“Where are you, Kane? Are you at the club?”
“Mmm. I’m so fuckin’ horny, Jessie. Please come to me. Let me put your titties in my mouth.”
Ever since I’ve known Kane, he’s never been shy about touching me. He’s filthy and crude ninety-nine percent of the time, and he’s unapologetic about it a hundred percent of the time.
But right now, this voice, this tone isn’t right.
“Kane?”
“Oh, Kane…”he tries to imitate me. “Fuck, Blondie. You have no clue how much I’ve wanted to fuck you.”
“Are you okay? Are you drunk or something?”
“Nope. I didn’t have a drop. I’m high as fuck, though. Jay’s fuckin’ his girl, and though he’s kinda ugly, it’s turning me on. Come to me, beautiful. Let’s show ‘em how to monster fuck. Let’s make ‘em blush.”
“No.” I set my milk down and bring the phone away from my ear to stare at the screen. “You’re high? You should go home and sleep.”
“No?” Almost like I can hear him throwing his hands up in exasperation, he grunts when they come down again. “What’s with all the chicks saying no tonight? Fuck me, you and your women’s freedom speech is spreadin’, Blondie. It’s a revolution!”
“Who else said no?”
“Lisa… Leeeesa. Then Nora, too. She won’t stop fuckin’ crying, so now I gotta sneak her stupid ass outta here once Abel thinks we fucked. He’ll shoot us both if he thinks I just let her go.”
“You have girls there? With you?”
“Mmhm. Just one. We’re in the party room and she’s an itty-bitty little thing. She’s got socks in her bra and marks on her teeth where her braces used to be.”
Rage and jealousy pump through my blood. It’s irrational and stupid, but I can’t stop the flow any more than man can stop the flow of lava from a volcano. “How do you know what’s in her bra, Kane? How do you see that close to her teeth?”
“‘Cause I looked, duh. Fuck, Blondie. My cock hurts so much; it’s been hurting since I met you. Just one time, one fuck, then I’ll go back to being my regular crude self, minus the fucking.”
“Kane… no.”
“Hey!” I jump in the dark and press a hand to my heart. “Did you put cream on your stitches tonight? It pisses me off that I care.”
“Kane…”
“I used to be immortal, Jessica. I was a god. Unreachable. Unbreakable. But guess what?”
“What?”
“You! You fuckin’ happened. Now I’m probably gonna die ‘cause my heart bleeds for you. You make me wanna pet your hair and make you safe, and that means I’d die to protect you.”
“Please don’t die.”
“I have no choice. One day I’ll die. One day we’ll all die.” A loud crash on Kane’s end of the line makes me jump. A woman screams, but he simply snickers. “Shush it, Nora. Let him go. He’s monster fuckin’.”
“Kane? Who’s monster fucking?”
“Jay. His ass is ugly, but his girl isn’t.”
“You can see a naked woman right now?”
“Uh-huh. Except she’s still got her bra on. But it’s pushed down under her tits, so it doesn’t really count.”
“Oh…kay.” Tears prick my eyes for reasons I can’t explain. Turning back to the sink, I pick up my milk and pour it down the drain. “I’ve gotta go now. Please be safe. I’ll always help you get a new job, just tell me when you’re ready.”
“No! Don’t go. Just another minute. I’m almost done.”