“Hi guys! Nice tosee you again!” Damien says from behind the counter of The Devil’s Sweet Tooth. “Thanks again for that little shout out a while back. We got so busy after that with people coming and checking us out.”
“No worries,” Rin says right away. “You know we can’t seem to get enough of this place.”
“Do you want your usual?”
“Yes, please!”
Damien walks away from the counter towards the glass display case where they keep all their ‘adult candies’. Things with alcohol or candies that will get you high. He selects the kind that Rin prefers, tossing them onto the counter with the rest of his things.
We catch up a bit before we’re taking our candy and leaving the mall. Normally, we would drive but because the weather was so nice, we decided to walk. As professional streamers, it’s important we force ourselves to get outside once in a while. It’s important to touch grass and all that.
“Why are you pouting? Shouldn’t you behappy?” Kei asks, turning towards me.
“I’m not pouting.”
“You totally are,” Rin says right away, pointing at my face. “Right there. If you pout any harder, those wrinkles might stay and you’re far too young to be all wrinkly.”
“Fuck off,” I say but there’s no heat behind the words. “I don’t know. I was catching a vibe from Snow. Wait. I mean, Gayle,” I correct myself, ignoring the heat that runs down my spine at saying his real name. “But then he’s got a teenage kidanda partner! Sorry if that bums me out.”
Kei tilts his head to the side. “He doesn’t have a partner. I’ve got nothing to say about the kid though. If that’s too much for you, that’s fine. It would probably freak me out if the person I was interested in had a kid.”
“That’s not. I don’t.” I run my hand through my hair, trying to unscramble my thoughts. “I don’t care that he’s got a kid,” I tell my friends.
“Then what’s the deal?”
“He’s got a partner!”
Kei shakes his head. “I don’t think he does.”
“How do you know?” Rin asks.
Kei taps his nose. “He smells like a shifter. I’d be able to smell if he was mated. He just smelled like himself, no one else has been rubbing up against him and that other guy was an alpha too which means if they were together, they’d smell like they’d just rubbed up against each other. Trust me, man. My nose is pretty spot on about these things.”
I do my best not to hope but without my permission, there I go, hoping. Maybe that guy was just Calloway’s other dad? Maybe they’re not actually together?
I should really learn not to assume about these types of things. Gayle said he was interested in playing with me again and I should just stick to that and take him at his word. At the very least, I could ask him if he’s single. Then I’d know one way or another.
“Thanks, Kei,” I say, bumping my shoulder with his.
“It’s whatever. I just didn’t wanna smell you pining all weekend.”
“Youlove me.”
“Yeah? So? Is that so awful?”
Rin starts giggling. “No one said it was awful! Calm down!”
We banter and laugh at each other all the way back to our house, my chest feeling just a little bit lighter from what Kei told me.
I bring my laptop into bed with me, sinking down into my sheets which are freshly cleaned. I sigh happily, loving the feeling of freshly cleaned laundry around me. I tuck a few pillows on either side of me, encasing myself in a miniature nest of sorts.
I open a new tab, typing out Snow’s full username. It’s Monday night and Snow is live. Once the ads are done playing, I finally get to see his face again.
My stomach is a mess and I can feel my face heating. Gods, am I really this hopeless when it comes to this little crush? I am down horrendous.
“Okay, chat,” he’s saying as he plays another battle royale type game. This one is a bit different than the one we played the other night. Instead of it being hyperrealistic, this one is super cartoony. When you use a weapon, it makes a silly ‘pew pew’ sound and everything. “I’m feeling so confident that if I lose this one, I’ll gift the community five subs.”
CJforMayor(mods): I believeeeee
