Page 24 of Soulless Saint

It hugged his chest like a glove, every crest and valley of his chest showing through the thin, distressed fabric, but fitted loose around a narrow waist.

“Right?” Toby trilled. “The man is a King.”

I snorted, hopping back down from the countertop.

“I’d kneel at his throne,” I joked, lifting my cup for another sip. “If I weren’t fasting.”

“More for me,” Toby smirked, inclining his head to the living room. “Come on, let’s go say hi.”

We waded through the partygoers, and I clutched my purse tighter to my side, half wishing I’d left it back in the car. Another couple of whiskeys and I was liable to set it down somewhere. Toby and I completed the sale of my Loro Piana dress on the way here and this little black purse now held the rest of the cash I needed to pay Kate the rent. But I wasn’t a total idiot, the important bits, like my phone and driver’s license were safely stowed in my boot like my bestie taught me. When I had a second, I’d stuff the cash into my other boot too, just to be safe.

“Hey, Kale,” Toby called as we neared Kaleb and the small group of guys surrounding him. I flagged behind, trapped by a train of girls on their way out to the side garden, their cloying perfume making me gag.

“Toby, man, haven’t seen you out in a couple weeks.”

I stepped through and into the circle just as Kaleb and Toby slapped hands, grasping at the elbows for a manly embrace. I winced on Toby’s behalf. That was not the move of a guy who was into him. It was the move of a guy who had firmly placed Toby in the friend category. But if my new roomie hadn’t given up, I wouldn’t be the one to crush his dreams.

“Yeah,” Toby said, preening at the fact that this godlike man noticed his absence. “Went up north to visit the fam. Just got back a few days ago.”

As Kaleb straightened, our eyes met and his easy smile faltered, replaced with a look of surprise. I remembered I’d just walked into a group of guys shooting the shit and wondered if he was put off by a taco encroaching on the hotdog party.

“Uh,” I mumbled, ready to excuse myself for another drink, shaken by the way Kaleb’s gaze was still fixated on me, heavy and intent, but Toby curled his fingers around my wrist, dragging me forward.

“Kaleb,” he said in a sweet drawl. “Meet my new roommate—oh! and co-worker, actually—Becca. Becca, this is Kaleb.”

I licked my lips, casting my gaze away from his unwavering stare. “You have a nice place,” I offered, hoping he couldn’t hear the crack in my voice over the music. It was his place, right?

I thought I remembered Toby saying it was Kaleb’s party.

“It’s not usually so crowded,” he said with a smirk pulling at one side of his lips, showing off a dimple in his cheek that I hadn’t noticed there before.

My lips tripped over a reply, not really knowing what to say to that. I gave Toby a little shove toward Kaleb instead, remembering I was supposed to be a wingwoman tonight. And dammit, I was fasting. Not even a feast that gorgeous was going to tempt me.

“You two catch up,” I ordered before turning to Toby, taking the still mostly full cup from his hands. “I’ll get us a refill.”

Relief rolled over me in a wave as soon as I walked away, though I could still feel Kaleb’s eyes on me as I weaved my way back to the kitchen. What was his deal?

I shakily poured two fresh cups of whiskey, this time mixing it with a little ginger ale. Fingers of heat clawed up the back of my neck, and I couldn’t be sure it was from the whiskey.

When I turned back around, I saw Toby and Kaleb laughing together through the bodies between me and the living room and knew I shouldn’t interrupt.

Bathroom. I needed a bathroom. A good splash of cool water would fix me right up.

Despite Toby’s assurance that this was the safest place to drink in Santa Clarita, I scooped up our cups and carried them with me, lifting them overhead to avoid spilling as I carved a path toward the corridors on the other side of the living room. I was careful to circle around the groups of people, keeping out of Toby’s—and Kaleb’s—lines of sight. Not ready to be drawn back in yet.

I half wondered if it was a mistake to come. When Kate declined Toby’s request that she join him, I should have declined, too. But Kate had the excuse of being scheduled for the opening shift at Death Before Decaf the next morning. I had no such excuse, not scheduled for my next shift until tomorrow in the late afternoon after class.

The dark hallway swallowed me up as I slid past a few people, stumbling down its throat. “Shit, sorry,” I muttered, almost spilling on one of the girls near its mouth.

“Do you know where the bathroom is?” I asked, but she continued her conversation, ignoring me as if I were invisible. I might as well have been. Aside from Kaleb and Toby, no one here had said two words to me. My stomach flipped with nerves, that grade-school desire to fit in still there even after I’d spent years working so hard to kill it dead.

It didn’t matter, though. I had Ava Jade and the Crows back in Thorn Valley. I had Toby and Kate now, too. Who the fuck cared if any of these jackasses paid any attention to me?

Not me.

Not me.

I passed the first door on the right, its narrow shape denoting it as likely to be a closet. The next one on the left, that had to be it.

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