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He didn’t so much as look up.
Evidently, his interests ran to small dolls and animals and handcuffs. What you learned about a person after spending the night and the next day with them, even if all you did was sleep.
Well, we hadn’t just slept. But we hadn’t needed a bed for that. Or to wait for the darkest part of the night. Just past sunset had been fine.
He pulled out a small frog in shades of green with a tiny crown on its head. “I’m taking this one.”
“It’s not a dog toy.” I tapped my chin. “Though I could make some of those. Too bad they don’t like catnip. I can fill it with batting and some of that scrunchy stuff that makes noise and add some scent. Maybe bacon. Though catnip would be easier. Is there a bacon essential oil?”
He plopped down on a cushion across from me and shook his head. “Your mind is a circular and impressive place.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m not sure it was a compliment, but this frog is cute. The vampire too.”
“Glad you think so, since he was modeled partially after you.”
“What?”
I nodded. “You were in my thoughts and I had a…vampire-adjacent project so next thing I knew, you and the vampire were one and the same.” Against my better judgment, I grabbed my tablet and opened my photos folder where I’d saved a jpeg of Mav the vampire. It wasn’t as if I was coming clean about my other drawings.
Yet.
He took the tablet, his forehead dented with more creases by the minute. “You sketched this?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re really good. Where did you learn to draw like this?”
Briefly, I told him about getting started with fan fiction and all the rest, but I stopped before my hobby turned into a paying gig. Though I couldn’t help taking back the tablet and scrolling to one of my favorite monster sketches for some fan art I’d done for an author who’d commissioned it for a book box.
The dude was huge, blue, and had two penises of remarkable girth.
Mav’s eyes widened to the point I nearly giggled. “This is what you’re comparing me to?”
“I did that years ago. That one’s not based at all on you. Sorry. But if the price is right, I can draw yours.”
“That price will never be right. So you get paid to do these?”
See, this was what I got for showing off. “Um, sorta. So what do you think of the place?”
“Where’s the lava lamp?”
“In transit.”
“Sure. Does your sister know you hang out in here a lot?”
In that moment, he sounded exceptionally like a cop. A stern, unbending one. Rather like Mr. Tightass with extra smolder. “My sister knows what I tell her. And I don’t tell her much.”
“Finally, the truth emerges.”
“I’m a grown woman. Isn’t that what you said to your brother today?” I winced. “Minus the woman part.”
“I get it. I’m all about woman’s rights. This town is exceptionally safe—something I take pride in—but I don’t feel good about you sleeping in a bus parked all over town.”
“Hardly all over town. I use parking lots or RV pull-offs or sometimes I go for ambiance and park at the beach. You should be thrilled I now have my own driveway to park in.”
“Thrilled isn’t the word I’d use.”
