Chapter 11 Girls Like Big Docs
It feels like someone is watching me, though I can’t tell from where.
About thirty minutes into browsing the menswear with Emma and Gray, I wandered off on my own.
I was right to assume that Emma would dig her heels in.
Before the first shirt was pulled off the rack, she had her hands on his arms, his chest, and his stomach.
I’ll give her props, though, she did ask his permission before she did anything.
“I just want to get an idea of what size you are,” she had said, and he nodded his approval.
The flirting that followed was just too much.
Of course, Gray leaned into it, too. I could tell he was enjoying every second of the attention, so I excused myself.
I was far enough away that I didn’t have to hear their chatter, but close enough that I could still see him.
Just in case, I’d told myself. Wouldn’t want him sneaking off for a snicky-snack from Emma’s all too willing throat.
They’re both out of view now, though. I’ve wandered so far into the store, stupidly seeking out the source of this feeling, that I’ve instead found my reflection in the storefront windows.
It’s dark out with little lighting, and, of course, this is where I feel it the strongest. A sweep of the parking lot and the sidewalk outside proves there’s nothing, but then the flicker of a street lamp draws my attention.
I lean in closer, expecting to see something, but I’m caught off-guard when a tall shadow as dark as the night sky appears in front of the window.
Formed, yet featureless, it stares at me.
My knees tremble, and I want to jump away, but I can’t move.
This shadow, this figure, it’s what followed me at Dax’s.
I don’t know how I know; it’s just a feeling.
Cold creeps into my veins the way the frigid winter air has claimed the cool autumn nights. A deep shiver rolls through my body.
“He doesn't really seem like your type.”
I stumble backward with a loud scream, startled by Jill’s voice. I place a hand over my chest, the furious beat of my heart racing underhand. “What?”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” she says, crossing her arms. “I was just saying that Gray doesn’t seem like your type.”
“Are we still on this?” I groan. “We’re not dating. He’s just a friend down on his luck.”
Jill frowns. “Whatever you say.”
Straightening, I cast a glance back at the window, but there’s nothing there. The feeling of being watched has gone, too. The only eyes here are Jill’s. For a fleeting second, I wonder if I imagined it.
No, I didn’t. There’s no way.
“So, how’s David?” Jill asks casually. There’s always an edge or a bite to the way she says his name.
“It’s Dax,” I correct her. “And he’s fine. You know him, he lives and breathes String Theory.”
“Please, I've known that twerp way longer than you have. I can call him David,” she says and rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, but it’s not as edgy as ‘Dax.’” I emphasize his name with air-quotes.
The first time I ever said his real name, he was face deep between my thighs.
The second it left my mouth, he popped up with the most annoyed look on his face and corrected me.
On the spot. Not the hottest moment we’ve had, but definitely one of the funniest.
Jill snorts. “Sounds like something he’d say.”
I nod and focus on sifting through the hangers of the nearest rack to distract myself.
There’s history between them. I’ve never been one to pry, but sometimes my curiosity gets the best of me.
After Dax and I started up our ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement, I told Jill and Emma about it, not knowing they knew him.
Jill was immediately pissed off and ignored me for a week.
According to Emma, they had dated back in high school and all through college.
But between the two of them, I couldn’t get a straight answer on who broke up with whom.
Dax said he broke it off, and Jill said she broke it off. They both said it was ‘amicable.’
Eventually, Jill decided to talk to me again, and ripped me a new one for being so casual with him.
The lecture went on and on about the kind of guy he is, how possessive he is, and how controlling he is with the women he dates.
Dax wasn’t happy when I questioned him about it all the next time we met up.
Amicable my ass. There were definitely some unresolved feelings between the two of them, and I had no interest in getting involved.
So, I stopped asking questions. The only thing I wanted from Dax was fifteen minutes out of my thirty-minute break, bent over his desk or laid up on the couch in his office.
“So, how have you been?” she asks, her mood shifting to a lighter topic. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
“I’ve been fine.” I pause on a lace onesie and trail a finger down the fabric absently. “Ronnie showed up.”
“Well, fuck. How long’s it been?” Jill maneuvers closer.
I find her dark eyes watching me. She knows just as much as Dax, and we’ve shared more cartons of ice cream over this than I remember. “A little over a year.”
