Page 13 of Vibes

“I suppose,” she agreed, turning away. She digs her phone out of the big bathrobe pocket and taps on the screen. “I’ve sent Cora a lot of messages. She should come by soon.”

“This is all her fault,” I hiss, pushing away from Iris. If she wants to pretend Dylan didn’t show up here to take advantage of her, I’ll guess I’ll just feign ignorance. It’s clear she doesn’t want to talk about this. We aren’t close, so I don’t exactly blame her.

Scrubbing a hand over my eyes, I resist the urge to yawn. I can’t remember feeling tired the past couple days when I was stuck as a vibrator, but now it’s like everything is catching up to me. I don’t want to end up falling asleep if there’s even a chance that Cora might show up and fix this disaster.

“You’re sure she’s going to show up?” I ask Iris, who flops down on her couch. She fights a yawn too, and I think it’s hitting us both.

“Of course.” She fights another yawn, shaking her head. It’s as though the adrenaline rush that hit with Dylan showing up way too fucking early in the morning stole all our energy. “Cora is one of my best friends. She wouldn’t leave me hanging. Don’t worry so much. We’ll get this all figured out soon.”

6 Hearts to Heads

Iris

We do not, in fact, get anything else figured out. With how worked up I was last night, I expected to not sleep until Cora called. I couldn’t imagine closing my eyes after Lachlan magically appeared in my apartment, much less after Dylan just walked in thanks to him.

But the body is a fickle thing and exhaustion won out. I don’t remember falling asleep. I don’t even recall closing my eyes. I do remember silently glowering at Lachlan as he took up a large portion of the couch, that dumb towel barely holding onto his hips.

I did not need a reminder of what he’s packing below the waist. Temptation is bad enough.

Whenever we fell asleep, he was still open. But when I jump scare myself awake sometime past seven in the morning, I look over and the man is gone.

Son of a bitch.

In Lachlan's place is the damn vibrator I bought last night. Scrubbing the sleep out of my eyes I lean it over and pick him up, wondering if it was all a hallucination. Unfortunately, my sex toy speaks to me when I push the button.

This complicates things. I have to leave Lachlan sitting there like a reject as I hurry and get dressed, eyeing the time. There’s one shitty text from Cora around four in the morning, hours after she claimed she would show up. I almost throw my phone when I see it.

CORA

Stop by the store later today and I’ll try to explain.

I think she’s lost her goddamn mind, and even without asking him I’m pretty sure we are on the same page. I eye him a couple times as I get ready to run out the door, hesitating to grab him before I groan and chuck him in the bag.

I already looked around. This isn’t a joke; he’s not hiding as a person anywhere. And I guess if it was an elaborate hoax by the hockey team, there’s no way Cora would be involved.

“You’re going to work with me,” I explain once in the car, opening my bag so he could hear. If he can’t hear me, well, it’s no different than talking to myself. “I have a seven-hour shift at the coffee shop. Get comfortable. And a class. Then we’ll go find Cora and I’ll talk this out with her. If it’s her fault she sure as hell better fix it.”

He doesn’t respond, and I’m not sure he’s going to. Can I turn the button on to hear his voice anytime or is that a nighttime thing? Honestly, I’m kind of afraid to find out.

Halfway there curiosity wins out, and at a stoplight I turn him on. All the sweet silence dissolves. “You don’t think we have better things to do than go to work?”

“I need my job,” I counter, keeping my gaze on the light. “Cora didn’t come over, so she’s probably asleep.”

“Let’s go wake her up then!” he cries. In his shifted form, his voice has a buzz to it just like the toy, and it’s disorienting to listen to.

“Cranky Cora isn’t going to help us anymore than chipper Cora,” I sigh, releasing the button when the light changes. “But while I have your silence, I feel I should mention your team lost last night. Massively if I saw right.”

He doesn’t say anything, and I tap my fingers on the wheel before sharing the last bit with him. “I heard it was six-to-zero. That’s a big loss, right? I don’t really know a lot about sports, but the zero sounds bad. I guess the five of you who didn’t show really carried the team, huh?”

Another beat of silence, and I fill in some names. Why am I talking to myself again? “I did tell you that five of you are missing, right? I saw it again online. You, Flynn, the twins, and I think it’s Jason?”

Shit, should’ve double checked the names before I said anything. But I’m already late as I pull into a parking spot, shoving Lachlan down into my bag, and hurry inside. He’ll have to fret about what that means while I’m busy, because I cannot lose this job.

“Iris,” Vivian hisses. My manager looks less than enthused as I chuck my bag under the counter, forcing a smile before eyeing the line that’s forming with only one cashier. Shoving Lachlan out of my mind for now, or at least to the side, I try to focus on what I’m supposed to be doing. Worrying about Cora won’t help me now either.

Once the breakfast and rush-hour hordes come through, the shop is pretty quiet during lunch, and I’m already frazzled having Lachlan here. What am I supposed to say if someone accidentally discovers him? It would be embarrassing enough if it’s just a sex toy, but I know my poker face sucks. I won’t be able to turn this into a believable lie, and the last thing I want to start telling people is it’s Lachlan. After his team got slaughtered last night, I doubt anyone in town would appreciate the joke.

It’s already shaping up to be a crappy day before one of my least favorite people walks into the shop.