Page 144 of King of Pain
When I get back, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge. Uncapping it, I take long swigs as I lean against the counter and watch Ant’s chest rise and fall in sleep.
Then his phone vibrates on the counter, lighting up the screen.
A text message.
Jason Ciccone:Hey cutie! Just confirming we're still on for dinner Thursday. 7pm at Thai Basil, right? Can't wait to lay eyes on you.
My grip tightens on the water bottle, squeezing it so hard it overflows.
My blood boils.
Oh, fuck no.
TRACK FIFTY•ONE
Obsession
Chance
I'm barely paying attention.
Liz's voice echoes around the gallery as she walks beside me, gesturing to the empty walls and polished concrete floors of the space like she’s presenting a stage. It’s my first day interning at Muse, and she’s giving me the grand tour, explaining the details of the upcoming exhibit. Her energy is infectious, and I know I should be soaking up every word.
But I’m not.
My brain is fixated on one thing and one thing only.
Jason.
The guy Ant is having dinner with this week.
“We’re covering all the gallery walls in canvas,” Liz says, walking ahead of me. “Jazzy’s coming in next week to coat the entire space in graffiti—his signature chaotic color and texture everywhere, except for one large section we’re keeping blank. For opening night, we’re reconstructing pieces of an old city wall he tagged years ago, and displaying them somewhere in the gallery. And then he’ll live-paint that one untouched section right in front of the guests.”
It’s cool. Brilliant, even.
I barely hear it.
Because all I can focus on is that damn text.
Hey cutie! Just confirming we’re still on for dinner Thursday. 7pm at Thai Basil, right? Can’t wait to lay eyes on you.
I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Haven’t slept much either.
When I finally got up the next morning, Ant and Little G were gone. My phone had a text from him:Had to get Guinness home and have a bunch of stuff to get done before the work week starts tomorrow.
Then a second one:Thank you for sharing your pain with me. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. I need some time to process everything, but I'm not going to turn my back on you, Chance. I will be there for you, as your friend.
Friend?
No.
Friendjust won’t do.
Anthony Pacini is mine. And I’m going to do whatever it takes to get in his heart again.
I texted him back:Thank you for hearing me out, Beautiful. I'll take what I can get. Just know that I'm going to fight to add 'boy' to the front of 'friend' again.
He didn’t reply.
