“I’m no stalker.”Fuck, you’ve been sitting in this damned bar near every weekend looking for Kenji. If that’s not stalker behavior, what is?
“Give meyournumber… and maybe I’ll give it to him.Ifyou’re lucky.” Kenji’s roommate pulled out his cell and swiped a thumb across to open it.
Qylar prattled off his phone number and watched the guy as he typed it in. “My name’s Qylar.”
“Nice to meet you, Qylar. I’m Tacoma, but everyone calls me Tack.” He lifted his gaze from his phone and grinned. “Remember it. You’ll be shouting it later.”
“I’m here looking for Kenji.”
Tacoma shrugged. “So?”
“I’m not going to fuck you.”
Tacoma frowned. “Your loss. I’m ten times more fun than that boring guy.”
“Will you give him my number or not?”
Tacoma glared at him. “I don’t know. You’reawfullypushy and just as boring as he is. He needs someone who can loosen him up.”
Qylar took a deep breath. Hewascoming on strong, but he’d been looking for weeks and frustrated. This was the closest he’d gotten to Kenji in all that time. He didn’t want to ruin his one good chance, so he needed to back off a bit. “I’m sorry. I just had a lot of fun with him that night and I’m not sure why he left without saying goodbye.”
“Oh, you’rehim,”Tacoma said, eyed going wide. “The guy he stayed out with until after dawn. The one who left him sore for a week.”
Qylar winced inwardly.
Tacoma chuckled. “And here I thought you were all made up by the mind of a very,verylonely man.”
Kenji was lonely? Qylar’s chest ached even more with the need to find him. Together, they didn’t have to be lonesome.
“You left him walking funny… and from that bulge, maybe he wasn’t lying aboutanyof it.”
“What else did he say?”
Tacoma shrugged. “Not much else. He’s not one to gossip. Sadly.”
“Please… give him my number. Let him know I want to see him again.”
“Maybe you need a bottom more your speed. One who can take a pounding.”
Qylar needed a way to ensure his number made it to Kenji. “Let me hear that from him… if he tells me I was too much for him, maybe I’ll give you a try.”
Never happening.
Tacoma grinned. “Then maybe I will give it to him. We’ll see.”
Qylar clenched his fist, frustrated that this asshole was an obstacle between him and Kenji. Or he could sit outside and follow Tacoma home. A bit stalkerish, but it would rule out the middleman. He needed a face-to-face with Kenji.
What if he goes home with someone else, though? Fuck it. I’ll sit for three days if I have to.
Seconds after paying his tab, his phone buzzed. He half assumed it was Tacoma sending him a shitty text or a dick pic, but when he lifted the screen, he found a proximity alert. Something was near the ship! Close enough there was a blurry image of something in the water.
Without another word, Qylar raced out of the bar and climbed into his truck. He sped towards 34thStreet and screeched into his driveway. Once he’d changed out of his leathers and into a pair of swim trunks and running shoes, he snagged his waterproof backpack and was out the door. There was no time to drive across town to get to their boat.
He ran towards the beach. When he arrived, he scanned the surf, but it was too dark to see well. He found a spot and hoped the water wasn’t too disgusting. Qylar waded out until it was deep enough for him to go under. He dove under and propelled himself with as much speed as his human form could muster.
The second he was far out and deep enough, he pulled off the shoes and the trunks, stashing them into the pack. He shifted, unfurling his limbs into massive tentacles and immediately sped towards the ship. In his shifted form, he could travel faster than any seafaring vessel on Earth. He reached the area the ship was hidden in within minutes.
But he feared he’d taken too long.
