, the walls were covered in artistic swirls of graffiti and posters of movies that remained pop-culture phenomena, including Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Wolf Man.
The barman, also a werewolf easily identified by his teeth and thick facial hair, served me my lager. I sipped the drink and turned to the dance floor, which vibrated with sensual energy from scantily dressed human and cryptid bodies.
Most monsters, as we now lovingly called ourselves, lived among humans openly, like me, but some who could hide their non-human appearance or abilities, like shifters or psychokinetics, chose to keep it to themselves.
Acceptance varied between countries and cities, but this club was fully open to monsters and humans of all sexualities, backgrounds, and genders.
I grinned. Wendigo Hills kept surprising me in the best of ways.
Many places still advocated for the return of the Cure—a drug that erased monstrous features permanently, but we had protested, rallied and voted for equality, hoping for a better future for everyone.
Discovering a town with an open-minded community in the middle of Nowhere, North Illinois was not on my bingo card this year.
Then again, neither was moving out of Chicago for the entire summer, yet here I was.
Even with my second beer nearly finished, I didn’t feel like dancing. I scanned the club full of cryptids and humans mingling together, but no one drew my attention enough for me to move my ass off the stool.
I straightened up when a messy mop of light blonde hair appeared in the crowd. The person turned my way and revealed a tall snake shifter female with glistening scales on her cheeks and forearms.
Not Milo.
“Care to join us?” A tall man scanned me from head to foot, his tail wrapped around a human woman’s waist.
They were gorgeous, and I gave myself a second to feel the pull, but nothing was there. “Not today, sorry.”
They both pouted.
“See you later,” the woman said and sashayed toward the dance floor.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I unlocked it to a meme from Ruben, my brother, older by only eighteen months, which had never stopped him from reminding me I was the baby of the family.
The pic he’d sent consisted of pictures of classical pianists and some presumably witty remark that went over my head.
Riley, my second eldest sister, commented with “you’re good, but not that good.
” I sighed. What the fuck was I doing checking the group chat with my siblings on a night out?
I opened Crypti-Match and browsed profiles, swiping left even if a gorgon male or a selkie might be what I needed tonight.
The next profile took my breath away. My hands grew sweaty, and my phone slid from my grasp.
I caught it hot potato-style from hand to hand, then focused on the screen.
The app had been designed for cryptids, but did not exclude humans, having options to add species and monster preference in the bio under pronouns, gender, and orientation.
So now I knew that Milo was gay and open to all monsterkind.
Damn, he looked good in the profile picture, sitting at the beach with his head tilted to the side, looking into the distance. With sand between his toes and wind in his hair, he had a happy glow about him. He also had…pierced nipples.
“Wanna dance?” A pleasant low voice close to me lured me away from my phone.
The muscled minotaur wearing a black tank and a cheeky grin was everything I needed tonight. But not who I wanted.
“Sorry, maybe next time.” I offered an apologetic smile and downed my beer.
“I’ll be around.” He winked and melted into the crowd.
I waited for a swoop in my stomach or any reaction to a stunning man flirting with me. Nothing.
My enthusiasm left the building. I’d be better off with my hand in the quiet of my hotel room. I set my glass on the bar, tapped my watch to the electronic tip jar, and wiggled my way out of the club.
Walking past the closed businesses, I turned the corner.
After a week in town, I was now familiar with the area directly surrounding my temporary home.
The night was still young and all the partygoers were still whooping it up, so only a couple passed by me, plus a group of cryptids walked on the other side of the road.
I recognized them from the club. The four of them had hands and tongues all over each other, stumbling together.
Lucky.
A clanking noise from the shopping area caught my attention. The light in the coffee shop was not fully on, but a glow was coming from within it. It went dark, and Milo stepped outside.
I glanced at my watch. Ten-thirty.
What the hell was he doing there so late?
I picked up my pace, then slowed back down. Scaring him was not my intention.
