Page 33 of Together We Burn
“Just don’t be so hard on yourself, Stevie. But, I think you should at least stab the fucker.”
“Sort of did that tonight,” I said, dusting crumbs off my fingers. “Said a few words, ended up in a hot as fuck fight. And the rest, as they say, is history.”
“That’s your problem,” Alex said knowingly. “Fighting turns you on. Especially when your opponent gives as good as he gets.”
“I’m so fucked,” I groaned, dropping my head back onto the counter.
“You’re not,” Alex said, squeezing my shoulder. “You're human. Just like the rest of us.”
Following his parting message, Alex returned to bed, leaving me alone with my spring rolls and the clusterfuck of thoughts swirling around in my head.
Chapter thirteen
Jake
Weekshaddraggedbyslowly since I’d seen Stefany. Every night her routine from the club played over and over like a permanent screensaver as I slept, and every morning I woke with a throbbing erection and the biggest case of blue balls, bringing sexually frustrated to a whole new level. And now, my cock had become obsessed after having her completely bare.
It wasn’t like I couldn’t take care of my needs with another woman who actually liked me. It was that I didn’t want to. It was just becoming obvious that the more I craved Stefany, the more my cock became less interested in other women.
But after that night, I’d promised myself I would go slower with her. She was like an abused animal: aggressive and at times fearful, and always completely unpredictable. I’d pushed her that night, made her give in to her desire to have me, and it bit me in the ass in the form of a tow truck and a new tyre.
Clicking off my emails, I pulled up a chromatogram for the recent analysis of my new drug versus Oxymorphone, an active ingredient in pain relief twice as potent as Oxycodone.
I didn’t have a background in science, but I’d gone over graphs like these with Alton or Victor a million times to know what I was looking at. Overlaying the two graphs, I froze as I looked at the curves. Blinking, I zoomed in on the image, confirming that the peaks of the graphs aligned perfectly. I must have stopped breathing because I gulped down air.
I did it. I’d fucking done it.
Picking up the phone, I dialled Victor's number.
“Have you looked at it yet?” I asked before he barely had time to say hello.
“Looking at it now.” The clicking of his keyboard was followed by a pregnant silence, then he gave a soft hum.
“Tell me that’s what I think it is?” I pressed excitedly. If I was correct, which I was confident I was, this changedeverything.
“It’s a match in every way we needed it to be. Jake, you did it.” Victor's voice sounded astonished and a little sceptical as he said the words I’d been waiting on for what felt like a lifetime.
“No, Vic,wedid it. You, Alton… you’re the superstars.”
“So drinks on you, then?” He laughed down the receiver. God, I’d buy them the whole damn bar for what they’ve just achieved.
Hanging up, I grabbed my cell phone from the desk and opened the messaging thread I’d had with Stefany.
My last message telling her how much I couldn't stop thinking about her was the last thing I’d said before the shit show with her mom came crashing down around me.
I was staring at the message thread, hovering my thumbs over the keypad, thinking about what I wanted to say.
I wanted her to know we’d finally succeeded in making a synthetic drug. I wanted her to know how incredibly happy I was that I had managed to make something that had the potential to help others the way that I couldn’t help my brother.Fuck,I just wanted her to be the first person I told.
Closing down the messaging app, I pulled up her number. I doubt she’d even read my text if I had sent one. Pressing call, I held the phone up to my ear and waited.
“Do I need to throw a shuriken at your head next time?” she asked as a greeting.
“Hello to you too, Stefany,” I replied, unable to help the smile that crossed my lips. Every conversation with Stefany was just as surprising as the last.
“What do you want?”
“I just got some good news. I wanted to share it with you.”
