Except the contact never came. Arze's eyes flared with what seemed like surprise. He recoiled, throwing himself backward so hard and so quickly that he bumped right into Jane. She turned to face him, confusion on her face, but he wasn't staring at her.His eyes were locked on mine again, and his earlier desire was replaced with a horror I didn't understand.
“Sorry,” he said, but whether it was to me or to Jane was unclear. “I-I have to go.”
Arze darted through the dancing crowd, leaving a wake of disgruntled and annoyed people. And I was at the top of that list, wondering if I had read the signs wrong and had just infinitely made things more awkward with the man I was infatuated with.
Chapter 14
Monday was spentwith my mind spiraling in a downward decline since Arze had stormed out of Batwings. Everyone was asking me what the hell I could have said to warrant that sort of reaction from him, but I couldn’t tell them the truth. That I’d thought he was going to kiss me, that I wanted to kiss him, and I was trying to set my dreams on fire so they could burn at full brightness.
So instead, I told them that he just suddenly said he had to go and played it off like I was just as shocked as they were to see him leave. Which was true, at least, so it wasn’t that hard to fake. The only difference was that I didn’t know if Arze had fled from the bar because he was horrified that I wanted to kiss him or because he allowed himself to want me to.
Things were made worse for me when Arze never showed up for work Monday. According to Khalice and Ripp, who I was paired with for the day, Arze had never missed a single day of work. I couldn’t have felt more guilty if I tried, but I was thankful that the others didn’t pour it on. For all they knew, Arze had decided to leave the bar of his own volition. So I was sentenced to suffer in silence.
My dreams had been plagued by me reliving the moment both Sunday and Monday night, each time there being a new reason why he’d split. First it was because he wasn’t into men, which I could live with. The second night, his reason was because I was leaving town soon and there was no reason to start anything. Which would have been fine if he’d even known that, but he didn’t. My own words to Lincoln were being thrown in my face and I didn’t need the reminder about what had happened with Lincoln to darken my thoughts of Arze too. I just wanted to sleep without reliving the lingering question of what the fuck had happened with Arze at the bar.
With him not showing up for work, I knew something was off. I just didn’t understand how I could have missed the mark or misread the signs I’d thought I’d seen. I’d mulled the encounter through my mind, raking it over the coals of possibilities in how I might have miscalculated, but every single time, I’d come up short. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Arze had felt something pass between us. Why he’d been put off by that was the only question left brewing in my mind.
Now it was Tuesday, my first day off from the haunts since I’d started working, and I was determined to put Arze out of my mind and make it productive. Which is how I found myself spending most of the day with my novel, making sure to put my frustration out on the page. I’d managed to get about halfway through the novel, at a point where the protagonist and his demon love interest were now an official item and fighting against the next in line to become the head of Hell to keep their love from being ripped apart.
If only I could experience the trope of art imitating life.
Even though I knew I couldn’t be with Arze, I could still get to know him. I could still unleash my attraction with him so this bullet of infatuation could finally be released from the chamber of my yearning. I didn’t want to keep it to myself anymore. And ifthat meant that Arze and I could have one hot, raunchy, sweaty, lust-filled night together and then go our separate ways, then fine. I could settle for that.
But that wasn’t what was happening, so I was trying to get over it. It’s not like I could even address it unless I saw him back at work and there was no guarantee I’d get to see him once my two days off were complete. The idea of being able to ask him about what was going on Thursday was nice, but it being so up in the air had me less than likely to think I’d get my way.
Around dinner time, Myers was able to pry me away from my writing by offering to buy me food. I obliged, as long as it wasn’t near Jane’s and wasn’t near the RV park. Phoebe had a wide array of eateries to choose from when it came to cuisine, so we’d agreed to eat in at the local Mexican restaurant. I was in love with this restaurant, because since it was in Phoebe, it leaned into the town aesthetic, the theme of the place being Dia de los Muertos. Sugar skull cutouts hung in banners above the tables, skeletons were in every corner, and they had a salsa bar that looked like an ofrenda, complete with candles and pictures of the employees and their families standing guard at the bar. It was awesome, and already I was feeling lighter by the time Myers and I were escorted to our booth for the evening.
Our waitress had just set down an offering of tortilla chips and salsa before leaving, and I could already feel Myers’ eyes burning scorch marks into my face.
“So what’s going on?” My sister was anything but subtle, especially when it came to me and my matters of the heart. “You’ve been distracting yourself all day and while I’m sure your writing is benefiting from it, what are you running from?”
Damn her and her ability to read her brother so well. We’d always been able to tell when the other was down or out, and while it warmed my heart at her good intentions, I hesitated to answer her as I took a chip and dunked it in the salsa. I justwanted to forget that the thing with Arze had ever happened and enjoy my food for the night. But I knew my sister, and she wasn’t going to let it go until I gave her something.
Lofting the chip into my mouth, I savored the cilantro-heavy salsa before I answered her, making sure my food was gone before responding. “I misread a situation when we went out for drinks Sunday night after work.” I said, taking another chip and depositing it accordingly.
“Okay…” Myers chuckled as she took a sip of her water while staring daggers at me. “What situation?”
A heavy exhale proceeded my answer, needing a full set of air in my lungs before I talked about this. “I thought one of my co-workers was going to kiss me, so I leaned in to let it happen and he…freaked out and left the bar.”
“Krueger,” The chastising was evident in her voice, but I could see her doing double time to try and relieve it from her eyes. So far, she wasn’t doing too hot of a job. “That’s not good.”
“I know it’s not.” I agreed, picking up and taking a generous gulp of my Diet Coke. “And he didn’t show up for work yesterday and I’m off until Thursday so I can’t even apologize or try to figure out what happened.”
“And you’re sure he was trying to kiss you?”
“Yes.”
If I’d learned nothing in the amount of time I’d had to dissect the situation, I’d at least learned that I hadn’t misread shit. Arze’s reaction wasn’t because he didn’t want to kiss me. Maybe it’s because he wanted to and didn’t know how to handle that.
“Alright. So who’s the guy?” The twinkle in her eye let me know that she was done judging me and was back in the role of supportive sister.
“He’s an Orb.” I knew mentioning this first wouldn’t garner a reaction from her. We’d both dabbled in sexual relations with Orbs in the past, even if it wasn’t widely accepted or talked aboutmuch. “Actually, I can’t remember what species he is, but his name is Arze.”
“Cute name.” She nodded. “What’s he look like?”
“Tall, hot, purple skin that looks like wood.” I shrugged. “And I once saw him grow bark on command to scare some guests at the haunted house.”
“Oh, he’s a tythwig.” Myers said with full confidence. “They’re the ones that look like they could blend in with trees. I’ve seen a couple in town here and there.”
