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Darryl eyed his cousin then me. “I can guarantee he won’t rape or murder you, if that’s what you’re asking.”
I nodded.
“But you might not be safe from his stupidity.”
“Is there anything specific I should be concerned about?” I asked, serious. I couldn’t imagine what Darryl meant by “stupidity.”
Cain choked on the drink he had been swallowing. He coughed, laughing. “Holy shit, that was funny.”
“Well, I think the drink in his hand is probably his biggest example of stupid these days.”
“Fuck off,” Cain said mildly.
I imagined there was some truth to that. The drink in his hand was almost empty already. “I don’t think that’s of any particular relevance for our short acquaintance. Though I wish him the best post-hookup.”
For some reason that made Cain laugh harder. Darryl eyed me. “I think you may be the first girl I’ve ever seen him with who knows exactly what she’s dealing with.” He stuck his hand out. “I want to shake your hand.”
I took Darryl’s hand and shook it automatically. I almost asked if Cain took girls home a lot but I stopped myself. My curiosity would come off as jealousy or neediness. I didn’t really care. What I cared about was what he could do for me. To me. “Thanks for your help,” I said. “Can we close out our tab?”
Darryl grinned. “You know what? This is on me.” He turned to Cain. “Be good to this one, man. She’s something special.”
That made me so uncomfortable I slid off the stool, ready to leave. “Special” was not a label I wanted. It was right there with “different” to me. Freak, weirdo, OCD. All those labels that shouldn’t matter but did on some level. I didn’t want to be special to Cain. A charity fuck. I just wanted him to want me. “Thanks,” I said, and reached in my purse for a tip. I put a five down on the bar.
Cain finished his drink. “You done with this?” he asked, gesturing to mine. I nodded. So he finished that too. “It’s a sin to waste alcohol.”
“You can still run,” Darryl told me.
That was the last thing I wanted to do. “If Little Red Riding Hood didn’t go into the house, there would be no story,” I said.
Cain made a sound in the back of his throat. It was almost a growl. Like I had both startled him and turned him on. He rose to his full height, a tall, masculine presence radiating sexual tension. He bent down and kissed me, hard. “Let’s go write that ending.”
—
“You don’t mind walking, do you?” I asked Sophie as we hit the sidewalk outside the Thirsty Moose. The cool air felt amazing. The bar had been hot, Sophie hotter. She could do things to me with one guileless gaze. With a simple sentence. A solemn little kiss.
“No.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I glanced at it. Darryl.
Don’t fuck with that girl. Seriously.
I ignored him. Why the hell did he care? He never had before when I talked to chicks. I had a crumpled pack of cigarettes in my back pocket and I pulled it out and retrieved one. I had a buzz. The good kind. Where I was flying high, feeling entertained and amused by everything. The kind where your body says take more, more, more, of everything you can get. Nicotine, alcohol, sex. Grab it all.
“This way,” I told her, gesturing north up the street. “It’s about a ten-minute walk.” I paused to light my cigarette. I don’t smoke that often, but when I do it’s always after ten at night or when I’m out of booze.
She didn’t say anything, glancing at her own phone. I wondered if she was having second thoughts. That would be really damn disappointing. I was looking forward to peeling that dress off of Sophie more than I had anything in a long fucking time. I could hear the waves lapping against the rock and the docks. I love the sound of the water. It’s the most soothing thing in my life. I can close my eyes and let it rock me out of my worst anger.
There was a light breeze bringing the smell of the sea salt to my nostrils. I breathed in deeply, the scent mingling with the sweet tobacco of the burning cigarette. This was as close to not miserable as I got and I wanted to enjoy it. I couldn’t call it happy. That was an exaggeration. So, not happy. But not miserable.
I wondered if Sophie was drunk. She didn’t seem like she was. And she’d only had two drinks. But not everyone was immune to alcohol the way I was. Either way, I appreciated that she didn’t bend my ear with fucking nothing words. I half expected her to ask me things like how long had I lived in Camden and why was I fighting with my family, but she didn’t. She didn’t even make passing comments about the weather. It only improved my mood.
“This is it,” I said when we finished climbing the hill and my rental house clung to the side of a curve in the road. It was surrounded by trees, needed a coat of paint, and looked like potentially it might topple over at any given moment, but I liked this shabby-looking house. It felt like me. Dark, defiant. The rent was cheap but that wasn’t really why I lived here. I actually make good money and am sitting on a pile of it in the bank because my spending habits are not over-the-top. I live here because there is no view of any other house. Just trees and cars speeding by on the road.
Plus, I can walk to the bar.
“Do you have any roommates?” she asked.
I liked the way her mind was moving. “Nope. Just you and me.”
