Page 56 of Creep
I snuggled in closer to him, falling into that space between asleep and awake.
The last thought I had before falling under was just how familiar Mael felt pressed up against me, and I didn’t know why that was.
I wasn’t usually so whimsical, but I decided it must be because my soul recognized his in some way.
* * *
It wasone of those rare days that I had off.
I wasn’t sure why I had taken to working so much at the coffee shop. It wasn’t like I needed the money. My family had been well-off for generations, and though we weren’t the kind of rich other people took notice of, we were rich enough that Caden and I each had a small inheritance set up for us to receive on our twenty-fifth birthday.
I’d barely touched mine since the moment I’d received it.
Caden will never get the chance to receive his. He died a month before his twenty-first birthday, and Dad gave me his portion. I knew he was trying to do the right thing, but sometimes, I wished he had never given it to me in the first place.
That money was nothing more than a reminder that I had lost my baby brother.
But it was mine nonetheless, and with both inheritances combined, I had enough to live off modestly for at least a decade or so.
I was still working a lot.
Too much, according to Dad. But I had the day off today, and Victoria wanted to go for lunch.
She was already at the restaurant when I arrived, and waved me over before the hostess could say anything.
I walked over to her with a smile, somewhat excited to be doing something normal, at least.
My little stalker problem was still very much on my mind, but I didn’t want it to stop me from living.
So far, he’d beenharmless.
At least, harmless enough that he hadn’t done anything more than scare the shit out of me and creep me out in the worst way possible.
Or perhaps I was stupid and feeling optimistic today because I had spent the night with Mael. I didn’t know.
“Hey,” I greeted, sitting across from my friend in the booth.
She pushed the menu over to me. “Hey, how are you? It feels like we haven’t talked in a while.”
I nodded. The last time had been when she saw Mael for the first time at the coffee shop and flirted with him. I didn’t even know how to bring up that I was sort of seeing him.
“I know. That’s why we need to enjoy this time, and you need to tell me all about the latest man.”
She laughed. “Maybe I want to start settling down.”
I shot her a look of surprise. It wasn’t that I thought Victoria wasn’t capable of it, only that ever since we met our freshman year in college, she had always been adamant that she would never settle down with anyone. And she had held true to that. I had never seen Victoria in a long-term relationship. But it wasn’t like I was one to talk. I hadn’t been in a long-term relationship with anyone either, but Victoria…
“Do you have someone in mind?” I asked. Maybe she met someone.
She gave me a cheeky smile. “Why do you think there is a man to make me want to settle down?”
I didn’t say anything.
She chuckled and shook her head but didn’t answer me.
The waitress came by our table then. We ordered our drinks, and I looked down at the menu, trying to decide what I wanted to eat.
“How’s everyone?” she asked.
