My eyes shot to his shoulder. It had been a full week now since I tried to tear it off with my fangs. It had fully healed, but I was sure Arsenio wouldn’t be trusting me to get into the ring with him again anytime soon.
“Alright, I’ll go get ready. I’ll be down in fifteen.”
I had taken to wearing casual clothes, jeans, band shirts, and my converse. However, I knew wherever we were going, I’d need to look slightly less like a kid they could fuck with. As Scout had so politely put it that night after the fights, I looked harmless.
I was far fucking from it.
Black dress shirts, boots, and my leather jacket packed, I made sure to snatch my sunglasses. Then filled the rest of my suitcase and went to meet my partner.
“What’s the lead?” I asked once we were on the road.
“Did you know she has her own little ring going on?”
I furrowed my brows. “Elvie? Of what?”
He nodded as he drove on into the night.
“Cocaine. She’s got quite an operation.”
I squinted my eyes, trying to imagine the skittish woman who was practically a child running a drug ring. She wasn’t really the type.
“Are you sure? This doesn’t sound like her.”
“That’s why we’re going to check. It’s been years since we parted ways, Desi. We’re all living different lives from way back when.”
That was an understatement.
“How’s your shoulder?” I asked for the hundredth time. I still felt a little bad about it.
He growled and tightened his grip on the wheel.
“It’s fine. My body heals fast, but my bank account doesn’t recover as quickly.”
I cringed. When he approached me about it that night, he asked me to throw it and split the winnings. I was all for it, as I knew our bodies wouldn’t be any worse for wear in the morning.Whoops.
“Adrenaline. It’s been too long since I’ve had someone who was a real threat.” I offered him as an apology. That seemed to relax him as he chuckled.
“Ain’t that the truth. I shouldn’t have gone for the kill. I don’t know what I was thinking. I deserved getting my arm nearly taken off.”
We drove through the night, stopping off at a blood-friendly hotel, and took separate rooms—per my insistence. Arsenio was too friendly at times.
“I think maybe when we get back home, I might start looking for my own place,” I told him as we parted for sleep.
“Really? You like working at the theater more than traveling? I can’t stand the popcorn smell myself.” He scrunched up his nose.
I shrugged. “Nah, the gig’s alright. I kind of like having a place to put my stuff. I’ve had storage units forever. Why not put the shit somewhere permanent?”
He patted me on the back hard, causing me to stumble a bit. “I knew once you came to visit me, you’d want to stay! I’m so glad you did. It’s been way too long since I’ve had my friend in my life.”
Flashes of the kiss I shared with his girlfriend after I tried to dismember him went through my brain. Thankfully, it had only been a one-off situation, but that wasn’t exactly friend material. I attempted a smile at him as we went to our separate rooms, but it came out twitchy and uncomfortable. Thankfully, he didn’t notice.
I went straight to bed. Arsenio and I had driven all night, and he had talked my ear off the entire time. My brain needed to shut off.
The next night Arsenio gave me just enough time to shower and dress before pounding on my door with a hot travel mug in his hand and a smile on his face.
“I forgot how happy you were first thing at night,” I grumbled as I took the warm cup of blood and quickly drained half of it.
He laughed. “Come on, we’ve only got a few hours to drive, and we’ll be there. Then you can do what you do best.”
