This month's extra - Answering Your Questions about Shifting and Hybrids - is up in the Dogs, Bats & Monkeys Series: EXTRAS book. The link to that chapter is given as an external link and in the first comment here.
I forgot the name of the guy David had driven me to almost as soon as he'd introduced us.
The man was a gorgeous African-American with muscles showing he was just as keen on working on his body as he was on adding paint to a canvas. Still, I didn't feel even the slightest flicker of lust at his charming smile or when he bent down - exposing his round ass to me - to pick up whatever he'd dropped.
David seemed to catch up on my reluctance to stay behind after working hours. He'd make the occasional loaded comment and innuendo, he'd run a hand over the other man's bare toned arms as if to invite me to do the same, but the air of defeat never left him, even as he attempted to turn me on.
I took my money and left them to their own devices in the African-American's apartment studio.
Then I pondered where to go.
Deviant had always been my favorite club, but even it had lost its charm.
My legs made me turn in the general direction of Adrian's apartment, but I wasn't sure I wanted to set foot there either.
I frowned, remembering the message I never ended up sending:
I'm having a threesome on that day.
I'd seen from the windows of the African-American's studio that there was a park nearby, so I headed that way, picking up a pack of cigarettes from a small corner shop I passed on as I walked there. I was rarely in the mood for smokes, but I fancied one tonight.
I sat on an empty bench and lit up, my thoughts frying off towards Adrian and our last in person encounter.
Do you have any idea how scared I was?
His words from that night invaded my mind and I tapped the ground with my foot as I took a long, long drag from my smoke.
I shouldn't have cared that he cared, but I did, and it royally pissed me off.
I threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it with my toe, wondering what I should do next.
I could go home...
But I didn't want to, my head already turning towards the way that would lead me to Adrian's apartment.
Fuck it.
I might as well go.
Get whatever was going to happen over with.
I knew I was up for a tense encounter, given how we'd previously parted, but waiting to see him wouldn't change that.
And I wanted to see him.
And annoy him just to prove to myself that I was still me.
With that thought in mind, I pocketed the cigarettes and took out my phone... Only to realize that giving someone the heads up about me coming over wasn't really my thing, not the old me, anyway. So I closed the text app and instead dialed a taxi service, giving Adrian's address when my driver arrived ten minutes later.
Bear jumped off the couch and headed towards the front door, sitting down, his tiny tail wiping the floor as he stared at the handle. I was just about to tell him that it was too early for a walk, when I heard a knock.
Surprised, I put the remote on the coffee table and went to open the door, peering through the spy hole first as I was not expecting anyone. Alec's face, complete with a pout, greeted me and he raised his fist and knocked again, this time louder.
My heart skipped a beat and my hand went to my hair before I opened the door. Alec walked in without waiting for an invitation or giving me any greeting. Bear jumped to his feet and weaved himself between Alec's legs. Uncharacteristically for the newcomer, he bent to pat my dog before he went into the bathroom, not bothering to close the door. I heard running water and assumed he was washing his hands.
When Alec reappeared, I greeted him with my arms crossed over my chest. I wanted to ask him what he was doing here and why he hadn't called, to chastise him about not saying 'Hello' or asking for permission to enter, but he spoke first:
"I'd contemplated a threesome for tonight."
A weight wedged in my chest. I wanted to say that it wasn't any of my business and that I didn't care, but the words that left my mouth were:
"How was the threesome?"
I cringed and he smirked.
"Nonexistent." His reply sent a disturbing sense of relief through my body. Alec threw himself of my couch, legs spread wide apart. Bear jumped next to him, but this time the blond ignored the dog.
"Didn't feel like fucking," he continued. "But now..."
His eyes trailed over me, a salacious smirk appearing on his face. I suppressed a shiver that I did my best to convince myself was my survival instinct reacting to his predatory gaze, and not desire for him.
"Do you have something I could nibble on?" He pointedly stared at my neck, the skin there tingling under his gaze.
I cleared my throat.
"So it's going to be one of those times?" I asked.
"One of what times?"
"When you are an annoying brat."
And sexy as Hell...
I began to mentally reprimand myself for the errant thought, but was distracted by his chuckle.
