Todd moans, hanging off the doorframe like his withering is imminent. I grumble to myself as I tug off my shirt, replacing it with the one Lumi grabbed. They both politely avert their eyes as I finish the rest of my clothing exchange. With deodorant on and my teeth quickly brushed, we head out the door.
The best breakfast around here is at Ethyl’s Diner, a hole-in-the-wall brunch place that caters specifically to broke college kids. The portions are big and cheap, and the motto is “Get in, get out.” If you’re caught lingering, the staff have noproblem giving you a verbal, and sometimes physical, nudge out the door.
The fast pace and novelty of grumpy servers keeps business booming, and, at times, the line runs down the block.
Luckily for us, we manage to find an open table when we arrive. Menus are already out, and we scoop them up quickly as a server bears down on us. Todd makes a panicked noise, his eyes sweeping over the many waffle options.
“Want something?” the server asks, a pad of paper out and an air of impatience on her person.
Toddeeps.
I take pity on him, ordering first. Lumi goes next. Then Todd places his order for waffles. I pray my coffee arrives quickly.
“So,” Lumi says the moment we’re alone, the volume in the diner loud enough to cover individual conversations. “Tell me absolutely everything I missed last night.”
“Library Guy wants to eat Isaac,” Todd declares.
“What?” I say, my voice a little higher than intended.
Lumi appraises me while Todd makes achomp, chomp, chompmotion with his teeth.
“How would you even know?” I ask, fidgeting with my sleeve. My friend is notoriously oblivious when it comes to flirting. Not that Trevorwasflirting.
Except…yes, he kind of was. And maybe I was, too.
Todd shrugs. “It was obvious. That man thought you were a morsel.”
“I’m not a…morsel,” I say indignantly, my cheeks heating.
“He wanted a bite,” Todd goes on, completely ignoring me as he flips his menu end over end.
“Well, then,” Lumi says slyly, her chin resting in her hand. “I suppose the question is… How much longer is our dear Isaac going to run before he lets himself be eaten up?”
“Why are you guys making this sound so creepy?” I whine.
Lumi cackles, leaning back as our server quickly deposits full coffee mugs on the table, leaving just as briskly. I doctor up my cup as Lumi grills Todd about specifics from last night, including details about Trevor.
All the while, I can’t help but run Lumi’s question back through my head.
The idea of being chased isn’t unappealing when I imagine Trevor doing the hunting. Maybe it’s his calm intensity. Maybe it’s the fact that he hasn’t once made me feel unsafe. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Maybe it’s good old-fashioned lust.
Whichever way, I can’t deny…
I might just be willing to let him have a bite.
Chapter 6
Trevor
My spirits lift when I spot Isaac sitting at our table in the library on Monday morning, his bright red hair curling over his ear in a way I find charming.
It makes him seem…human. Vulnerable, in a way. As we all are.
He stiffens when he hears me approach, but then his shoulders relax. “You need a bell.”
“You want to put a collar around my neck?”
