How does he know I’m not on my way already? The fear of being watched kicks in again, as I fling middle fingers left and right, in case he can see me. I’ll call an Uber, but I’ll still stay outside his house for a while to strain his nerves. Like pulling on a strand of hair until it snaps.
And I do exactly that after I arrive at his place—staying out for five minutes before I get another text.
Atlas
Get inside! NOW!
Fuck! He saw me.
I grip my phone and type in a response to his unacceptable tone.
Do I look like a woman who likes being told what to do?
Atlas
Do I look like a man who gives a damn?
Asshole!
Atlas
Demon!
Atlas
This is your last warning. If you don’t get inside in the next minute, I’m carrying you in over my shoulder. See what a kind man I am? I’m giving you a choice. So what’s it gonna be, honey?
The loud music from outside the bustling house abruptly switches to Måneskin—“Honey (Are U Coming?)”. Oh, I’m sure that was completely accidental.
Stepping inside, it’s like I’m on the shore of a sea of people, their raucous voices silencing the music. It reminds me of the parties Milo used to drag me to. He fed on the attention. I preferred a dark corner, observing from there how little it takes for people to drop their masks, blaming it on alcohol, Mercury in retrograde, or whatever shit served their narrative. It was like the fire fascination my brother held, but while his eyes would follow the untamable nature of the flame, mine would pin on the foolish moth, headed for its own demise.
Dragging my mind back to the present, I stroll inside, and a man with the same last name as Atlas appears in front of me. The way he licks his lower lip gives me the creeps.
To be honest, there couldn’t have been a better choice to make my Chocolate Bar Thief jealous than his cousin.
I swallow my repugnance and the little bit of bile rising in my throat, forcing a smile when Jacob greets me with a generic, “Hey!”
“Summer, right?”
How the fuck does he know my name? I’m sure Jacob catches my surprise, but he loses my attention when I spot the psycho I came here for, striding toward us with an infuriated look—one spelling MURDER in caps. I force my features to rearrange into the definition of playfulness with the sole intention of provoking him further. His stride for me is one that would most certainly make most men shit their pants. Thank fuck I’m not a man!
“May I ask how you know my name?”
My question is left unanswered when Atlas passes Jacob by, bumping his cousin’s shoulder with enough force to make him stumble forward, prompting me to take a step back. I’m not catching him if he falls.
“Jacob!” Atlas barks out more like a warning than any kind of greeting, and he gets by my side.
I expect to see anger on Jacob’s face, but he seems amused when he answers, with a smirk popping as the cherry on top of Atlas’s frustration.
“If there’s something you’d like to discuss, my dear cousin, it will have to wait, because I’m in the company of an absolutely stunning young lady.”
I don’t glance at Jacob when he utters those words, for the explosive show unfolding on Atlas’s face is epic, and I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
He snakes an arm around my waist, marking his territory with a bruising grip I couldn’t get away from even if I wanted.
“You’re in the company ofmygirlfriend.”
I’ll need a minute to collect my jaw from the ground and search for my eyebrows that I’m sure got lost somewhere in my hairline.
