“You know what that was for,” I snarled at the man. “And you better sleep with one eye fucking open.”
He picked himself up and glared at my back as I stalked down his driveway. He didn’t speak up until I’d reached the street.
“She’s not worth it,” he yelled after me. “That fucking girl isn’t worth jack shit, man.”
I looked over my shoulder at his damn smug face, and I knew I was going to kill him.
And soon.Twenty-NinePetThings finally felt like they were falling into place.
I was happy for the first time in so long I could barely remember how much time it had been.
King was perfect, unless he wasn’t. And that was good too, because I loved him, his temper, his inexplicable jealousy, and his erratic mood swings. I finally admitted it to myself – the feelings, the quickened heartbeat, the weak knees, they meant I was totally, head over heels in love. And that was okay, even if he never said it back.
I was hoping he’d let me see Stranger soon. The memories of them both haunted me, and I wanted more. I’d never realized what a powerful feeling it was to be craved by two men at the same time, and I wanted so much more.
King had a busy week at work, and I was spending more time with Maria than usual. I’d gotten so close to her over time, and I was lucky to call her a friend. She was amazing, and it made me happy that King seemed to approve of our friendship as well. At first, I was nervous when they saw each other, but they acted like there was no history between them at all, and I kind of liked it. Still, I preferred to meet Maria outside, not in our apartment, and she never objected to that.
But that day, I invited her over to watch some silly TV show we both liked, and when King got home, we were sprawled on the couch, eating cookie dough ice cream and laughing at the silly antics of the couple on TV.
On instinct, we both took our legs off the coffee table when he walked in, and he smirked at me when I smoothed down my hair.
“Hello, Pet,” he said in his rough, dark voice. It gave me shivers.
He looked at Maria and smiled politely, saying a hello to her as well. He never called her Angel anymore, the last time was when she gave me my brand. I wasn’t even sure if they kept in touch anymore. He didn’t call her Maria either, just avoiding her name altogether. I wondered how that made her feel. It made me feel pretty smug.
“I’ll be going,” Maria said in a rush, and we both got up.
“You don’t have to,” I told her hurriedly, but she gave me a pointed look and we both giggled. “Okay then. Will I see you soon?”
“Maybe tomorrow, if you have time?” she asked, putting on her jacket. “I was going to go shopping, I need a new dress for this dinner I’m going to.”
“I’d love that,” I answered honestly, shooting King a quick look. He nodded and I smiled broadly at Maria. “I’ll call you later.”
“See you, babe.” She kissed my cheek and then she was gone in a cloud of Dior’s Poison and fleeting touches.
I went back to the living room and sat down with King after he’d poured himself a drink. He put a hand on my knee and I resisted the urge to climb on his lap.
“I missed you,” I told him, and he gave me a smile, but it was a little tense. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, Pet,” he told me. “Perfectly okay. What have you and Maria been up to?”
“Just watching that show you hate,” I giggled.
“Oh God,” he groaned. “Spare me the details.”
But I didn’t, and I told him all about the drama on the new season. By the time I was onto the third story’s couple, we were both laughing, and King was begging me to stop.
“Fine,” I pouted. “But now you have to tell me about your day!”
Immediately, I saw his shoulders tense. I didn’t mention it when he shrugged it off and told me it was just another boring day in the office. Sometimes it bothered me that he barely spoke about his work, but I never brought it up. Maybe I was still too nervous to really question anything, but I promised myself that would change in the near future.
We spent the rest of the evening curled up on the sofa. By the time it got late, I was getting sleepy, and I curled up closer to him, my legs on his lap and my head in the crook of his shoulder. King held me close as I drifted off to sleep very slowly, even though it was still early. It just felt so good to be near him like that.