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Fuck, he thought. What was happening? He was unraveling.
She tipped her head back and smiled, a little giggle escaping her lips.
He was an expert at watching people, he could see things others couldn’t. He could see the pulse in her throat, her heartbeat. It had sped up. He could see her pupils dilating, the black getting bigger, swallowing the amber. He noticed little goosebumps on her forearm. He breathed in and he swore she smelled differently. What was it? It was desire. She wanted him. She actually wanted him in return.
She cleared her throat, tried to clear it from her face, shake it off, like she was a little fairy who’d gotten dusted with raindrops or flower pollen.
It shook sense into him, too. What the hell was he doing, mingling with the living in this way? He needed to get back to the pits of hell where he belonged. Chalk this up to experience, a beautiful moment when a sweet little thing wanted him, and get back in his lane. He felt it building within him; he wasn’t sure if he was going to come in his jeans or lash out and choke her. Or fucking both. He had to move.
Without hesitation, he stood up. She was still standing close to him. Now he was standing, he was taller by a good six inches. They were very close to each other. Their breath mingled in front of them both, sweet. He gazed into her eyes. Brown and hazel, more amber, more sunshine and meadows. He felt the overwhelming desire to take her. To own her. He wanted her, like he wanted that fucking ice cream. He wanted her to melt on his tongue. He wanted to fill his mouth to the point of choking, he wanted to eat her up until he was sick.
She was fucking cute. He didn’t do fucking cute. He’d never done fucking cute. He’d never been allowed near anything fucking cute. But he now wanted every last fucking cute eyelash on her fucking cute little face.
When she’d seen him there the next day, she’d been pleasantly surprised. A little embarrassed. She’d wanted to get to know him more. But his attraction to her had been clear as day. And she had wanted him to know she was attracted to him, too. She’d wanted to encourage him. She’d blushed and smiled at the memory of herself, boldly licking her hand. The hand that had touched him. At lunchtime, he’d gotten off his bike and paced about the park. She enjoyed watching his long legs strolling along. Mainly she fantasized about him coming to her, taking her, confidently and calmly.
But he’d stomped off again. Without a backward glance. Sending doubt and confusion soaring in. She had been sure he wanted her, but then, why did he hurry away? What was going on with him?
That night, her evening fantasies had taken on a whole new dimension. She imagined conversations with him. She’d imagined evenings in bed with him. She imagined what he would say, how he would touch her. She never had a lover like him. He would be good, not just good, fantastic. Big, bold, giving, passionate. She wanted him. She had watched him, and dreamed of him, and now she wanted him. She wanted her mind blown. It was unlike her, she wasn’t the kind of girl to pleasure herself often. But she did now, dreaming about that mysterious biker stranger, the bad boy who sat outside her shop all day, every day. Phantom.
Sophie closed the shop door and locked it behind her as she turned to walk home. She cast a glance opposite but Phantom and his bike were gone for the evening.
A car crawled along the high street, just behind her. She looked over her shoulder, wondering if they were lost. A black sedan. But then Sophie’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen as the car suddenly revved ahead noisily. Smiling but shaking her head at the same time at the name on her phone screen. Max, her brother. She thought about not answering for a second. Walking home, she was tired, her muscles ached. She spent all day standing, rushing around. But she couldn’t ignore her little brother though.
Glad that the noisy car had gone, she accepted the call. “Hey Max.”
“Hey sis.” He greeted her with a resigned sigh. Sophie braced herself. What had happened now?
He was fifteen, ten years younger than her. They had always been close though, despite the age difference. She’d doted on him as a baby, and then always played with him as he grew. Running when he wanted to play Pokémon, joining in when he wanted to smash his toy cars together, or build the biggest mud mountain for his dinosaurs. He was boisterous, loud and a complete open book. A big heart. But now he was hitting his teenage years. She moved out to set up her shop. He was clashing with their parents a lot more. He wanted to go out, stay out late, meet girls. But he wasn’t eighteen, he wasn’t twenty one. And he was ill. Though he never acted like it.
“What’s up?” she asked him, changing to her ear plugs so she could slip the phone back in her pocket. She had a feeling this was going to be a long phone call.
Max made an impatient tutting sound on the other side of the phone. “Mom and Dad, what else? They are so annoying!”
“What happened?” Sophie asked.
“I’m grounded… there were these guys who said if I dropped off this package, they’d pay me-”
Sophie frowned. “What package? Where-”
“God, you sound like our parents!” Max’s gruff teenage voice roared down the line.
“Alright, alright, sorry, I just wasn’t expecting… anyway, carry on, sorry…” Sophie backpedaled quickly.
“So anyway, I agreed to do it, this was like six months ago, all I had to do was pick up this envelope and then cycle across town and drop it off with some other dudes-”
“What were they like? These… dudes?” Sophie asked, dubiously.
“They were cool,” Max’s eager voice came down the line. “They said I could hang out with them if I wanted, they said they could help me, watch my back-”
“Watch your back? Why would you need that?”
“I picked up the envelope and got to the drop off point, but no one came to pick it up. I waited for ages… anyway, I came home, with the envelope, thinking they’d be in touch, and they didn’t… basically dad found the envelope in my room, let’s just say, I’m pretty sure the envelope doesn’t contain cake mix, but it’s a powder-”
“Max! Drugs?” Sophie’s heart hammered in her chest and anger flared.
“Keep your voice down! They paid me good money-”
“Max, I’m sorry but this is… drugs?”
