‘I heard that!’he yells back.
‘Good!’
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Ultimate Smackdown
Rez
The next morning, I wake up, thankfully, without being steamrolled out of bed. Instead, I get hit in the face by a paw and a voice singing in my head.
‘Wakey, wakey, it’s time for us to get nakey!’
I roll over and swat at the big lug and laugh when I hear him hit the floor.‘That was mean, Rezzi. I was only trying to make sure you’re not late for class.’
The mention of class has me jumping out of bed and getting dressed in record time. I really need to find myself a phone or a working alarm clock here. I pick up my clock and once again see the damn thing didn’t go off.Is it broken?I study it for a few seconds and watch as the second hand moves.Damnit!Well I don’t have time to deal with this now. Out in the living room I spot Moni at the breakfast table, looking a little blue. I don’t mean that figuratively at all, she’s a mixture of aquamarine and a vivid blue. She’d be a beautiful masterpiece if it wasn’t for something obviously bothering her.
The night before, I was so lost doing homework and trying to play catch up that I didn’t get a chance to see Moni at all. I was lucky enough that JP brought me a sandwich for dinner and took the time to at least keep his word and teach me the fundamentals of shielding my mind. We practiced by having me think of things about my day and trying to shield them. Unfortunately, all I could think about was Zeke stripping off his shirt and how good he felt against me. JP was kind enough that all he did was give me a knowing smirk and didn’t open his trap except for giving me pointers on how to best keep him out of my head. I’ll definitely have to come up with better material for our next lesson.
“Moni? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I walk over and give her a hug around the shoulders before I grab a bowl of cheerios. Can you believe they have those in Purgatory? Apparently, they were invented here! Cool huh?
“It’s nothing. I’m probably just overreacting,” she shrugs and tries to wave off my concerns, but there’s no way I’m dropping this shit. I sit down next to her and give her my best stern look, hoping she’ll break and spill her secret. All it takes is one look at me and she bursts out laughing, falling off the stool. As she holds her stomach from laughing so hard, she starts choking, but I can’t even find it in me to be concerned since she’s still laughing at me.
“Oh my gooseberries, do you have to take a shit?” She chokes out. I didn’t think it wasthatbad of a look.Forget trying to help her out.I dig into my cereal as she howls like a damn hyena. I make quick work, and she finally slows down enough to get back on the stool and wipe the tears from her eyes.
“I didn’t think it was that funny,” I pout while I get up to wash my dish. Checking the panel clock, I find that Lynx woke me up early, and I don’t know if I should be grateful or annoyed. When checking my clock earlier, I wasn’t really looking at the time, just checking that it was moving. I still have 45 minutes before I have to head to class, so I lean back against the sink and face Moni.
“It was perfect. Thank you, Rez,” Moni says and gives me a smile full of teeth that I reciprocate. At least she’s looking more like her green self and not a damn smurf.
“Well, I’m glad I could pull you out of your blue man group look,” I say, motioning at her appearance. Today she’s wearing a short-sleeve white and teal button-up over her greenish skin and black slacks that show off her slick figure. It amazes me how her clothes shrink along with her sizes. An even bigger shock is her wearing clothes at all, I mean, she’s never naked, but her bark skin acts like clothing already.
“Oh, I love Zierl, Colezz, and Franz. They are so talented, aren’t they? I can’t wait until they come back home.” She beams and fans herself.Huh? If she knows them, does that mean they aren’t human? Oh geez.Shaking my head to clear those wandering thoughts, I walk over to Moni and motion to the sofa.
“So, do you want to tell me what got under your skin enough to turn blue?” I try giving her my sympathetic look this time. “You do know that’s what friends are for, right?” I wiggle my eyebrows at her, or at least try to, but I know it probably looks like I’m having a seizure.
We move over to the sofa, and she starts to pace in front of the TV instead of sitting down next to me. With a deep breath, she spins on her heels to face me and spills everything about what happened at lunch. Of how even though it was just this Knox guy saying the nasty shit, the guys never apologized or even talked to her afterward to make sure she was okay. The only guy that showed up afterward was Zeke, and he was looking for me.
I roll my eyes at that. And of course this happened when I was cornered by Lisa, the Shadow Horse with a really fucked up sense of humor. I would have had some words if I saw my friend being treated that way. I might be wrong about this Knox friend of theirs if he never came up here and made sure Moni was okay. I would have thought he would have reached out to her since he’s part of the guys’ family.
I get up and wrap my arms around her and hug her tight. “I’m sorry, Moni. I’m sure they don’t think you're a burden. I mean, I can’t speak for this Knox guy or Ryker for that matter since he’s an ass,” I say, and she giggles. “But they don’t seem to be the type to do something they don’t want to. Especially Zeke, and do you think JP would stick around if he wasn’t worshipped for all of his talents?” I comment, stepping back to look at her.
“Damn right, I wouldn’t stick around. My sexiness is a hot commodity,” JP declares, while walking to the kitchen. I turn and watch as he licks his finger and runs it down his abs, making a sizzling noise as he goes. What looks like dark blue silk sleep pants have settled low on his hips, and I bite my lip HARD to keep the comment, drool, or moan from slipping. Take your damn pick. I’m sure if I opened my mouth, all three would fall out.
I turn back to Moni, and her eyes are as big as tea saucers, and her mouth is gaping wide in shock, staring at me. Oh damn. I open my mouth to say something, and it betrays me, flopping around like a fish out of water. I told you she was part bloodhound. Snapping her jaw tight, squinting her eyes, and putting her hands on her thin hips, she taps her tiny heels on the rug.
Feeling completely dejected, I sit down and prepare to grovel, but JP speaks up across the room to either save the morning or ruin it. You never know when it comes to him. “Stop it, Mo. She can’t help admiring how good I look,” he reasons, waving a hand over his body to indicate what apparently we need to be applauding now, like I need the reminder.
I can’t help it. I love looking at those tattoos running along his spine and teasing me about how they’re wrapped around his body and disappear under those pants.Gah! Stop thinking. I might have to enforce a shirt wearing policy and then immediately burn it up.Unless...he can do the one arm shirt removal like a real sex god?
“I told you I was born into the wrong species. I should have been an incubus, then I could bring the Sex God Revolution to light,” he says and my jaw drops. He winks and pulls out food from the fridge.
Lynx walks out of JP’s room in his Marten form and runs over to me.‘Hey, buddy. Whatcha doing in JP’s room?’I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
‘Getting my entertainment on. Did you know that before JP walked out here, he was staring at himself in the mirror, singing?’Lynx snickers, crawling up my arm and perching around my neck.
‘Really?’I ask, intrigued.What? Inquiring minds want to know.
‘Yeah. Singing: I’m too sexy for my clothes, too sexy for my clothes, oh baby, it shows,’Lynx sings, and I can’t help my smile while picturing JP dancing as he’s singing. Well, two can play at his game.
