Page 15 of Blood & Kisses

The shame is too much that I can’t bear to look at them. I took a cab back to Gabe’s house, intending to grab my bags and find a cheap hotel until I figured out what to do next. But once I arrived, Gabe was in the kitchen with Cormac. I slipped up to my bedroom and shut the door behind me, realizing I’d have to call another cab to leave again.

I refused to answer, knocked on my door, and stayed in my room, avoiding bumping into them; then, I left early in the morning before they woke. To keep doing what I’m doing is all I know, and why I’m overreacting like this is only because of the way Blake looked at me. I could handle clenched jaws and angry-fisted hands when they first discovered what the Four did, but to look at me in such a way triggered me to run. But I have nowhere to run to, so I stay here until my self-applied burn has worn off.

There’s a silver hatchback up the drive, a similar model to my old car, but I slip past it in the dark and wait for my cab to arrive to take me to campus. I assume this car is my replacement, but I don’t pay too much attention to it.

A light flickers on in the house, and I ignore it, staring into the darkness. I hear footsteps behind me and startle as Gabe's calm, solid frame appears before me. He is wearing nothing but boxers and a form-fitting T-shirt, and I try to look anywhere but at him.

“Key,” he states, stepping toward me. I’m graced by his cologne, which is fresh even after a night’s sleep. “For your new ride.”

“Thanks, but I already ordered a cab,” I sigh, realizing how stupid and juvenile I must seem given his maturity and leveled-out demeanor.

“Here, take it anyway,” he insists, handing me the key. “You never know when you’ll need it.”

I swallow over a lump in my throat. “Thanks,” I reply, taking the key from his hand while squirming at my behavior. It’s not their fault I’m like this, but when I’m triggered, I don’t know how to deal with the storm of emotions going through me, so my only path out of it is to physically hurt myself or dive into a state of isolation, rejecting company. I’ll rise again like I always do.

“Take care out there, won’t you?” he states, walking away from me. I glance at that backside moving in boxers, and I may have found the thing that’s pulling me out of my doldrums.

“God, I’m pathetic,” I groan under my breath as my cab turns down my road. I have a last-minute change of heart. It makes more sense to take the new car so I have a ride back home again. Stepping onto the road, I hand the cab driver some cash, apologize for wasting his time, and explain that I have a ride.

Once the cab drives away, I unlock my new car and am about to climb inside. I see Gabe at the kitchen window watching me, and I shoot him a half-hearted wave. Okay, he won. The scene of pine greets me when I climb inside, and I snirt in laughter for the first time in 12 hours at Blake’s attempt to make a worn-out car seem fresh and new. Cute, very cute.

Under Gabe's gaze, it takes me a couple of minutes to work out the steering of this silver beast before I start her up and back out of the drive. It runs better than my old yellow hatchback, and I noticed it’s also a Toyota Corolla, like my trusty yellow car. I wonder if Blake chose this make deliberately. There is no reason for these men to be so lovely to me, but here we are staying at Det. Gabe’s house, using a car they bought me, and covering my tracks after my first kill.

My interrogating mind wonders why they’ve gone to such an effort, and perhaps I shouldn’t trust them so easily, but they’ve yet to give me a reason not to trust them.

I work two hours in the university gardens and then have my Sports Science class with Cormac afterward. We haven’t seen each other since he drove me home while I was giving him head, and then, oh man, Gabe turned up.

Brushing that embarrassing thought aside, I had the urge to swim a few laps in the Olympic pool to help clear my head, but staying away from the crime scene was the intelligent thing to do. Besides, the police likely have a large portion of the parking lot cordoned off to extract evidence.

The library is quiet and mostly empty this morning, and there’s a table in a private corner by the window that I choose to work on an assignment before my shift in the garden starts. Considering everything that has happened lately, I still manage to hone my focus on the plant biology assignment serenaded by the birds chirping on the ledge outside and the polite whispers of students nearby.

Time flies by so quickly. Before long, it’s time to go to work, but just before I leave, I check my phone to find a message from Z.

Z: Where u at?

Me: Uni. Library. You’re up early.

Z: No, I mean…are u still at your apartment. I knocked last night, and you weren’t there. Had booze and green. U missed out. Your loss.

Me: I’m staying at a friend’s house at the mo. Got broken into.

Z: Fk, I’m sorry. What friend? I thought I was your only friend.

Me: Cormac and his father, Det. Gabe.

Z: Ho ho. Get it on.

Me: lol. Hardly. I’ve barely seen them.

Z: Did the thieves take anything?

Me: I haven’t gone through it yet. Someone pissed on my bed.

Z: WTF! At least we know it wasn’t Blake. He wouldn’t stoop so low.

Me: No, it wasn’t Blake.

Z: Have u heard about your old coach? Got slain.

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