“Milo?”
He didn’t startle, only turned the key in the lock, then glanced my way. Either this town was extremely safe, or he had no survival instinct. Or he made such wonderful coffee that everyone loved him and he had nothing to fear, even at night.
Yes, I liked the last option.
“Hi.” His eyes lingered between my hairy pecs for a moment before he looked up to my face. “What brings you here?” He took in my silky black shirt, unbuttoned to my mid-chest, ink-blue chinos, and bare feet.
I shrugged one shoulder. “I was out.”
“Alone?” Milo glanced in the direction of the club.
“New in town, remember?” I nodded at the coffee shop. “I hope the owners are paying you enough for this.”
He scoffed in amusement. “I’m not doing anything I don’t want to. But now I need to go home. It’s not far.” Still facing me, he walked backward.
“Can I walk with you?” I remained standing to give him space. “You can tell me to fuck off, no hard feelings. It’s a nice night for a stroll, though.”
Milo chewed on his bottom lip. “Sure.”
The day had been so hot, even in the evening, the breeze was barely chilly. Milo must have left his apron at work, and now wore only a white T-shirt that showed me his nipples were definitely pierced.
Fuck.
I snapped my eyes up. Had he seen me gawking?
“Were you looking for me?” He turned on his heel, and I joined him, keeping his pace.
“No.” Well, not really.
“Pity.”
“Why?”
“You look like you’re ready to have fun tonight.”
That rush of excitement I had been expecting at the club flooded me now. “And is that what you want?”
“Maybe.” He sing-songed. “Where are you staying?”
“The Griffin Hotel around the corner.”
“Is it nice?”
My heartbeat quickened. Think of something clever, Rowan! “I think you’d like it.” My voice came out low.
I was a serious man of twenty-nine ripe years, but Milo had apparently unearthed teenage crush capabilities in me. Quite disconcerting.
“Show me.” Milo stumbled on the sidewalk, but righted himself and walked in the direction of my hotel.
An urge to toss him over my shoulder and run to my room was one I had to fight with every step we took.
“So what brings you to Wendigo Falls?” Milo asked.
“Work. Temporarily.”
Milo nodded. “When are you leaving?”
“By the end of the summer, probably. I don’t know the exact date yet. Why? Do you want to get rid of me?”
“Nah. You buy my coffee in the mornings, so you’re on the good list.” He put his hands in the pockets of his loose jeans.
“Is there a bad one?” I mirrored his pose, if only to curb the temptation to reach out for his hand.
“Oh yeah. A shit list. My ex is at the very top.”
“What did he do?” Blood boiled within me. If he’d harmed a hair on Milo’s head, I was ready to track him down right now.
“Cheated.”
Okay, that was wrong, but maybe I wouldn’t have to break his legs. Where were those thoughts coming from? I was not a violent person. I shook my head. “That sucks.”
“Ah well, I found out he was living with a guy named Ray for the entire year we were together. I sent him a fruit basket and a scrapbook with pictures of Andrew and me. In the note, I invited him to lunch and apologized. We both dumped him and started talking. It turned out we had a lot in common. Andrew kept pestering us for weeks after that, but eventually he fucked off.”
I chuckled. “Sounds like you’re way better at making friends than enemies.”
“I refuse to waste my time on people that don’t bring me joy, but also I refuse to ruin someone’s day only because my life is not perfect.” Milo shrugged and blew a stray hair off his forehead.
“You have the ideal job in customer service then.”
Milo leveled a mild glare at me. “Laugh all you want, but I love working at the cafe.”
I prided myself on my achievements, and my family had always been goal-driven, but I was in awe of Milo, who had clearly found joy in a simple job. His life was probably not very stressful. I was kind of jealous.
“It’s a nice place and you’re very good at what you do.”
“Thanks.” He gave me an odd look.
“And it seems to me that you’re working long hours. Are you free to come to the club tomorrow with me?”