“This isn’t fun. This is… research.”
She scoffed. “Research you’re gonna put up your butt.”
It took a lot of self-restraint not to throw one of the heftier dildos at her. “I am not. I don’t even have money, okay? I just wanted to look. And now I have. We should just go.”
“Nuh-uh, JJ. You’re getting something. I have money.”
“Normal friends don’t buy each other sex toys.”
“Since when have we ever been normal?”
That was a fair statement. But I was stubborn, and she knew that about me.
“Listen, I just have a real urge to buy one, ya know? And I already have so many, it wouldn’t even get used. It would just go in the drawer and be wasted, so you’d really be doing me a favor if you took it.”
“Mhmm.” I folded my arms, scowling at her, but she didn’t seem at all bothered by it.
“What about this one then, Mr. Boring?” She grabbed a purple, thankfullyhuman-shaped dick from the wall. It was bigger than the first one I’d picked up—thicker, like him. I must have revealed more than I’d thought on my face because Becca smiled at her perceived victory, putting the display back to reach for one still in its packaging. “This one, then. Okay, next. Lube. And condoms. Who knows where that man has been.”
When we were done, Becca had a basket with a whole variety of things, some she’d let me pick and others she told me weren’t any of my business. We turned to make our way to the counter when I came face to face with someone I very much did not want to see here.
Green eyes widened in surprise as Bryce recognized me.
“Oh, hey!” He smiled as though we were friends, clearly not planning to just look away so we could both pretend this hadn’t happened and move on with our lives. “What’s up?”
What’s up? What the fuck did he think was up? Like there was any other reason we would be here aside from the obvious. Becca knowing about my sex life was one thing, but Bryce was entirely another.
“Is that Dex’s jacket?” he asked, like he was proud of himself for recognizing it.
“No,” I lied.
“Nah, it is. Same stain on the sleeve. Does he know you have it?”
How else would I have gotten it?
“He knows,” Becca answered for me, amusement in her voice.
“Oh. Cool, cool. So you guys are like together, then? Or just fucking? Wait, are you two also fucking?”
“No, Bryce. We aren’t fucking!” I snapped, and Becca pulled me closer to her, no doubt sensing I was about to cause a scene and get us banned from here.
“We’re just friends.” She smiled, and it was far more than Bryce deserved. “Happy shopping.”
Bryce seemed like he wanted to say more, but Becca was already steering us swiftly away, toward the exit. We stopped so the cashier could bag up the items, and Becca paid while I lingered nearby, trying not to draw any more attention to myself and thinking with an uncomfortable twist in my gut… what if Bryce tells Dex he saw us here?
twenty-four
Jonah - Present
WHERE I GO, THE GHOSTS FOLLOW.
No one ever suspected me of being gay until I started traveling with Harper.
Even though there was no change in the way I dressed or carried myself, arriving together had them assuming I was gay by association or something. While they were right, and I had no shame in it, it made it harder to blend in without drawing too much attention to us in these small towns clearly filled with equally small-minded people.
There were people who tried to be “supportive,” like the motel receptionist where we were currently staying, who had happily informed me with a wink they had rooms with one bed available when I’d just asked for a room with two.
Of course, I’d rather have my own room entirely, but with leaving Hollow Creek in such a rush after the run-in with Benny, we hadn’t been able to go back for our things or the pay Marty owed me. Everything I had was abandoned in that hotel room except the clothes I’d been wearing and whatever I had stashed in my car.
