AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I bought my vodka and the rest of my groceries, leaving the store way more pissed than I expected to. How the fuck had he found me, anyway? Wasn’t like I broadcasted where I was. I didn’t even have social media, and I’d been careful with my phone.
What the fuck is the point of all these precautions if someone I don’t want to find me finds me, anyway?I sank into the driver’s seat of my beat up truck and fished out both halves of my phone to put it back together. While I waited for it to boot up a second time, I allowed myself to consider the possibility that Honor was telling the truth. After all, what reason did he have to lie to me?
To slither his way back into my life, probably. Not that I thought he was a bad guy. He was my pop, and I loved him. Or I did. Now, it was all confusing. I didn’t know how to feel, so I wanted to feel nothing.
My phone finally powered on. I opened the contacts and scrolled, deciding who to call. There was Kendra. She was always down except on Fridays, and of course, it was Friday. No way I was calling Damien again. Not after he ghosted me. In fact, why the fuck was his number still in my cell?
I paused, my thumb hovering over Robert’s cell number. He wasn’t even in Michigan. Last I heard, he was still out west andengagedto his monster boyfriend, Hopper. I didn’t begrudge him that, but I kind of missed when we used to be friends. Once we became friends with benefits, things got weird and we never really came back from that. Part of me still wanted to call him, just to hear a friendly voice, but I knew if we talked, I’d wind up dumping a bunch of emotional shit in his lap, and he didn’t need that. He deserved his happy ending.
I scrolled, passing a trio of Sarahs, two Terrys, a Yolanda and someone who’d put his name in my phone as Zaddy, which was almost certainly not a real name. Then I scrolled back to the top and started again.
I paused again when I saw Ben Hammond. I didn’t really know him that well, but we’d had a few drinks together, and he was one of the few people who sort of knew about monsters. He’d also tripped my gaydar hardcore, so he definitely wasn’t straight. He was a social media mogul with hundreds of thousands of followers, so even a casual hookup wasn’t without risk. I didn’t want him talking about me, even vaguely, online.
He wouldn’t do that, would he?I chewed on my bottom lip, considering.Fuck it, I thought and hit the button. I was probably being stupid and desperate, but since when had I ever made good decisions?
He picked up on the third ring, answering with, “Mule barn. Head ass speaking. How may I direct your call?”
“Um. Hi.”
There was a brief pause, probably as he tried to figure out who I was. I was a little hurt he didn’t remember me, but I guess it was expected. We hadn’t talkedthatmuch.
“It’s Axel,” I provided. “Axel Rose? Hotdog’s friend.”
“Oh! Hey, man. What’s up?”
“Nothing, really. Listen, I was about to pour a few and play a few rounds of Mario Kart. I remembered you said you liked that game so…”Fuck, Axel. Mario Kart? Really? Way to tell him you’re a total loser. I’d be better off getting laid through one of those hookup apps.
Getting laid and getting genital warts, probably, and my dick was one of my best features.
“Look, I just wanted to know if you’d be interested in hanging out tonight,” I said finally.
“Sure,” he said after a brief pause. “Text me the address and I can be there as soon as I finish editing this video.”
“Okay. Yeah, sounds cool. I’ll see you then.”
I cringed as I hung up.God, could I be any more awkward?
The good news was, I wasn’t getting drunk alone, and if everything went right, I was at least eighty percent sure I was getting laid. The bad news was, I’d burned through everyone on my contacts list, which meant I was going to have to do something if I wanted to keep getting laid on a semi-regular basis.
Unless the ghost in my house is down to fuck. Too bad all he cared about were pizza rolls and turning off the generator, because kinky ghost sex was pretty high up on my to-do list.
What the fuck am I thinking? Man, Honor showing up’s got my head all fucked up. I shook my head and turned the key. My old truck chugged to life, and the opening riff of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” filled the cab. I cranked the stereo until the windows were vibrating and backed out of the parking space.
Ben hit the bong,inhaling deeply before coughing it back out. “Shit,” he said, his voice strained from the smoke he was still trying to hold in.
“Good?” I asked him, grinning ear to ear. Of course it was good.
I’d been experimenting with crossbreeding some indica with a fae plant called xalender that had similar effects. Ben was the first human to get to try it, though I’d been smoking it for weeks. It was a little smoother than your typical indica blend, and it took longer to kick in, but when it did, it hit with a wallop.
“Not bad,” he agreed and set the bong on the floor between us. “So have you heard from Hotdog or Charlie lately?”
I sighed. “I’m not giving you content for your channel, man.”
“Come on, Axel. It’s just harmless gossip. It’s not like I’d name names or anything.” He leaned back, pulling his knees up, lifting an eyebrow. “Or did you really call me over to get high, drink screwdrivers, and play Mario Kart with you?”
I licked my lips and put down my half-finished drink, wishing I’d made it a little stronger. My hands were damp with sweat and my head was swimming. What the hell was wrong with me? I was normally the epitome of confidence when propositioning people for a one-night stand.
It’s what happened with Robert, I thought, rubbing my palms over my jeans. That’d been a hell of a blow to my confidence.
