I stared—again.
He smiled but it was as emotionless as before. Fake. Wrong. I loved it. “When I was a teen, I practiced in the mirror. Imagined the things I would say if I was ever caught doing something wrong.”
“Really?” I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him and the sharp lines of his face. I didn’t notice someone and thinkthey’re attractive, not like my brothers did—attractiveness was a surreal concept to me—but when I studied Rogers, I saw something else. Earlier he’d been a block to my fun, but now? He was intriguing, and I was obsessed with figuring out why. And what could he do forme?
“Then I decided to become a cop and learn to fake my way through it.” He turned a glare on me. “And the last thing I need is for you to come into town and fuck things up. I’ve got a good life here.”
“I didn’t do anything to you,” I said.
“We don’t have many of these types of murders in New Gothenburg. It’s a pretty good city for the most part. Lots of criminals, but gory deaths are rare.” He tapped the steering wheel with his pointer finger. “When something like this happens, cops start looking at everyone differently, start questioning the people they’re closest to. Could a relative be the killer? What about my best friend? What about the guy I work with?”
“Yes.” I nodded because I could understand that. There’d been a lot of what-ifs when it came to me with my family. It was why my parents had been so afraid of me.
He shifted in his seat. “I need you to leave town. Now.”
I stared, not sure how to respond. If he was like me, I didn’t have to pretend. I’d never had a person who I didn’t have to fake things with. “No.” I gave him a smile, and by his wince I knew he could tell which one I used. It was the turn of my lips that said,I’m an angel, and I could give the best blowjob in the world if you asked for it, the same one I’d used on Philip. “I like it here in New Gothenburg. It’s nice. People don’t look twice at me.”
“They will when you start killing more assholes.” He grunted and fell back against his seat. “Listen, I don’t want you to start trouble. I’m in a good position with these people right now. I don’t need anything messing that up.”
“I don’t want any trouble, Officer.” I continued to smile.
His eyes narrowed. “You actually trick people with that?”
I let the expression drop off my face. “Yes.”
“It’s fake as fuck.”
“Can you do any better?” I asked seriously.
“I do every day, kid.” He shook his head and gestured at my door. “Get the fuck out and don’t cause problems. A couple of truckers told me you stayed here sometimes. People will always know where to find you. You’re pretty. You catch people’s eye.”
I frowned at him. “Doyouthink I’m pretty?”
“Out,” he ordered.
Something stirred inside me. Warmth. I stared.
“Are you fucking dumb?” He threw his hands up and slapped them against the wheel. “Get the fuck out, kid, or Iwillarrest your ass.”
I cocked my head but did as he ordered, then nearly stumbled onto the sidewalk, because as soon as I closed the door, he veered out of the parking spot with his lights and siren on and left me in the dust. I watched the cruiser until it was out of sight and touched my belly. It felt nice when he talked to me that way. He was bossy, like my parents, but also different.
Very different.
A stirring began in my cock as I replayed his voice again and again in my head, and I smiled as real as a person like me could. I would have to keep an eye on Officer Rogers. I liked watching him a lot.
3
JULES
I slouched downbehind the wheel of my truck and tried not to look like I was staring at Aramis. I’d learned his name by going to the homeless shelter he liked to stay in and poking around earlier in the week.Aramis Jones.The whole handle sounded like an alias, but I liked to have a name to go with the striking face I couldn’t get out of my head.
Aramis.
I’d been dreaming about him—his pouty lips, that long, glossy hair, perfect for pulling. His angular face. Did he start slicing up the trucker while the man’s cock was hard in his ass? Did Aramis even allow the man to get that close? The condom wrappers were found on the floor coated in blood, but CSI hadn’t unearthed even a single drop of semen or the actual condoms.
“It’s the case of the missing cock sauce,” I’d said, elbowing Paxton in the break room at the station. He’d stared at me, shaking his head. Cops and dark humor went together like bread and butter, but sometimes I thought he saw through me. It had taken him far too long to smile, and I’d spent the rest of that day being extra careful to act like everyone else. I’d even invited Paxton and his boyfriend, River, out for a beer, and we’d spent the evening at a karaoke bar.
See, I could do normal if I tried. I just didn’t like the effort.
