Page 33 of Dark Cravings

Kenley: That’s awesome . I’ve been texting her this week but she’s not answering.

Thomas: I haven’t been able to get ahold of her either and I haven’t seen her at the club.

Kenley: I even asked Raven but she hasn’t heard from her either. She asked which one of us fucked up LOL.

Thomas: Sounds more like Sasha than Raven :P.

Kenley: Yes, but remember, Raven and Shelby are close. She’s protective of her. Hell, she’s protective of you too.

Thomas: I think we need to stake out her house. I swung by a couple of times but her car wasn’t in the driveway.

Kenley: God, stalker much? LOL. Alright, let’s go by after work and see if we can catch her. I’ll meet you there about 5:30.

Thomas: Perfect. I’m glad we’re doing this, Kenley.

Kenley: I just hope it’s not too late.

Thomas: We can convince her. I’m sure of it.

Kenley: We’ll see. See you later.

I was a ball of nerves come the end of my workday. I was terrified that she’d already given up on us. Thomas seemed pretty sure everything would be okay but I wasn’t convinced. I hopped in my car and headed to Shelby’s house, not surprised to see Thomas was already there. I got out of the car and walked over to his.

“How long have you been here?” I laughed.

“About an hour,” he said sheepishly. “I wanted to be here in case she got home early and then tried to leave again.”

“And I assume by the fact you’re still here, that didn’t happen?”

“Nope. Haven’t seen her. Why don’t you get in the car while we wait?”

I walked around to the passenger side and slid in. His sandalwood and musk scent filled the car and I breathed deeply, taking it in. I could be surrounded by that every day.

“Did you always want to be a bouncer?”

“Honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was a member at the club from the very beginning. One night, not long after I joined, there was a big fight. I dove in to break it up and Chase offered me a job on the spot. I fell into the management job about a year later after the old one quit and the rest, as they say, is history. What about you? I actually don’t even know what you do.”

“We’ve never really talked about our lives, have we? I work at the local community center with troubled kids.”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. I love that I’m making a difference in these kids’ lives. A couple I worked with in the past are actually working with me now. My success comes from the kids’ success.”

“I think that’s awesome. It must be very satisfying. Far more important than what I’m doing.”

“I totally disagree with that, Thomas. You keep people safe and that’s every bit as important. I’ve seen you intervene in many different situations and you always deal with them calmly and fairly.”

“Thank you, Kenley. That means a lot to me.”

“Of course,” I smiled. “So, how long are we going to sit here?”

“I usually stay a couple of hours. I’m actually surprised that none of the neighbors have called the cops,” he chuckled.

“Oh God, I didn’t even think about that. I would be mortified.”

“Meh, it’s okay. The tinted windows do a good job of camouflaging the fact there are people sitting in the car.”

“That’s true.”

---