Soar

“Okay. Let’s stay on task here.” I pulled out a fifty from my wallet and placed it on the table. The girls turned their eyes to the paper. “All right, good. The attacks, tell me about them.”

“What do you want to know?” The blonde picked up the bill and tucked it into her skirt so that half of it stuck out. I wasn’t asking for it back even if they didn’t talk.

“Why now? Who’s the ring leader?”

“The king is weak.”

“No, he’s not.” I could feel my anger boil. They might be seeing my wings for a whole different reason.

“He is, and there’re some secrets the bears have uncovered.”

“Secrets?”

“Yes. Big secrets.”

I pulled out another fifty. This time, the dark haired girl took it. “They’re trying to get the king to strike back, to give them an excuse to make a real run against them.”

“But they struck first.”

“Only on humans…not on the Pterons.” She lay down, resting her head on her friend’s lap.

“What kind of timeline are we talking?”

“Fast.” The blonde squeezed her friend’s breast, making the other girl moan. It was time to leave before things got out of hand.

“I’ll send some willing participants your way.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us? I promise you’ll have a good time.” The brunette sat up, placed the cash on the table, and started sliding her skirt down over her tan hips. She wasn’t wearing any panties.

“Yeah, I bet. Later, ladies.” I resisted the urge to glance back but tapped the first guy I saw on the shoulder. “Do you do nymphs?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“Me. But there’re two naked ones back there looking for some company.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The guy looked at me like I was Santa Claus.

I shook my head and walked right out. I didn’t even have a second sip of my drink. I picked up my phone and called Owen. New York was even crazier than I remembered.

Chapter Fourteen

Casey

“I didn’t expect to be back here so soon.” I set two brown grocery bags down on the island in Toby’s kitchen.

“We already had plans for tomorrow night, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.” He set down his bags and started unpacking.

“Yeah, but I barely even left.” I glanced around at the spick and span kitchen. I wondered if Toby cleaned it himself, or if he hired someone to do it. Probably the latter.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”

“Not necessarily bad, just surprising.”

“Have you had many boyfriends?” He watched me closely, as though he was afraid of missing my reaction.

“I’ve had my share.” That was a bit of an exaggeration, but I wasn’t going to admit how little I’d dated.

“Serious ones?”

“Not really.” There was only one guy who’d gotten under my skin. He’d also been the only one to break my heart.

“Hmm.”

“Why are you asking?” I crossed my arms. I didn’t enjoy the interrogation. My love life was definitely not an approved topic of conversation.

“I’m just curious.” There was something about his expression that made me doubt him. He didn’t seem to be asking out of a competitive need to know either. I wanted to know more about his answer, but I couldn’t dig for more information unless I was ready to give up some secrets of my own.

“All right, ready to start cooking?”

He nodded. “Sure.”

I dug out the flour and cut up the butter for the roux. Toby was getting a lesson in making sauces.

“Who taught you how to cook?” Toby easily followed my directions as I had him prepare and bread the chicken br**sts.

“My mom. It’s kind of our thing.” I missed cooking with her. It was one of the few things I missed about being home. I’d had a nice enough childhood, but I always felt kind of out of sorts, like I didn’t quite fit in. That’s probably why I jumped at the chance to date the first bad boy I could. He was everything my parents had warned me about, but that just made it better. If I’d known the trouble it would cause, I would have walked the other way when he first smiled at me.

Toby pulled me out of my thoughts. “That’s cool. I grew up with my dad mostly. His cooking usually involved take-out.”

“It’s great that you’re making an effort to teach yourself.”

He shrugged awkwardly, and I realized he was trying to scratch an itch without getting any of the egg and breadcrumb mixture on his face.

“Let me help you with that.” I reached up and scratched where I thought he needed it.

“Thanks.” He smiled.

My face was still close to his from when I’d leaned in. “You’re welcome.”

His lips crushed into mine without warning, and I eagerly responded.

“Don’t move.” He quickly washed his hands before picking me up and placing me on one of the few clean spots on the counter.

His lips returned to mine, and we effortlessly got back to where we’d been. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his hands rested on my legs. His tongue pushed into my mouth and tangled with mine in every possible way.

I leaned back, hitting my head on the upper cabinet. “Ow.”

“You okay?” He touched my head where I’d hit it.

“Absolutely.” I pulled his face back to mine. Then someone knocked on the door. I groaned as Toby stepped back and walked out of the kitchen.

“Whoever it is, this better be important.” His words carried across the apartment.

“It’s me,” a male voice answered.

I smoothed out my hair, trying to hide signs of what we’d been doing as Toby answered the door.

“Make this fast.”

I hopped off the counter and put the chicken in the oven before peeking around the corner to watch Toby talk to a guy I hadn’t seen before. At least it wasn’t Jared. I didn’t need to see him after making out with Toby.

They were talking in hushed tones, so I decided to take a look out the window and wait them out. They talked for a few more minutes before I heard Toby close the door.

“You have such an amazing view.” I stood with my eyes glued out the living room windows. I loved the city, and would never get tired of watching the constant bustle of it all. I decided not to ask about the visitor. I was positive he’d just give me an evasive answer, like everything else.