Chapter 19
Myssa
Afew hours later, the warm bitter taste of coffee slowly starts to wake me up.
My toast lays untouched, mostly because Zayne plays headliner in my thoughts.
Now that this is all out, I do have a few questions.
What does Vix know exactly? What part does she play?
What does she know about her boss? Is he single?
Geez, obsessed much, Myssa, I internally scold myself.
All this talk about other worlds, some villain coming at you in your dreams, and your go-to is, is he single?
Who does that? You! You do that, Myssa. I’ve lost it, that’s what it is.
I have lost my fucking mind, and at some point, I’m going to wake up from all this and realize I was dreaming.
Just then, a loud knock jolts me out of my thoughts.
Setting my coffee down, I slide off the stool at the kitchen island and head to the door.
Looking through the peephole, I’m greeted by Knox, who is wearing sweats and a t-shirt, jogging in place.
I silently groan, realizing it must be Thursday.
Being off work is really messing with my days.
Putting on my fakest cheery persona, I open the door, ready to mess with him,
“Sup butterc…up…” My voice stutters, startled by the man dressed in cut-off sweats and a T-shirt leaning against the wall on the side of my door. I can’t help but drink him in. First, can I ask when did calves covered in tattoos become hot? Because just, damn.
His shirt hugs him in all the right places and I follow the veins on his forearms, then follow his tattoos that disappear under the shirt that’s stretched taught against his biceps.
When I finally continue my way up, I’m met with eyes that shapeshift between emerald and amber hues.
Realizing that I’ve been gawking at this man way too long, I stutter out the only words my brain can unscramble in that moment.
“Um, hi,” I say with a goofy grin, my cheeks reddening.
“Myssa?” Knox chuckles.
“Ye-Yeah?” I say, still looking at Zayne, who’s looking back at me with an intensity that’s making my knees weak.
Knox lifts my jaw to close my mouth. “You gotta a little drool right here,” he says, pretending to wipe the side of my lip.
Breaking out of the stare-off with Zayne, I immediately smack Knox in the arm.
“Ow.” He laughs, rubbing his arm. “Damn, why you always gotta hit me?”
I just glare at him, not bothering to answer, and move to the side, gesturing for them to come in.
I make a note to murder Knox for not giving me a heads-up that he was bringing Zayne. Because, holy shit, Zayne is in my apartment. Suddenly, my stomach drops at the thought—oh God, is my place even clean? I was so wiped last night; I can’t even remember the state of it.
Keeping it cool, I close the door behind them.
I turn and notice Zayne looking around the living room already, and I follow his gaze.
Luckily, everything looks ok. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn to watch Knox already making himself at home by grabbing a cup out of my cupboard and pouring himself a cup of coffee.
“Zayne, would you like some coffee?” I ask, ignoring Knox’s obnoxious smirk.
“Nah, I’m good,” he says, still examining the pictures lining the shelves on my wall above the TV.
I watch Knox in dismay as he goes to the fridge, grabbing the oat milk and pouring the last of it in his coffee. Then he has the audacity to put the empty carton back in the fridge.
Totally oblivious to the death stare I’m giving him; he proceeds to sit on the stool I was just at before I opened the door. And with no care in the world, he picks up my untouched toast. Taking a big bite, he finally looks up at me, mid-chew, and pauses.
“Were you eating this?” he asks innocently as he takes another bite before he was done with the first.
“Not anymore,” I mumble, grabbing the empty carton out of the fridge and throwing it in the garbage.
Zayne, still looking around, has his back to us and says, “This is a nice place you have here, Myssa.”
Immediately, Knox looks at me, batting his eyelashes and mimicking what Zayne said. Then, to my horror, he proceeds to do a childish interpretation of us, hugging himself and doing kissy faces at me.
Too busy acting like an ass, he isn’t prepared when I whack him hard in the gut. He immediately starts choking and spitting little pieces of toast all over my counter as he gasps for breaths. Serves him right. He takes a sip of his coffee, while I wickedly grin at him with satisfaction.
Zayne turns around, looking at us. “Everything ok?”
“Yeah, everything is fine,'' I say, stifling my giggle and looking at an annoyed Knox as Zayne comes back to the kitchen.
Knox rubs his belly dramatically, glaring at me, and without even looking, snatches the last of my toast from the plate and stuffs it in his mouth.
