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I shrugged, then looked down at myself. “I don’t have any clean clothes, sorry.”
She raised a brow.
Man, I was a horrible liar.
“Sure, whatever. Let’s say it’s your ‘dryer’.” She wiggled her fingers, making air quotes. “Get it fixed.”
“Oh, it still works. It’s just loud.”
“I. Don’t. Care.” She closed the gap she’d put between us when I first stepped out of the doorway. “Fix it.”
My eyes landed on her full lips, and my mind went exploring in places it shouldn’t. “Damn. You’re really cute when you’re angry.”
Her mouth dropped open. “And your muscles are mind-boggling, but that’s not getting you off the hook.”
What did you know? I guess coming out here before putting on a top because I didn’t want to miss talking to her worked out.
“Look, I’m sorry. Why don’t I apologize for the noise by taking you out to dinner?”
Fuck. Why did I say that? There was no way I could take her out, even if she said yes. I didn’t trust myself to leave my apartment for more than a few minutes at a time, not while the curse still had such a strong hold on me.
Yesss. We should feed her.
I set my jaw, ignoring my snake. He had no right to demand or even suggest anything after what he’d been putting me through lately. Forget the fact that we were one and the same.
Ssshe’sss perfect.
I had to agree with him on that point. Sybil was exactly my type. Her pale skin contrasted against straight, dark hair and inky lashes. She had a feminine but edgy style, even in casual hanging-out at-home clothes. The dress hugged her curves well but still looked comfortable enough to lounge around in.
When I’d first moved in, she’d come out to introduce herself wearing tight black jeans, a black fishnet mesh top, thick black eyeliner, and dark red lips. She had the retro goth vibe down pat. It had left me daydreaming about getting her dark red lipstick all over me.
Today she’d gone more natural with the makeup, but still looked sexy as fuck in that slinky black dress.
Her decision to give me a piece of her mind only made her more appealing to me. That edge and grit weren’t just visual.
But no matter how much she piqued my—or my snake’s—fancy, she was out of bounds. Everyone was now, ever since the curse reared its ugly head.
She rolled her eyes, clearly taking my invitation to dinner as a joke.
“Yeah, whatever, Rockstar. I’m sure that that works with the hordes of fangirls, but it won’t work with me. Get that dryer, or whatever’s making that noise, fixed.” Then she turned around, stomped back to her door, and slammed it shut.
Rockstar? I was anything but. And I didn’t have a single horde of fangirls, much less multiple ones. A good thing too—I didn’t want or need that type of attention. I just wanted to live a normal life, but even that was too much to ask for lately with this curse hanging over my head.
I returned to my apartment, both glad and disappointed she hadn’t taken my offer to go to dinner seriously. I didn’t know what I’d have done if she’d accepted the invitation.
I peered dismally around the mess that was my living room. It was trashed, just like it always was whenever my serpent broke out and did its thing. Every. Single. Time.
All the years I’d spent in my twenties working my ass off so I could buy nice furniture had been a waste. The first time I’d lost control of my shift, my custom coffee table and hand-woven rug had been destroyed. The second time, it was my hideously expensive curved monitor and gaming PC.
There had been no third time. I sold everything breakable and replaced it all with cheap furniture that I didn’t mind repurchasing.
I looked over to the door of my home office, the only place still with anything of value. Closed. Good. I had a meeting with one of the firms I consulted for tomorrow morning, and I didn’t relish trying to replace my laptop with so little notice, though if there was ever a good time to leave my condo, it was now, right after my serpent’s rampage.
The uncontrolled shifts had been happening more frequently these days, but they rarely happened right back-to-back. I usually had a day or more in between shifts. But then again, I didn’t want to tempt fate.
My snake nudged at me, insisting I go out there and talk to the little witch again. No way.
Material things weren’t all I’d given up. I’d seen what the curse had done to Mom and Dad and had vowed never to put a woman through that, or myself. It wasn’t fair to anyone.
