“Em?” he asked, removing the gun from my skin.
I opened my eyes to see him looking up at me with concern.
“Did I break you? I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“W-what?” I asked, trying to rewind the conversation in my mind to figure out the last thing he’d said.
“I’m sorry if that’s weird of me to say. But you don’t have to worry about anything. I mean, I’ve never made a move on you.”
My brows knitted in confusion, and I eyed the gun.
Just put the fucking needle back into my skin!
“Uh-huh,” I nodded absently. “Sure. Not worried at all.”
“Good,” he said with a relieved smile, returning to his work.
The gun switched on and my breath caught in my chest.
Holy fucking shit.
My heart was racing, and I began to sweat.
My brain suddenly caught up to the conversation in the room, and I ripped my eyes open.
“Wait? What do you mean make a move on me? You liked me?”
Cole snorted, “Jesus. You really know how to crush a man’s balls. Yeah. I mean, who wouldn’t? What’s not to like? We have a lot in common: we listen to the same bands, we’re both adrenaline junkies, and we’ve both got a fucked-up sense of humor. Plus, you’re fucking smoking hot, Emory. Like, Jesus Christ, you’re the perfect package.”
I took a moment to assess Cole while his attention was occupied. Tall, brown skin, dark cropped hair, covered in tattoos and several piercings in his ears. He was dressed in a pair of tight jeans, gaping holes in the knees, and a loose-fitting black graphic t-shirt.
He was objectively attractive. But I’d never considered him as a potential boyfriend. I hadn’t consideredanyoneas a potential boyfriend other than Enoch.
“I had no idea you had a crush on me,” I finally said.
He licked his lips, “Figures. I didn’t think you liked me in that way.”
“We’re you disappointed when you found out I was seeing someone?”
He hummed a sighed, “Maybe a little bit. I’d gotten over my crush for the most part like a year ago when it was clear that you weren’t interested in dating. I wish I’d taken my shot to ask you out a long time ago, but I am genuinely happy for you.”
I nodded, “Thanks. You’re a really good person, Cole. I hope you find the perfect girl too. It’s really not personal, like, that I didn’t notice you liked me. I just…literally wasn’t interested in anyone. I guess I never got over my ex, he was the one that got away. And now he’s back and I’m…” I took a breath. “I’m holding onto the motherfucker for life.”
He chuckled under his breath, dipping the needle into the ink pot before replacing it against my skin.
The pain was dull.
Too dull.
The high was receding despite the continued sting of the needle moving across my arm, and I screamed in my head.
I stared at the needle, wishing it’d go deeper, wishing it was sharper.
I needed more.
And it was pissing me off that I couldn’t get another high from this kind of pain.
My eyes snagged on the X-Acto knife on his workstation tray and my heart skipped a beat.
