Mateo and I drove to Lila and Rafael's apartment in his car. I hadn't known that he was coming to my job to see me, but I was grateful that he did. Lord knows what would have went down between Samael and myself if Aimi hadn't interrupted us.
We talked about the little things. We spoke about the new girl that he was causally fucking, his mom getting a promotion, and him adopting a kitten that he wanted me to meet. But I never once mentioned what I had been up to. I was hesitant, trying to avoid the topic of conversation, but it of course failed.
"So," Mateo muttered. "What have you been up to lately?"
"Just work," I smiled wearily.
"Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He stole a brief glance at me. "How are you and your roommates? Getting along?"
Getting along. I nearly snorted, but I simply nodded. "Yeah."
"I spoke to Aimi," he said. My heart nearly stopped. Had she told him that I had sex with Aries? Or that Silas had fingered me? I didn't update her on any of the recent and frequent activity. But I was hoping she wouldn't have told him without my consent. "She told me she met one of your roommates and that he was hot."
I broke into a grin. I had almost forgotten the awkward encounter that Aimi and Silas had, had in the kitchen over a month ago. It felt so long ago that it had became a distant memory. Silas and I hadn't spoken about it. And neither had Aimi and I.
"Oh, yeah," I nodded. "She met Silas."
"She said that he was tall, blonde, blue eyes, and the facial structure of a renaissance sculpture."
I blinked. "That is...oddly specific."
He chuckled. "You know Aimi. She's overdramatic."
"But," I thought aloud, "she's right. He's very attractive."
"Ah," he nodded. "Well, I still need to meet these roommates of yours. I need to be able to see for myself."
"Even if you think they're attractive, you know that you won't admit it."
He scoffed. "Are you calling me insecure?"
"No," I stressed. "I'm just saying that you perceive every male as a threat in any of our lives. You hated Rafael for six months."
He shrugged. "I just didn't think he was right for Lila."
"You thought that before you met him. You need to stop being so overprotective."
"You guys are like my sisters, Nat. Of course I'm going to be overprotective."
"Stop," I cringed, holding my hand up. "You know how much I hate when you say that. We've had sex and on multiple occasions. Find a better analogy."
He pouted. "But you are like my sister that I had sex with."
"Mateo!" I hissed. "You are so annoying."
He laughed. "Fine. You're like my step sister."
"You know what? Just leave it," I shook my head.
We found parking a couple of blocks away and began our way to the apartment. We stopped briefly at the store to get some snacks. I got Lila's favorite honey barbecue chips, and the mint chocolate chip ice cream that Rafael had liked so much. Meanwhile Mateo got nearly the entire store. By the time we were leaving, we were lugging bags filled with things we weren't planning on getting.
"You would think we were moving in together," I said dryly.
"Aw, you want to move in with me?" He cooed. "Are you sure you're not in love with me?"
I rolled my eyes as we waited for the elevator in Lila and Rafael's apartment building. "You're hilarious, Teo."
"You didn't deny it," he sang. "I would be in love with me too. I know my dick game is strong."
"Shut up," I grimaced.
We walked off the elevator, approaching their apartment door. "You're so cute when you're annoyed. If I didn't think of you as a sister, I would totally fucking marry you."
I turned to him threateningly. "Stop referring to me as your sister."
He frowned, fake sniffling. "Fine. I'll stop only because I want to. Not because you told me to."
I rolled my eyes, knocking on the front door. I couldn't help the grin on my face as I saw my redheaded best friend on the opposite side of the door. She grinned, her eyes moving between the two of us. Her eyes then landed on the bags in our hands, a confused look arising on her face.
"Are you two moving in?" She asked.
"That's exactly what I told him," I shot Mateo a look.
"We'll eat half of this shit in an hour tops," he said, moving in past Lila.
"Who is we?" Lila asked with a scoff. "Only you can swallow the whole kitchen and still somehow be hungry for more." She turned to me with a shake of her head. "Come in, Nat. Rafael has some company over, but I'm sure he won't mind. I missed you." She grabbed some of the bags from my hands, helping me carry them inside.
I shut the door behind me. "I missed you more. I was hoping to surprise you."
"I'm very much surprised. I haven't seen you in a while," she set the things on the counter. Mateo already had his hand in the bag. "Everything been okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
"I was starting to think that Mateo got you pregnant, and that you were both trying to hide it from me," she announced, making me scowl. "What? I haven't seen you in a long time, and Mateo hasn't been returning my texts."
"Sorry," he looked sheepish. "I've been super busy. I haven't even texted Nat back. I just surprised her at her job today."
"Well, isn't today just the day of surprises?" Lila giggled, rustling through the bags. She found the barbecue chips, grinning. She offered me some, and I ate them happily.
"So who is the company Rafael has over?" I asked. "Anyone important?"
She shrugged. "Just a couple of friends, I guess. I literally just got in before you came here."
"I want to meet them," Mateo said, standing up straighter.
"Here he goes," Lila murmured. "You can't try to intimidate every man you meet, Teo. It just doesn't work."
"I'm not trying to intimidate anyone," he grunted. "I just want to meet his friends. I've never met his friends. I assumed he didn't have any." I shot him a look. "What? That kid is weird."
"He's not weird," Lila said sternly. "He's just shy when you don't know him that well."
"Not shy enough to fuck you the first night you met," I muttered under my breath. I thought that I had gotten away with it until I felt a bag of chips hit me. I gasped, Mateo laughing as Lila sent me a glare. "Did I lie though?"
"He's very shy," she crossed her arms.
I shook my head. "You don't know what shy is. He's standoffish at first, but he's actually really sweet. And since you tried to intimidate him, Teo, I'm sure he doesn't like you very much."
"Oh, no. He loves Mateo. He thinks it's hilarious," she laughed. "Rafael is really good at reading people. He saw right through you."
Mateo scowled meanwhile I laughed. "Face it. You're just not that scary, Teo. And that's okay."
"Shut up," he rolled his eyes. "Let's go meet his friends."
"Why?" I asked. "Just let them be."
"No," he shook his head. "I need to see what suckers he hangs out with. We did buy enough after all."
He picked up a handful of snacks in his arms, cradling them like a baby. He went off to the living room. Lila and I exchanged a look, shaking our heads and following behind him. I saw that Mateo was frozen in the doorway, in almost like a trance. His body was shaking, almost as though he were electrocuted. I gasped, rushing over to him.
"Teo, what's wrong?" I asked worriedly, going to touch him. And as I did, the shock was enough to make me jerk my hand away.
"What are you doing?" I heard Lila ask in horror.
I furrowed my eyebrows, turning my head to follow who she was asking. Shock consumed me, my eyes falling on my boss in the living room with my roommates and Rafael. Samael's eyes and sclera were black as night, very much inhumanly possible.
Samael blinked, Mateo collapsing to the floor. He seemed to have passed out. I fell to the floor, cradling Mateo in my lap. I tried to shake him, I tried to wake him up, but he wasn't waking up. He was breathing, but he wasn't even moving. I began to pat his cheeks.
"He offered me mint chocolate chip ice cream," I heard Samael say. "I hate mint chocolate chip ice cream."