Page 27 of ILY
That makes my chest swell slightly. I haven’t been flirted with in a while, so the guy at the checkout counter, coupled with Echo, is making my ego inflate. Pretty soon, if I’m not careful, I may float away completely.
I trip slightly and fall into the cart, which knocks me back to reality.
“Shit, you’re clumsy, aren’t you?”
“I’m mostly ungainly and awkward,” I reply, rubbing my side. “But it is what it is. Nothing I can do to change me now.”
I pop the trunk of my car, and we work on putting everything inside. It’s a tight fit, but we manage. The drive home is uneventful. I’m profoundly aware of Echo next to me—of his silence. Part of me wants to break it, but I don’t know what the hell I’d say.
Thanks for the hot-as-fuck hand job? Glad I could give you spank bank material for the next few days? I’m entirely unusedto this. Since my last relationship fell apart, I’ve had zero luck. I did not anticipate finding a random hookup from a request to buy TNT from the most illegal parts of the internet.
Also, something is niggling at me. The way he followed me home. The way he snuck into my house and almost got himself bludgeoned to death. Instead of running off screaming, he gave me an orgasm.
That’s not normal…is it?
I’m so far removed from reality that I can’t even tell anymore.Shit.
Pulling into the driveway, I’m half-panicked because what if he’s some serial killer stalker that has easy access to me because I have no sense of self-preservation? What if something about the fact that I’m literally losing my mind is his fetish, and he’s ready to get all kinky with me?
“You okay?” he asks, gently tapping my arm.
I turn the engine off and open my door, twisting to face him. ‘Fine,’ I answer in sign, then step out, and he follows. I pause after I pop the back and then turn to face him again so he can see my lips. “You want to come in for a drink? It’s the least I can do for helping me.”
“What do you have?” he asks as he places two plants under his arms. They’re very nice arms, big and muscular. I want him to wrap them around me again and jerk me off. And then not kill me after.
My cock twitches between my legs, and I regret wearing the bodysuit even more.
“I have a lot to choose from. My aunt left a lot of booze here, and I’ve added to it. I’m quite the entrepreneur when it comes to this kind of thing. Did you know I interpreted a mixology class once? Fascinating stuff.”
Echo glances at me, walking to the back patio. “It’s ten in the morning.”
“Who gives a shit? It’s the weekend. If we can’t enjoy ourselves, then what’s the fucking point.”
He hesitates for a moment, like he’s working something out in his head, and then he turns around and smiles at me. “Alright then. Surprise me.”
I clap my hands and then get to work while he brings the rest of the items to the backyard.
I grab my shaker and rummage around in the cabinet for some alcohol. Hm, whiskey. I think I remember one in that class I interpreted where they mixed it with pickle juice.
I pull open the fridge and see that I do indeed have some pickles in there. I can’t remember if they were something I bought or something Aunt Lynda left behind.
Eh, who cares. They don’t go bad…right?
I open it up and take a whiff. Smells alright to me, so I get to work. By the time I bring the drinks out to the porch, Echo is sweating slightly.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, just got a little dizzy for a minute.”
I set the glasses down and move toward him. “Do you need some water?”
He shakes his head and then nods. “Yeah, actually, that would be good.”
I rush back inside and bring him out a bottle of water. He’s holding one of the drink glasses in his hand and staring at it.
“This doesn’t smell good.”
“It’s not meant to. It’s meant to make you feel alive.”
