“You’re happy,” I sign before rubbing a hand over my face.
“Iamhappy,” she says. “Unlike you, grumpy bum. It’s almost one. What are you still doing in bed?”
I shrug.
“Jonathon and I are going to hike Eagle Peak. Want to come? We haven’t done that in ages.”
“No thanks,” I sign.
She pouts. “It’ll be good for you.”
“Not in the mood.”
She frowns, looking at my lips, but I didn’t speak clearly enough for her to read them.
Instead, I sign. “Go. Have fun with Jonathon.”
My sister bounces out of my bedroom like she’s Tigger on crack.
I let out a heavy sigh and pull the blankets over my head. There’s no use dwelling on last night. It’s not like I can change what happened, and I don’t know who he is, so I can’t even apologise for my fuck-up. I could wait until the next masked night, but the chances of him showing up are slim. I found his mask on the ground a block away from the club when I was walking to my car. He’s not planning to go back.
I contemplate calling the club and telling them he left something in the room, and I need his details to give it back, but there’s no way they’ll agree. They have strict protocols for protecting member identities.
It sucks, but I don’t have any other options.
My phone rings, and I check the screen. It’s Theo.
I silence it, not in the mood to listen to his bullshit.
My stomach rumbles, and I drag my arse downstairs to find some food. After standing in front of the fridge, staring into nothing for a full minute, I pull out the ingredients for an omelette.
The house is quiet with Mum and Dad at the Sunday markets and Milly hiking with Jonathon, so there are no witnesses to my moping. I take my food into the living room and switch on the EPL highlights. Kicking my feet up on the coffee table, I roll through one video after another. Thefood is tasteless, but I shovel it into my mouth until it’s gone.
I’m pathetic. My masked shadow man was nothing but a fantasy. It was just sex and never would’ve worked outside of Euphoria. He was hiding, and none of it was real. So why can’t I just forget him?
When the highlights finish, I pull out my phone and scroll through social media, pausing at photos from the party last night, but all that does is remind me of my captain and how he messed with my head. I wish he’d just go back to being an arsehole. Everything was simpler back when I didn’t have all these confusing feelings for him. God, he’s so frustrating.
I toss my phone onto the coffee table, restlessness kicking in. With no one home, I roam the house looking for a distraction and end up in the backyard juggling a ball, but that only lasts about twenty minutes because it reminds me of Noah.
So I chuck on my Beats and go for a run. As I pound the footpath, I try to clear my thoughts of anything but my breathing cadence. It works for a while, and I smash out ten kilometres before returning home for a shower.
When I get out of the shower, I have two more missed calls from Theo. With a sigh, I call him back. He’s probably just looking for another party or someone to go to Carter’s with, but he’s barking up the wrong tree with me. I’m not in the mood to be around people.
His phone rings and rings, and I’m about to hang up when he answers, his voice panicked. “Kincaid, dude. You gotta come get me.”
My spine straightens. “Where are you?”
“Oh, shit,” he says, his tone turning to wonder. “Where did the Smurfs come from?”
Smurfs? What the fuck?
“Focus, Theo. What the hell is going on?”
“I need to get out of here, man.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
