I want something real.
"Something new?" Luna asks.
Maybe. If she's game. Imogen is interesting. Different from other people I know. Very different from other woman who invite me to their apartments. But I'm not in the mood to discuss it with them. "I need coffee." I check the clock. Thirty minutes until my next appointment. It's not enough time, but I can't wait another second.
"I can put on a pot." Luna motions to the coffee machine on the counter. The drip isn't up to her standards, but there's "No way she's drinking coffee from a pod."
"Nah. I'll pick up something," I say. "You want anything?"
"Blue Bottle?" she asks.
"Yeah." It's two doors down.
She bites her lip, no doubt weighing her desire for an excellent iced coffee against the ridiculous prices at the San Francisco chain. "If you don't mind."
"Black or NOLA style?" I ask.
"Ooh, tough call. Black," she says.
"Got it," I say.
"Thanks, Tricky. I owe you." She blows me a kiss.
Dare says something to her, something about his jealousy. He flirts. Or teases. I can't always tell with him.
I don't enjoy it the way I normally do. I don't feel the warmth of the shop. Or enjoy the pink string lights. They make me think of Thorn.
They make me think of Imogen—
The color of her sheets—
The tattoo on her ribs.
The tattoo I put on her ribs.
Even when I step outside, into the warm June afternoon, I don't feel the warmth of the sun or the cool of the breeze.
Only the intense need for every one of my Hearts and Thorns's thoughts.
I make it all the way to the coffee shop, into line, then I read.
ChapterSix
The Hookup Experiment (Part Two)
Posted by Hearts and Thorns
Friday June 17th, 2 A.M.
Ishould be asleep.
But I can't find slumber in my room. My sheets smell like satisfaction.
I know, I know. Satisfaction is a feeling, not a smell. But it's all over the room. The lingering presence of another person in my space. Another person, reading my body, finding what I want, touching me, making me come.
And let me tell you…
I came.