Page 32 of Wretched Soul
“You’re going to be so bored this weekend without any of us to annoy,” I tell her.
Her lips purse. “You might be right,” she admits as she turns her attention to Reid. She puts a hand on his shoulder. “I actually came over to apologize to you. I shouldn’t have brought you into my argument with Hunter.”
“My name was going to get thrown into the ring anyway,” Reid says, patting her hand. “And thanks to you, now I know I just need to feed Mace chocolate to shut him up.”
“Fuck off, both of you,” I growl.
Maddie gives Reid a side glance. She’s smirking when she says, “I think we’re going to need a bigger bar.”
Chapter 11
Lily
Iknow Shade’s clever enough to find me again, and returning to Heatrush is playing into his hands, but as chases go, this is one where I won’t mind being caught. If anything, I’ve been frustrated that he hasn’t tracked me down again this week. A little voice in the back of my head whispers that he might have found more exciting prey, and if anyone can ghost a girl, it’s going to be him. My brief dalliance with danger on Monday could be all I’m going to get from him. I sigh. Still worth it.
“You’re doing that thing again,” Kaitlyn says as we hunch together in the back of an Uber. Our dresses are as scant as always while the temperature outside continues to drop as winter creeps closer.
“Doing what?” I ask innocently.
“Sighing like a lovestruck teen. Obviously, it’s your mystery man, but I want details. He’s either done something, or promised something.”
My grin gives me away. “Try a bit of both.”
I haven’t told Kaitlyn about the pact I’ve made with Shade for one very important reason. I’ve more or less agreed that he can stalk me, and although Kaitlyn has been known to push boundaries herself, even she’s going to think I’ve lost my mind.How can I word this in a way that won’t have her dragging me to the nearest police station?
“Our paths have crossed again, and we’re… I suppose we’re letting fate decide. Either we bump into each other again, or we don’t.”
Kaitlyn’s eyes widen. “And speaking of bumping into each other, have you done the deed yet?”
I play with the hem of my red dress, pulling it down to cover as much thigh as I can, which isn’t much. “We might have exchanged some bodily fluids,” I reply. Before my friend can get the next question out, I add, “But let’s just say we didn’t reach a completely satisfactory conclusion.”
She huffs at that. “You mean he didn’t satisfy you.”
Suddenly, I don’t like that she’s thinking badly of him. “Try that the other way around.”
Her face lights up with approval. “Now, you have my interest. But I still don’t understand why you’ve dragged me out tonight. Don’t you want to see him again?”
“Yes.”
“So why risk coming out on a Friday night?”
I chew my lip. “Because I don’t want to make it too easy for him. I suspect he has ways and means of knowing when I show up at the club, so he’d better be paying attention,” I say, refusing to let my doubts show. “And if not, I’ll have to find my entertainment elsewhere.”
I don’t tell Kaitlyn that a no-show simply means I’ll be forced to spend another evening alone on the dance floor, drinking water and hoping no one makes a move on me for their own sakes.
“You do like making your life complicated,” Kaitlyn says as the Uber pulls up outside the club. “And our first challenge is getting inside again.”
I’m feeling more confident than my friend as we make our way to the entrance. From the length of the queue, Heatrush’s popularity isn’t waning. There are two doormen ready to block our progress as usual, but the gods must be on my side tonight. As one of them turns, I swear he’s suppressing a smile on his usually dour features.
“Good evening, Miss Kendrick, Miss Dartmoor,” Simon says. “It’s a pleasure to see you both again.”
“I’m afraid I don’t come bearing gifts this time,” I admit. “But I have seen a scarf I think would suit you.”
He unhooks the red rope and gestures us forward. “It would be entirely inappropriate to accept anything else from you, Miss Kendrick. And your last gift is rechargeable.”
His colleague gives him a quizzical look, and I laugh. “I’ll see you later, Simon.”
As we slip past, I hear Simon mumble something under his breath. It sounded like, “Sooner than you think,” but I don’t dare ask him to repeat it. The people still queuing up in the cold are glaring at us.
