Yikes. My face must be a clear reflection of my thoughts, because Oliver harrumphs and nods, “Yeah. Exactly.” He shrugs, his eyes suspiciously misty, and my pulse quickens slightly becausedear gods, please no. Not the tears.
When I look back up at him, he has a sheepish smile on his face, and his eyes are, thankfully, a bit clearer as he says, “Besides—if she was interested, Iwouldknow it.”
His purposeful stare has me confused for just a split second before it dawns on me—he can use his freaky squonk powers to, like, taste the air for emotions. Damn. That’s actually kind of depressing. Partly because I don’t want him to have to dwell on the discomfort, and also partly because I don’t want to chance tears, I change the subject and blurt out my own doubts about my meeting with Ryn.
Oliver smirks and shakes his head, “The necromancer? You definitely don’t have to worry. She wasveryinto you—before you put your foot in your mouth.”
Excitement bubbles in my chest at the same time I glare at my sneaky squonk friend, “I’m gonna let it slide that you were taste-testing my girl, but only this once.”
He nods absentmindedly, “I have explained that I’m not actually tasting anyone, just scenting the air, right? You make it sound like I should be on some kind of list for deviants.”
He has explained this to both meandCian, but I still like to give him shit for it.
He gets a little spark in his eyes when I tease him about his womanizer threat level, probably because he thinks the concept is so unfathomable. It’s a little sad, really, because Ollieisa fucking chill guy andif anyone deserves luck with the ladies, it’s probably him. He’s got all the emotional stuff dialed in and always knows what to say.
I suck my teeth and look him up and down before teasing, “You should be at thetopof the list, you kinky little freak.”
As expected, his eyes shine with mirth, and a small smile turns up one side of his mouth as he shakes his head and huffs, “Sure, Seth.”
His eyes catch on something behind the counter, and he bolts upright, a huge grin on his face now. “Actually, since we’re talking about kinky deviant shit…here.”
He grabs whatever caught his attention and hands it over to me. I look down at the brightly colored advertisement and quirk a brow, “Are you asking me out, Ollie—cuz I gotta be honest, I might be into it.”
He laughs and shakes his head, knowing me well enough now to know that I’m joking, “Erm, no. Thanks, but no. Ryn. You should take her there.”
My brows bunch and I look up at him with apprehension, “You really think kinky deviant shit is what I should aim for on the second, technically first, date? After how the last one ended?”
He snorts, and for some reason, his confidence further loosens the ball of nerves that’s been sitting like a weight in my gut, “Trust me, if you could sense what I could at the beginning of that first date—and even the tail end of it for a second there, you’d have already dialed her number to change your plans. Plus, she took one of these when she ordered her latte and looked super interested.”
I tilt my head and glance back down at the flyer. It only takes me a minute to think about it before shrugging.Fuck it, why not?
Grinning at him while I pull my phone out of my pocket, he chuckles as I concede,“Alright, Casanova. You win.”
I glance over at Ryn for the third time since we left the Boba place, and my pulse picks up. My palms are sweaty despite the cool in the air and the condensation on the cup in my hands. She’s absolutely fucking stunning. She’s got a fishnet bodysuit on under a matching cropped top andveryshort shorts. There’s a neon skeletal pattern on her outfit that makes desire curl low in my stomach.
Some primal part of me swells at the thought of her decorated in bones. When I called her earlier and asked if she’d be amenable to extending our meeting to include some clubbing, and she immediately accepted, I was fucking ecstatic. I have some major ground to recover after our last date flopped. Thankfully, I’m feeling at least a little more confident after Oliver’s assurances that Ryn was definitely into me.
My biggest problem now is that I need to stop looking at her. I’m being a creep—not intentionally, obviously, but my plan was to move kind of slowly and ease into things. Sort of feel things out and show her that I’m into her before I make any type of move. It’s getting increasingly hard to remember that plan because she’s different this time around.
I don’t know if it’s because she’s trying to make sure this favor request is smoother than the last, but she’s been extra handsy with little touches to my arm, chest, and shoulder, even my thigh while we sat and waited on our drinks. I watch from the corner of my eye as her shoulders move back, making her breasts appear fuller in her skin-tight top. I swallow around the sudden dryness in my throat. I can tell she’s purposefully tempting me, and it’s one hundred percent working.
Coughing and averting my traitorous eyes I mumble, “So, you haven’t actually mentioned what you need my help with yet.”
Ryn pulls her full bottom lip between her teeth, and I fight to suppress a growl.Holy fuck, do I want to bite that lip. I lift my cup to take a quick drink from the taro bubble tea I ordered.
“I need you to revoke the permit. Just for a little while, but like, immediately.”
I gag, partly at her request, but mostly because I just sucked down some nut-flavored tea and now that the tapioca pearls are in my mouth and squishy, it’s kind of making me want to barf.
My eyes dart to the side as she eyes me with one brow raised. Judging me. I hesitate for only a minute before I open the lid on my cup and spit it back in, balls and all. A shiver runs down my spine, and I reach out to toss the cup in a trash can as we walk by.
Ryn lets out a giggle, and I feel a flush stain my cheeks.
“Seth, why did you ask me to a Boba place if you don’t like Boba?”
I take a deep breath and shake my head, “Just wanted to try something new.”
My mouth makes a smacking sound as I suck the taro flavor out of my tongue, “That was awful though. Definitely not the kind of nut and balls I want in my mouth.”