Page 7 of Locke

“And then what do you want?”

He just stared at me, his chinks impossibly pink. “Well…what are you thinking?”

Faking confidence came so easily to me, it disturbed me. I tilted my head to the side, hoping to break through his timid walls. “Maybe another wild ride?”

“I—I, uh…” He nodded a few times, laughing abruptly as he tried to stave off his shyness. “I like the sound of that, Kali.”

“What do you like exactly?”

He swallowed and stayed quiet, literally speechless.

I stifled a sigh. This confidence/flirting bullshit was hard work. I was close to telling him I wanted it filthy. Wanted him to throw me down, fuck me in the ass even, I didn’t give a fuck; just use me, breathe life into me, make me fucking feel again.

I offered him a soft smile instead. “I’m going to the ladies room, and then I’ll let Sylvia know what we’re up to. Can you look after my purse for me while I'm gone?”

Taking my clutch into his hands to safeguard for me, he tried to clamp down on his excitement with another hearty nod, but I could see how jittery he was getting. Dude knew he was going to get laid tonight. My smile wavered just then. I cleared my throat, a strange emotion sinking to the pit of my stomach before I stood up, taking my phone. “I’ll be right back, Eric.”

My legs moved quickly. I felt like I was fleeing, and I couldn’t understand myself. Was I really going to do this? Leave with Eric? Hadn’t I longed for this?

I scanned the crowd, searching for Sylvia’s face. I found her chatting with Eric’s friend near the dance floor. Warren. He appeared smooth and confident. There was nothing timid about his demeanour as he crossed his arms and looked down at Sylvia with that tough man look, like she needed to try harder to please him. What a douchebag. I nearly laughed—

Nearly.

Because that laugh died a thousand deaths at the figure standing in the corner of the room. I paused mid-step, looking at the dark figure shrouded in the only pocket of darkness the room offered.

What was the figure doing?

He’d blended in so seamlessly, it was a wonder I had caught the silhouette of him.

From the distance, maybe twenty or so steps, I couldn’t tell much about him except that he was very tall—

I took a step closer to him, squinting my eyes, trying to make out more distinguishable features. He was standing so still, but then his head turned, like he felt my stare. A prickle of awareness ran through me, making the hair on the back of my neck rise.

He might have been staring back at me. Might. Except…I was certain he was.

My instincts prodded at the centre of me, urging me to look elsewhere, to go to the ladies room and get far enough away. Curiosity killed the cat and all that, right? But I didn’t look away, which was troubling. I’d need to explore my stupidity another time, just not now when I had his full attention.

And why did I want the attention of a dark figure in the corner of the club, anyway?

Was it because I knew he was here not to have fun, but with a different objective in mind? Was it that he was truly trying to blend in, and that his lack of desire for attention appealed to me? My imagination ran wild in that instant. The questions tore through me, one after the next. The guy could have been a creep for all I knew. He could have had the worst intentions because who the hell just stood there in the darkness like that? And now that he was staring at me, I might have made myself a target.

It still didn’t make me look away.

If anything, I took another step in his direction, and then another. Closing the gap between us one step at a time, until the outline of him was more vivid. He was tall, his shoulders impossibly broad. He must have only been ten feet from me now. All the while, his head remained turned in my direction, unflinching, as though absorbing me with perhaps the same level of fascination as me. My heart pulsed quickly; an unfamiliar adrenaline surged through my body in a way that made me suck a breath into my lungs in surprise.

I felt like I was walking toward danger.

Worse yet, I felt like I wanted to.

Arms wrapped around me, and I jumped. “Kali!” Sylvia squealed in my ear. “What are you doing?”

I tore my gaze away from the figure and at Sylvia. “I was about to go to the washroom.”

She beamed at me. “How are things with Eric?”

“We’re going for a ride after.”

Her eyes lit up. “Holy shit, he moves fast.”

---