Tall & Buff regards me for a moment, as if processing the quick shift in events. Then he downs the remainder of his beer, pushes away from the table, and holds out his hand for me. I take it, even though I’m more than capable of standing on my own. I let him escort me to his truck—and oh my god the thing is huge. Why the fuck would someone need a truck this size in a city? Parking this beast would give me a hernia. I didn’t need his help getting up from the table, but I definitely need a boost climbing into the passenger seat.
Once inside with the door closed I use the opportunity to open my phone and share my location with Lex, who’s already texted me several times.
What the fuck are you doing?
Don’t get in his truck!
Why are you going to a second location??
I ignore them all, silencing my phone and buckling my seat belt. It does not surprise me at all that Tall & Buff likes country music. He navigates his tank through the city streets to an apartment complex and parallel parks it as if it’s the easiest thing in the world, which so far is his only redeeming quality. I leap from the cab of the truck down to the sidewalk, nearly spraining an ankle as I do.
Tall & Buff joins a moment later. “I was going to open the door for you.”
Personally, I don’t appreciate doors being opened for me; I find it a bit belittling. “I can do it myself. I’m a big strong girl.”
He gives his head a shake. “I could bench double your weight. Probably triple. How much do you weigh?”
I’m not falling for it. “I’m sure you could. So! This is where you live?”
Tall & Buff lets the conversation shift away from the very personal and inappropriate question and begins guiding me toward the front door of his complex. I look around, but can’t see Lex anywhere. She probably had to park down the block.
Wait a second... how is she going to know what awkward stuff happens in his place? I really didn’t think this through.
“Can you give me a minute?” I ask Tall & Buff. “I just have to check in with my friend.”
“Of course,” he says, taking a step back and waiting.
I turn away from him and open my phone, then dial Lex’s number. She answers halfway through the first ring with a string of questions and several expletives.
“Don’t talk. Just listen,” I whisper. “I’ll give you all the proof you need, you little skeptic.”
I mute her and tuck the phone into my back pocket with the microphone sticking out so she can hear before following Tall & Buff into his place.
It’s a modern apartment, clean and well-kept. We haven’t discussed what he does for work, but whatever it is, it pays well. The vibe in the elevator on the ride up is a bit uncomfortable, but Lex wouldn’t accept that as evidence of the curse. I have to keep him talking. Unfortunately, we make normal non-awkward conversation all the way up to his unit. Despite his reference to Andrew Tate, he seems pleasant and normal. Asshole.
Once we get inside his place, things take a drastic turn.
“Wow,” I say, speaking loud enough for Lex to hear. “That’s a lot of taxidermy.”
Tall & Buff reaches up to stroke the cheek of an elk whose antlers have been repurposed as a hat hanger. “Yep. This one’s Tyler Durden.” He points to another victim on the opposite wall of his entryway. “That one’s Marla. They like to stare at each other.” He laughs at his morbid joke.
I step further into his apartment, but he stops me with a raised hand. “Shoes.”
It’s an order, not a request. Usually, I wouldn’t hesitate to remove my footwear upon entering someone’s home, but something about this guy’s fascination with dead animals has me contemplating a quick escape. “I can’t keep my shoes on?”
“I’m kind of a neat freak,” Tall & Buff explains, standing in the middle of his hall and blocking me like an overly strict nightclub bouncer.
I wish I’d worn slip-ons. I bend down and unlace my pink Converse, then pull them off, setting them by the door next to his giant boots. As I do, I take note of exactly zero specks of dust on his immaculate white tile, no scuffs on his baseboard trim, and his boots look like they’ve never stepped foot off asphalt despite the evidence of his hunting abilities.
Maybe he has all his hunting gear in storage, along with freezers full of the carcasses of his kills. Hopefully those freezers only have animal carcasses. Maybe there areotherthings in those freezers, like the bodies of women he lures home. What if—
“Thanks for doing that,” Tall & Buff says as he steps closer, blotting out the light from the ceiling fan. A chill runs through me. I look up to meet his gaze, and the way he looks back down, it definitely feels like I could be one of those poor animals hanging on his wall next.
“Of course,” I say, smiling through my discomfort.
“Wine or beer?” he asks as he leads me down the corridor to his living area.
“Do you have any club soda?”
