Page 33 of Bloody Temptations

His dick, not the bottle. No, the bottle was near his face, the actual point of the photo.

“Do you have something to share with the class?” Willan asks, but only after inspecting the photo on my phone thoroughly.

Realising they’ve pushed the boundaries a little far, Lusce slides the phone back to me sheepishly. He mouths an apology, but I shake him off. I mean if I’m shocked that Kai’s sending me these photos, I’m sure they are absolutely dumbfounded.

“You’ve been texting with the guys from the bar? And didn’t tell us? I thought we were friends!” Lusce is immediately over his guilty conscience and back on his bullshit.

He throws himself back into his seat, scowling at me. I’m not sure if he’s actually upset or not. I quickly flick my eyes to Jax, who is staring at his friend with loving affection, so I figure it’s just him being dramatic again.

Willan has the same look on his face he always gets whenever we mention Bloody Temptations, like he’s smelt something awful, though he’s trying hard to not. It’s why the group hasn’t been back to the club since the last time we all went. Though, now I know that he knows Nikolo, I figure there is probably a good reason for his reaction.

“Um, yes? Well, no actually. It’s just Kai. Like, you guys know I’ve been by the bar, and we were chatting there. You were there when he gave me his number, Willan. But we went for coffee, and now we’re texting and stuff.”

“So, you’re dating?” Willan’s voice is almost judgmentally neutral, completely skating around my point about him knowing Kai had my phone number.

I scoff, and take a sip of the blood in my tea cup, trying to hide the burning red of my face. The last thing I want is for anyone to think I have the wrong idea about this. I mean, what if Kai found out? Awkward.

“No. Like, I said. It was coffee. And we hang out when I go visit him at work. That’s it.”

Well, and we kiss. Like, a lot. I haven’t made out like this since high school. Well, actually, no. That's a lie. It’s probably more than high school if I’m being honest. But I know they will make a bigger deal out of it than it is, so I keep my mouth shut. Literally—rolling my lips over my teeth to seal them tight and stop me blurting anything out.

“Um, excuse me, mister. I saw those pictures. They were thirst traps. Thirsty, thirsty, thirst traps.” Jax points his tea cup in my direction then drinks it down, as if to demonstrate his point.

I quickly shove my phone back in my pocket, and pull at the collar of my tee shirt. It suddenly feels uncomfortably tight and too small.

“It’s really not like that. I swear.”

Willan drops his usual tense demeanour about all things Bloody Temptations. He opens his mouth, drawing in a breath to say something and then thinks better of it, shaking his head and smiling reassuringly at me. “Well, that’s his loss then, isn’t it?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Jax agrees, giving me another shake, this one rattling my teeth a little.

“And look, if you need someone to explain the error of his ways, give me his number and I’ll sort him out.” Lusce winks at me over his cup.

I have to force myself not to roll my eyes again. They are nice to play along like this to try and boost me up.

“Yeah, nice try, but that’s not going to happen.” When Lusce huffs and sighs melodramatically, I let myself laugh at his antics with everyone else.

The teacher finally arrives, drawing Willan away again. Lusce also has to leave, considering he’s meant to be taking this class tonight and my moment in the spotlight naturally passes.

I don’t open my message thread with Kai again until I’m safely at home on my couch, where I reply to his other messages and replaythe looping lick of his tongue until I can’t take it anymore and stroke myself off in the middle of my living room.

12

Kai

Hot Stuff

Have you heard of Hearts Gate?

The message surprises me.Because where in the name of the Gods did Finn hear about Hearts Gate?

It’s been days since I’ve seen him, and honestly, it’s making me more antsy than I like. Seizing on the excuse to give up on the stretches I’m doing with Nikki, I roll onto my back, holding my phone above me. Nikki, being the dick that he is, slaps my phone out of my hand, sending it smashing into my nose.

“Ow! What the fuck?!” My eyes water immediately, tinging my vision pink. I sit up to rub the throbbing pain out of my nose.

“Stop looking at your phone. We’re stretching.” Nikki grunts, bending his body in half and looking at me through his legs.

“Not anymore, we’re not.” I get up from the floor and move to the couch instead, a safe distance from my friend and his random violent tendencies.

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