He shrugs. “Once or twice,” he says before his tongue darts and licks my collarbone. My hips rock against his, but he braces against me harder until I can’t move.
“Patience,” he whispers, then bites the fleshy part of my shoulder.
I choke back a moan.
The weight of him is gone too soon. My body is limp and useless without his touch. He takes my hands and pulls me to my feet. “I wanted tonight to be romantic. Let’s get you home before I rip those clothes off of you.”
The next afternoon as I’m fulfilling orders from my website, I receive a text from Charlotte.
Hey! Sully gave me your number. Actually, I stole it out of his phone. Anyway, the boys are fighting over a new song & I’m about to strangle someone. Wanna hang out to save Sully’s life?
I shake my head, only imagining what it’s like to hear all three of those guys arguing.
Yeah. My roommate, her girlfriend, & I are about to watch The Thing. You can come over and hang out.
Yes! I’ll bring snacks.
About twenty minutes later, Charlotte hops out of her rideshare with two grocery bags full of candy, popcorn, and chips. Alice blesses her and takes the food into the kitchen to put into bowls. Emily giggles as she follows to help.
Alice and Emily snuggle on the loveseat under a blanket as they share a giant bowl. Charlotte and I sit on the couch with a blanket and bowl of our own. We laugh throughout the movie as people panic and run for their lives. The graphics from the 1980s are silly, but still damn good.
When the credits roll, Alice and Emily sneak off to the bedroom. Charlotte checks her phone. “Guess I should get back. Hopefully no fights broke out while I was gone.”
“It was good to see you.” I turn off the TV and put our empty bowls in the kitchen.
Charlotte sees the picture of me as a mermaid hanging on the wall. “Is this you?”
I brush a piece of hair out of my face. “Yeah.”
She smiles. “I love it. I can see why Sully likes you. You’re sweet, but mysterious.”
“Amy doesn’t like me,” I grumble.
Charlotte waves her hand like she’s batting away a fly. “Amy’s annoying. We hired her because the band needed someone to run our socials and keep us on track for interviews and such. Sully mentioned it to his aunt, and then Amy popped into our lives. She does help get us seen by more people, but she also likes to comment on things that are not in her job description. Like our cover art. Don’t get me started on how she went off on that last year.” Charlotte sighs, tugging on her silver hoop earring. “Anyway, we deal with her, but you don’t need to take her shit.”
“Thanks.” Her words don’t offer much comfort, but at least I’m not the only thing Amy hates. She’s just a control freak.
Charlotte’s phone buzzes. “My ride’s here. See you later.”
We hug, and I open the door for her. She walks down the stairs, and a strange white car catches my attention. It’s not her rideshare becauseshe’s walking to the idling red car near the dumpster. I don’t think I’ve seen that white car before.
I take a few steps to get a better look, and the car turns before flooring it down the street. For a second, I swear the driver looked a lot like my ex.
My stomach jumps into my throat. That’s impossible. I shake off the idea, or try to, and go back into the apartment, locking the door.
24
Themorningsunburnsaway the fog looming over the city like a phantom. It’s Saturday, and my day is booked solid with an hours-long modeling gig. Then dinner with Sully in Beverly Hills, and we might meet up with the rest of the band later for drinks.
But all my joy comes to a screeching halt when I check my phone. Arthur’s daughter is sick, and he needs to take her to urgent care. Without my mer-handler, it’s impossible to move from photoshoot to photoshoot. Now my pictures will be limited to the first place I drag myself to.
Family comes first, but I rented a lot of expensive photo equipment with a photographer who does video and underwater photography. The goal was to get as many pictures on the beach and in the water as possible, piecing together a calendar for next year and poses to create new merch for my website. Now I’ll be lucky to get enough pictures to update the site to get more gigs.
With a heavy heart, I reply to Arthur to spend time with his daughter and not to worry about me. At times like this, I wish there was someone I could call for backup. It’s too much to depend on one person to keep my modeling career alive.
As I debate on which of my three tails should be the only one I’m able to use, my phone buzzes. I check it, assuming it’s Arthur with his response and apologizing again. Instead, it’s Sully wanting my help to narrow down where we’re going to eat tonight. I lean against the car and text him back.
Seafood sounds good, been a while since I ate decent shrimp. We can meet earlier if you want. My plans went to shit.
