Direct. I liked it.
@MidnightHookup: I might be. What do you have in mind?
Three bubbles appeared and then disappeared. Then again. I was about to click back to the previous profile I was checking out when his reply popped up.
@IntrovertedVibes: Whatever you want.
My hand tightened around my phone, and a rush of desire swept through me.
@IntrovertedVibes: Can you pick me up?
I scoffed. First, he acted like he was at my disposal, and then he asked for something?
@MidnightHookup: I prefer to meet.
@IntrovertedVibes: Oh.
Oh?
@MidnightHookup: You said whatever I want.
The text bubbles started appearing and disappearing again as if he were flustered, but his direct approach before seemed to not fit with that.
@IntrovertedVibes: You can have whatever you want after you pick me up.
A laugh burst out of me, the sudden sound echoing through my empty apartment. Who the hell was this guy?
I clicked on his username, which, by the way, did not track with his directness either, and when his profile loaded, I sucked in a breath.
He didn’t have an album of photos like the guy before him. In fact, he had only one. But it was enough.
The innocence in his face knocked me back against the couch cushions. The picture captured only his head and shoulders, butthe naivety staring back at me was frankly something I thought failed to exist in adults.
That thought had me looking for his age, and when I found it and saw he was definitely legal, I went back to stare at the photo once more.
His oval face with its square chin was softened by the roundness of his cheeks and pert nose. His pink lips stretched into a smile, and a dimple indented his left cheek. I kept going back to his eyes, though, which were just as rare as the innocence pouring out of him. Heterochromia, a condition I’d only seen one other time. And that time, the person had one brown eye and one yellow. It had been unsettling and, frankly, unattractive.
But here I was, captivated by his one blue eye and one green, both colors undiluted and clear.Like he’s untainted by life. And if that weren’t enough, his almost sweet look was capped with wild brown hair that definitely needed a cut and couldn’t decide if it was curly or straight.
An overwhelming sense of anger punched me right in the chest, the heat of it spreading out along my limbs. How dare he pretend to be so innocent? He’d literally just propositioned me.Andasked for a ride.
Granted, his innocence was far more believable than that fake pout in that other profile I’d been considering. At least that guy made it obvious he was just pretending. But this? This was plain manipulative.
I tapped on our message thread, bringing it back on screen.
@IntrovertedVibes: Hello?
@MidnightHookup: I’m not in the mood for games.
@IntrovertedVibes: I’m not playing games.
@MidnightHookup: Yeah? Call an Uber then.
I went to close out of the chat, but his reply beat me to it.
@IntrovertedVibes: Wait!
I sneered.