She raises a thin brow. "Did you two talk?"
"No, I mean… technically? I didn’t even see her. Someone just told me she was there.”
“There? You mean the club?” Jill’s surprise is obvious, and it’s no wonder. She knew Ronnie, too. They’d been friends while we were dating, and she even knew how much Ronnie and I fought about dancing. “You’re joking.”
“No joke.” I shake my head. “She’s engaged, too. To Lilah.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I take my phone out and pull up the image Verity sent. It’s damning. There’s nothing left for Jill to question.
“What the fuck!” She takes my phone and pinches the screen to zoom in. Her disgust and shock are plain as day. “Who celebrates their engagement at a strip club?”
“You’d be surprised.” I know a number of bridal parties that came through in the last week alone.
Jill holds my phone back out for me, and I take it. “So, where were you if you didn’t see them?”
“Home.” I swallow, suddenly nervous. I’m afraid if I say anything more, she’ll see through the lie I’ve concocted about Gray and call me out. “I was running late.”
“Probably for the best then, huh?” Jill pushes at her dark hair with long red nails and a scowl that could kill a man. “Ugh. Fuck Ronnie. She’s lucky I didn’t curse her after everything she put you through.”
I laugh for a long minute and then pull her into a hug. It catches her off-guard, but she returns it anyway. “I appreciate you looking out for me. Thank you.”
“Duh,” she says dramatically, patting my back. A second later, Emma is calling for her and she hurries off, leaving me to the racks of clothing and my own thoughts.
Ronnie showing up again is the least of my worries right now.
Outside of the obvious vampire in the room, I’m seeing things.
This morning at Dax’s place was alarming, but now, just minutes ago, I felt it all the same again.
I want to chalk it up to fear, like a late response to everything that has happened to me in the last twenty-four hours.
It’s the most reasonable explanation, but part of me wants to question it.
Maybe I am being followed, or maybe something is following Gray.
He did say there were other vampires. At least, it was implied.
A sudden headache, followed by a bout of dizziness, takes me by the throat.
I have to steady myself against a display to keep from falling over.
I close my eyes and guide myself through a breathing exercise.
It takes more than a few tries, but I finally feel grounded enough to stand up straight.
I dry the tears I didn’t stave off, wiping them away on my jacket.
Just as my hands hit the fabric, my phone vibrates in my pocket with a text.
Pulling it out, I see Dax’s name pop up.
DAX: Snuck out I see?
I did. He fell asleep during a rerun episode of Law & Order.
I only woke up because the theme song startled me awake.
Not him, though. Dax was snoring away, half-clothed and spotted with melted whipped cream.
It was so silly the way he was sprawled out that I snapped a picture before I left. Blackmail for later.
ME: Sorry! Had to get going.
DAX: Could have woke me up.
ME: Nah! You were beat.
After it sends, I tap out a quick ‘guess I wore you out’ with a winky face. A little smile pulls at my lips. It feels nice to have a normal conversation.
DAX: Ha ha. Where u at?
ME: Black Box. Shopping and catching up.
DAX: Cool. Tell Jill and Emma I say hey.
ME: Will do!
Even if they won’t admit it, I can still tell that they care about each other.
It’s evident in the way they continue to ask about the other, since I’m the one that links them together these days.
I don’t even know the last time that Jill and Dax were in the same room, but when the other talks about them, it’s so heavy that they might as well be there in the flesh, anyway.
So, maybe I do understand why Jill doesn’t like the idea of us together. I cringe at the thought. The idea of being a bad friend over a guy doesn’t sit well with me.
DAX: When you're done, you should come back. Make good on that deal.
ME: Which deal?
I have clearly been making far too many deals lately. Time to slow it down.
DAX: Staying the night.
I bite my bottom lip and roll it gently between my teeth. He’s tempting me, but I can't fall prey to a booty call every time. And besides, I’m babysitting a vampire.
ME: Not tonight.
He sends me a frowny face.
ME: Poor baby.
A second later, an image pops in and I blush. There he is, jeans unzipped, dick laid out flat against his stomach. The lighting is dim, yet I can just make out the edge of his desk and beat up chair. He’s in his office, working. Below it, a message comes through.
DAX: I want your mouth wrapped around my cock.