That was what made her like me so much; she’s told me so. It made me feel more lifelike, more real.
My antennae twitched, and before I turned to walk away, I stepped toward him as he leaned against the tree, his shoulders hunched over, looking defeated. “You know,” I began, and his head hung over deeper. “You could go get a hug from Harlow. She looks like she could use a hug.”
He turned around and looked down at me.
“Yeah,” I nodded. “She was sitting in the kitchen just now. Talking about how lucky I was. Maybe she needs a hug, too.”
I turned away, adjusting myself with a grimace. Nothing more I could do for the Slenderman. My body burned with the need to return to Kassie. Every second away from her sent waves ofdiscomfort pulsing through me, an ache so intense it felt like my insides were being slowly carved out with a dull blade. If I didn't get back to her soon, I'd be nothing but a twitching heap of exoskeleton and regret.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kassie
Steam curled from my coffee mug as I breathed in the rich aroma. Hints of macadamia and vanilla wafted up, making my eyes flutter shut for a moment. Harlow splurged on the fancy beans this week, and it was exactly when I needed the pick-me-up the most.
Why was Titan suddenly demanding this game challenge? If he thought he could ambush me publicly and force me to play just to damage my gaming cred, he was seriously mistaken. The guy had another thing coming.
Was his ego so fragile that radio silence for a couple of days had sent him into this tailspin?
My fingernails clicked against ceramic as I drummed the side of my mug. The familiar pattern of Harlow's footsteps bounced down the stairs. She appeared in jean shorts with her blonde hair swept into a high ponytail, but instead of her usual sunshine smile, her eyebrows were knitted together in concentration.
Very unlike her.
I frowned as she made a beeline for the dishwasher, the moment it let out its end-cycle beep. "What’s wrong?"
She grabbed a plate from the dishwasher and set it on the counter with a soft clink. "Does Atlas seem off to you lately?"
My shoulders shook as I tried not to laugh. "Define 'strange' for a guy who's literally part moth. The dude trips over air, blushes at everything, and still manages to be hornier than a teenager. Atlas wrote the book on weird." I took a sip of my coffee. "What exactly are we talking about here?"
Harlow leaned back on the kitchen counter. "I'm not sure. It could be nothing, but something weird happened with the security cameras while you were out, falling into Gideon’s crotch or whatever it was you two were doing." She raised an eyebrow accusingly.
I placed my mug a little too hard on the table. “I did not touch your boyfriend’s dick!”
Harlow's cheeks flushed crimson. "He's not my boyfriend," she huffed, crossing her arms. "And according to him, you were getting rather intimate with a streetlamp."
I screeched. "I was not! I was just doing this weird shimmy against the pole because my underwear was riding up in the most uncomfortable way. Trust me, if I'd been doing what he's implying, I'd have been a lot more enthusiastic about it. And a lot less vertical."
Harlow's face contorted like she'd bitten into a lemon. "Sweet mercy, Kassie. That's a mental image I didn't need."
“Atlas has this magic, horny come, okay? It makes me want the D! Which we have to talk about later and put it in your book, because you won’t believe the things I have seen and felt.” I held out my hands to show how big Atlas’ dick really was, then did this squiggly thing with my fingers that didn’t even make sense to me.
Harlow's eyes narrowed as she stared at my hand gestures. "Whatever that"—she pointed at my still-wiggling fingers—"is supposed to represent, I'm going to need therapy to forget it. Can we please focus on the security cameras?"
I stomped my foot. I wanted to talk about sex right then, well, more about the L word, but I guess we could talk about the cameras. “What about them?”
Harlow's fingers tapped nervously on the counter. "It's about the security system. Last night I woke up with this... I don't know, like a prickling at the back of my neck. When I checked the footage…" She leaned closer, lowering her voice. "There's been this black fox circling our property the last two nights you haven’t played."
I rolled my eyes. "So, we've got a nosey fox. Big deal." I twirled my finger in the air. "Next, you'll tell me we need to call animal control because a squirrel looked at you funny. Should we put the house on lockdown?"
Harlow growled, and I stepped back, shocked she would ever do such a thing. She was the cute, fluffy puppy, not the angry Doberman dog.
Harlow's face hardened. "Just because I'm nice doesn't mean I'm stupid." She whirled around so fast her blonde ponytail whipped through the air.
I reached for her arm, but she was already at the kitchen island, picking up the remote. With a quick tap on the mousepad, the security system's laptop screen flared to life.
“Harlow, I didn’t mean—” I begged.
She waved her hand at me and stuck it on her hip. “No, it isn’t you. Old memories hit me today. It was wrong of me.”
