Broken Beast

And this intense stare.

Like he's already picturing me naked.

Like he's going to watch me strip out of my clothes and fuck myself for his viewing pleasure.

"I'm closing a sale," I say.

"Is that what you call it now?" Remy chuckles. "I closed a great sale over the weekend. The guy was fiiiiine."

"I am!"

"Uh-huh. I can put your food in the fridge if you need more time for your sale."

My cheeks flush. I want Adam way too much. It scares me. "Give me a minute."

"Just one?"

"Just one."

"Sixty seconds and I'm starting the show."

"Go for it."

I turn my attention to my cell.

Adam: I'll send a car tomorrow. And the delivery fee. All yours.

A thousand dollars on top of the commission.

I can't turn that down.

Yes, I want Adam, but I'm an adult. I can control myself.

Danielle: Make it noon. I want to sleep in.

Adam: Done.

Remy sets up dinner on the coffee table and pulls up our current binge watch. Blood Borne: Legends of the Vampire Clan.

It's trashy in the best possible way—a lot of vampire on human combat and even more sex, with ridiculous twists, great acting, and gorgeous cinematography.

Something he likes—hot vampire dudes, including some who like other dudes.

Something I like—wonderfully composed images.

Well, I don't exactly mind the forbidden romance and the attractive men.

The star kind of looks like Adam, actually. Only not as tall or broad or imposing.

I'm here, having dinner with my brother.

I'm not picturing Adam naked.

Remy shakes his head. "Is he that hot?"

"Huh?"

"The guy on the phone?" Remy asks. "Is he that hot?"

"He's handsome, yes." I taste my red curry. Mmm. Coconut milk, curry paste, fresh vegetables, mounds of white rice. Yum.

Remy's gaze goes to the screen. He sighs if only as the vampire king rips off his shirt.

The woman across from him gasps. Then she moves closer.

Puts her hand on his chest.

"I thought she was a vampire," I say.

"Danny, keep up. She drank the potion that turned her back into a human."

"But if she has sex with him, won't she become a vampire?"

"Duh."

"I didn't realize it's so obvious."

"It's the only rule the show follows," he says.

"Silly me. Working instead of memorizing the details of Blood Borne, Legends of the Vampire Clan."

"Working? Or thinking about the handsome customer?"

Uh…

"Oh my god! I knew it. You like him."

"He's just a customer."

"No way. You'd totally go vampire for him."

My head fills with images of Adam. His arm around my waist. His hand on my wrist. His hard, strong body against mine. "No." I don't have the conviction I expect.

I want him. Badly.

I take another bite. Chew. Swallow. I'm starving and this is good, and eating means not having to ask myself why I want Adam so badly.

I try to find distraction in the show, but it's wall-to-wall sex. The vampire/human (soon to be vampire/vampire) couple is writhing in bed, naked, groaning like there's no tomorrow.

For a few seconds, I contemplate the framing.

Then the image shifts.

And it's me and Adam, in the clean white bedroom, on the soft sheets.

"Holy fuck, Danny. I know that expression. You fucked him." Remy shakes his head I can't believe it.

"What?"

"The guy on the phone. You fucked him."

My cheeks flame. "No."

"Not the student who asked you on a walk in the park."

"What's wrong with a walk in the park?" I ask.

"Oh my god. Did you go to his dorm room? Did it smell like beer?"

"You're twenty-one." And I'm not so old at twenty-three, but, hey, it's older than twenty-one. "And you're a student."

"Ew. No wonder you wouldn't turn vampire for sex. College boys don't know how to fuck."

"Please do not tell me how you got this information."

"Straight boys."

"How… how would you know what straight boys are… no. Don't tell me." I try to focus on my food, but my head goes back to Adam.

The quiet office.

Him, bending me over the oak desk, pushing my panties to my ankles, driving into me again and again.

"Ew… Danny, you're seriously replaying your sad dorm room fuck, right now?" Remy shakes his head.

"I didn't have sex in a dorm room."

His expression twists with distaste. "Not a college party."

"I didn't have sex with anyone."

He looks at me curiously. "Really?"

"Really."

"Then why are you flushed?"

I take another bite. Buy myself a moment to think. But I only think of Adam. His intense eyes, his deep voice, his strong hands. "The customer today. He was handsome. But that's it."

"Is he a straight man?"

"Yeah."

"You're a total babe. He wants to fuck you."

"How do you figure?"

"Men aren't complicated. They see someone hot. They want to fuck them."

Maybe. But that doesn't sound like Adam. And even if he does want to fuck me, I don't have time for trysts with strange men.

"Yeah, he would. I can tell from your look," he says.

"How can you tell if he'd fuck me from my look?"

"You know he would."

"I really don't," I say.

"Uh-huh…" His eyes flit to the screen. He shakes his head, deeming the show less entertaining than my life, and looks to me. "Let's say, for the sake of argument, that he would."