I burst out laughing. Zayne just watches in confusion and shakes his head at Knox.
“What did you do now?”
“What, why you always assume it’s me?” Knox mumbles, trying to look innocent while swallowing his mouth full of food.
Zayne and I both roll our eyes at the same time.
“Fine, I see how it is,” Knox huffs dramatically as he stands and heads towards the sinks with the dishes.
“Shall we get going, then?” Zayne asks.
Part of me wants to protest. I like seeing him here. I mean, do we have to go workout? I sigh, knowing I don’t have a choice, and it’s a good distraction after last night.
Zayne takes the lead heading out the door, but Knox cuts me off when Zayne is out of sight. He turns around and pretends to hump the air while mouthing, “Oh, Zayne.”
I smack him upside the head. “What are you, fucking twelve?”
He shrugs. “You know you love me.”
“That remains to be seen.” I scowl.
I sling my bag over my back and follow Knox out the door.
Knox, still laughing, walks past Zayne. I follow, giving him an apologetic look as I pass him.
I graze his hand, and I feel his pinky finger hook into mine, lingering there for a beat before he lets go.
The instant spark ignites me to my toes.
I stare at him, and he gives me a wink, just as my door locks with a click behind us.
He walks past me and catches up to Knox like nothing just happened.
It takes a moment for me to collect myself before I begin to move.
Meanwhile, my body vibrates with the anticipation of hoping that maybe that little gesture meant something.
The gym we go to is your typical layout, free weights along the mirrors on one side, rows of bikes, elliptical machines, and treadmills in the middle. And, of course, a circuit half-circle of weight training in the back corner.
“Meet you out in a minute,” I say, as I walk into the locker room
I pull out my yoga pants, Lords of Acid half T-shirt and sports bra, out of bag. After changing, I bundle everything into a locker, grab my water bottle and head out of the locker room.
Zayne and Knox are already standing waiting for me. Z is in cut-off shorts and a sleeveless black t-shirt, and good fucking God, does he wear that well. When my eyes make their way up to his face, I’m met with eyes boring a hole into my own.
“I, uh, I’m going to start there,” I say, pointing over to the row treadmills.
“We’re gonna head over to the bikes to warm up, then hit up the weights,” Knox says, smiling as he starts to walk towards the front of the gym.
But Z doesn’t budge, his eyes still fixated on me.
“Zayne…” Knox shouts.
Zayne turns to look at Knox, then back to me.
“Yeah,” he says giving me a lopsided grin before strolling over to Knox.
Zayne.
“Dude,” Knox glances at me and shakes his head.
“What?” I say curtly.
“Nothing.”.
I hop on one of the bikes, and Knox grabs the one next to me. Every time I get a second, I catch a small glimpse of Myssa through the mirrors, hoping that it isn’t too obvious what I’m doing.
Clearly, I’m failing, as Knox chimes in again.
“What’s up with you? You're acting like a horny teenager when you're around her.”
“I don’t know what you're talking about,” I say, shrugging off his accusation.
“Look, she's one of my best friends, and so are you, so I’m going to say this,” he says as he picks up the pace.
I match his strides in irritation. He doesn’t need to lecture me about my feelings. I’m already at war with myself.
“Setting aside the madness with Jasper and everything going on in Aetheriem and the role she will play in this, just know that she has been through a lot.”
I nod at him to continue, but I can’t seem to silence my thoughts.
I know what I feel whenever she is around, and I’m trying so hard to contain it.
But it hasn’t been easy. Every time she’s near me, her pulse thrums under my skin.
I feel her everywhere. The now-empty cavern with its repeated echoes of what once was, fills with the delusions of what I have always wanted it to be.
To be whole with the intricate workings of what should be.
I need it, and I’ve begged for it back, a reprieve from all the guilt I carry. Snapping me out of my thoughts, Knox continues.
“She lost her sister about six months ago. They called it an accidental overdose, but we all knew Nik, and she didn’t play like that.
She started dating this guy and honestly, we all think he slipped or laced her with something.
She was found laying by the side of a dumpster in an alley. They just left her there.”
I stopped peddling and looked at him, giving him my full attention. I know she mentioned it yesterday, but she never went into detail.
“There was an investigation, but it didn’t go anywhere.”
“So, they never found a suspect?” I ask.