"Aren't I always?"
I sighed and let my arms fall. "No, Alec. Not always."
A flicker of something I couldn't decipher appeared in his pale eyes, his face going serious for a moment so brief, I wasn't sure I hadn't imagined it, and then he adopted that haughty, bored look I hated with a passion.
We had ourselves a staring contest, which - predictably - I lost.
"Why did you even come here?" I asked after another sigh.
"I was hungry," he replied, licking his lips.
"I'm serious, Alec."
"So am I." He let his lids fall half closed.
"Did something happen?" I kept inquiring. "Are you hurt?"
He blinked twice before echoing me:
"'Are you hurt?'" He then leaned forward and closer to me, elbows on his knees."I am seducing you and you ask me whether I'm hurt?" He shook his head. "Why would I be hurt?"
"Because sex is a hobby to you, but you use it to manipulate and to deflect as well, and I suspect also as a defense mechanism."
He huffed, leaning back, arms covering his chest.
"Read a few psychology books lately, huh?"
I had researched and analyzed Alec's behavior after the pool incident, but I also had some experience reading people because of my job. I opted to voice only the latter:
"I work in a field where I need to figure people out."
"And you think you can figure me out?" His smile was a sarcastic sneer.
"No, but I'm trying to. I can't help you otherwise."
"Why do you want to help me anyway?" His voice rose slightly.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "But I do."
We had another staring match, but this time Alec let me win.
"How about we have dinner?" He asked, then - when I opened my mouth to tell him he wasn't biting me - added: "Without you being on the menu."
It was early evening, but dinner time was approaching and depending on what I made, we might not have our meal ready for an hour or so.
"Alright."
"I'm cooking," he declared, hopping off the couch and heading for my kitchen.
Watching Alec move about my kitchen, chopping up vegetables was surreal. Just a couple of days ago, I'd thought I wouldn't be seeing him for a while and now there he was, operating with such confidence as if we were in his apartment and I was the guest.
Somehow, I didn't mind.
I went back to the last time we'd texted and his simple 'No' to my inquiry on whether he was free tonight. For some reason, that 'no' had seemed cold. No banter, no teasing, just a plain and simple 'no'. The tone behind it didn't change in my mind simply because I knew the reason for his answer: that threesome that hadn't happened.
The notion that it might've taken place was worrying me way more than it should just like that fact that nothing had happened brought on a relief I had no right to feel.
I was jealous of Alec's potential bed partners even though I myself refused to sleep with him; how messed up was that?
Perhaps Alec was rubbing off on me, his illogical behavior sparking my own irrationality.
The guy was such a contradiction.
He pretended not to care about anyone, but he was doing something nice for me by cooking me dinner. He also had a whole shelf of books about taking care of babies, including shifter ones - a topic I suspected he'd taken interest in since the birth of his half-sibling. He was sometimes a jerk to his cat, but the pet responded in kind and apparently that was their thing: being mean, but loving to each other.
Another thing about Alec: he seemed strong.
Seemed.
I really did believe he was using sex as much as for defense as he did for offence, and then there was the fact that he enjoyed putting himself in danger - something that could be interpreted as a subconscious cry out for attention, for a need for help.
But I'd meant what I'd said: I couldn't help him, unless he lowered his walls and let me in.
Would he expect me to reciprocate if I managed the feat of actually getting to know him?
I wasn't ready to divulge my own deepest problems; did that make me a hypocrite?
Definitely.
Did I still want to peel off Alec's defensive layers and get to the centre of who he was?
Same answer.
"Dinner's ready."
Alec's words brought me back to the world around me.
Alec not sleeping with David and the other guy, but instead visiting Adrian: what are your thoughts on that?
Did you expect it?
Are you happy about it?
What about Alec cooking: a nice gesture or do you think he might have ulterior motives?
Lastly: Adrian.
Do you think he's a hypocrite for wanting to get to know Alec, but not wanting to speak about his own trauma?
Do you think he has the right to be jealous when he keeps turning Alec down?
Please support this chapter with a VOTE if you enjoyed it! I hope you have a great time wattpadding.
PS: I haven't decided on what Alec is making for dinner with those veggies. Any suggestions?