Page 38 of A Monster Is Coming

Then of course, the kissing lead to, well, more kissing, which lead to us being naked, and then sex. I liked sex. The first time had been incredibly painful. I’d even expected the pain. The second time had been much better, and now I’d lost count of how good it was.

Several of the women in town couldn’t stand me. They didn’t like that I’d won Peter Shadows and they hadn’t. They hadn’t stopped trying, though. Peter told me regularly of some of their antics, but he was already well-prepared for them. I could imagine that pissed them all off.

Stepping out of the diner at a little past eight, I turned to find Peter leaning up against his car, a smile on his lips.

When we first met, he rarely smiled, but now, as I stepped toward him, he opened his arms. He embraced me and I felt … safe. This is another reason I hadn’t left. For the first time in my life, I felt safe. I was in Peter’s arms. Nothing bad could happen. But I knew I was a fool. My father would kill this man without a second thought, and I didn’t want to be responsible for killing him.

I liked him and I was a little afraid I might even be falling in love with him. Which had to be crazy. I’d read the stories of love at first sight and all those other tales of meeting “the one,” at the perfect moment. They sounded like the perfect dream, only to me that was the fantasy, because of my father.

Yet, we’d known each other a few months, and I had developed feelings for Peter. Was it love? I didn’t know, because I didn’t know what love was supposed to feel like. I’d never known love.

“I’ve been waiting for that all day.”

I smiled. “Me too. Did you have a good day?”

“It’s getting better.”

He moved away from the car and opened the passenger side. I slid in, and Peter surprised me by reaching in and securing my seat belt. I smiled at him as he closed the door. He seemed a little distracted tonight.

“Bad day at the gym?” I asked.

“You could say that.”

He was being vague.

I couldn’t help but wonder if one of the women had tried to come on to him again. A couple of the women had tried to tell him he was making a mistake in dating me. Kind of rude, but they had their opinions, I had mine.

He clearly didn’t want to talk, so I stayed silent as he drove us back to his place. I’d only been back to my apartment to change clothes, toss out the spoiled food, pay the rent, and that was pretty much it.

Peter insisted on us being at his place. I got the feeling he didn’t like my apartment, but he’d also not asked me to move in. I was grateful he hadn’t asked me, because I would have had to say no.

Strange, I just realized that in my twenty-five years, Peter was my first-ever boyfriend, and I felt that hit of guilt, because I was already lying to him. This was not a relationship.

I needed to leave. I’d already stayed longer than I should have.

Pickle Quest was a nice town, but the only reason I stayed was for Peter, and that was a bad reason. My father could be out looking for me. So far, I’d not seen anyone who might be working for my father. That could all change, though. I had to leave to protect Peter. If someone started asking questions, Peter could get hurt.

We arrived at his place and he parked the car. I turned toward him, about to tell him I’d be leaving soon.

Peter started to talk. “I’d like you to move in with me.”

Okay, now that was a surprise. I was a little taken aback, seeing as that was what I was just thinking about. But I had to leave.

“Move in with you?” I asked.

He pointed toward the house. “I’ve been wanting to ask you for a couple of weeks now, but, I didn’t want to scare you away. I kind of like having you around.”

This made me smile, although this was now the last thing I wanted to tell him.

“I, uh, I’d love to but … Peter, I’m going to have to leave soon,” I said. The moment I said those words, I knew I didn’t mean them. I didn’t want to leave him, and once again, I couldn’t help but hate my dad.

“I know. You’ve said before that you don’t intend to stay in Pickle Quest, but how about, until you leave, we kind of see where this goes? You never know, when you’ve got to leave, I might just go with you.”

This surprised me. “You’d come with me?”

“Yeah, why not? Nothing is keeping me here. I know my friend can get another person to take care of this house. It’ll be fun.”

I reached across and kissed him.

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