Page 20 of Breaking the Sinner

Klay jerked his head into a nod and fell silent as he navigated the smart TV’s apps to find YouTube. Both of them were jealous as fuck about his job. And Cobra hadn’t even told them how much he was actually getting paid. He had to knock it down a few dollars per hour so they wouldn’t flip their shit.

Cobra finished his coffee and snagged the last piece of bacon before heading to the bathroom. Mold dotted the tiles at the base of the sink, and the small space smelled musty. He yanked the crusty shower curtain back, thinking about the curtains at Holt Body Fitness. Those things were smooth, practically mesh and silk. How much did those things cost?

He’d been disgruntled with this place for too long to remember. But it was a fact of life, like how LA summers were unreasonably hot and the way traffic sucked but everyone dealt with it. This was his home; things could be better, but they weren’t.

But Holt’s place offered a glimmer of hope he was afraid to latch onto. And Gen offered…something else he didn’t even know how to categorize.

It wasn’t that he wanted to scoop her up and ride off into the sunset. But he definitely wanted her in his arms…and maybe they could watch one sunset together.

His head fell to the side, eyes pinching shut as his mind wandered to Gen. That first day he’d seen her come into the gym, her pale skin practically glistening under the lights, her vixen auburn hair swept to the side, begging for him to snag a bite of her neck. She was the pinup of his dreams, but with an innocence and freshness that slapped him across the face.

His cock strained at attention, swollen and aching from the briefest imagination of Red’s body. He wanted to bury his face in those tits, taste the damp heat from his breath in that sweet valley. And then he’d yank that bra off, tear the straps down over her shoulders. Hear a girlish gasp that only she could make. And then he’d find out the exact shade of pink of her nipples.

That sent him over the edge. His abs tightened and thighs went hard. A moment later he spurted all over the tiles, the shower water washing away the cum.

He stared at the drain for what felt like forever. He didn’t normally come so fast. But something about Gen had him on edge. Curiosity mingled with lust; desperation edging into tenderness.

She could probably look at the crotch of his jeans and he’d come.

Cobra toweled off, readier than ever to get out of the apartment. He dressed in his bedroom quickly, grabbing for a white tee and black training pants. He double-checked his bedroom door was shut tight, then angled a chair under the knob for good measure.

And then he lifted his mattress, tugging out the small black bank bag he’d stashed there just a few days ago. He unzipped it, checking the scant bills inside. Fifty bucks. Still real. Still there. He took a deep breath and zipped and stashed the bag again.

His first-ever life’s savings.

Klay was buried in YouTube videos when Cobra breezed out into the living room, the click of the door getting lost in the grunts of safari animals fucking as he slipped out of the apartment.

Cobra didn’t breathe until he reached his car. Once the engine rumbled to life, he was able to sit back in his seat.

Another day. He’d make it another day. In this apartment. With this car. In this life.

He took a deep breath and pulled out of the parking lot.

Chapter 9

Gen had been circling the block for forty-five minutes before she spotted Cobra sauntering up. He wasn’t late; in fact, he was right on time. She couldn’t wait any longer to commence her first ever, totally official date. Hovering near the date location for almost an hour beforehand seemed acceptable. Others probably did stuff like this too.It’s not just you.

Sophie had made her hand over the address of the coffee shop in case she needed to hunt Gen down later. And told her that if she wasn’t back by nine p.m., she’d call the police…which seemed unusually restrictive for Sophie.

The sight of Cobra waiting for her at the coffee shop, Grounds for Discussion, stole her breath. He clung to the stucco wall, knee bent with a foot propped against the side, his gaze stuck on something out in the world. Tattoos crept down his arms from under his white tee: a skull, a rose shedding its petals, a faceless woman. Poking out above the collar of his tee, curving up along his collar bone, was the eponymous COBRA tattoo.

Beside the coffee shop, a palm tree trunk sprang up like a grounding rod, the leaves whooshing in the breeze. When he turned and spotted her, her stomach pitched to her feet. Her legs stopped moving at the same time his lips curled up at the corners.

“Sup, Gen?”

She closed her mouth to stop from gaping and white-knuckled the strap of her tiny purse. “Hey, Cobra. It’s good to see you again.”

That smile widened. He stood up straight. “You too.”

She nibbled on her bottom lip, unsure what to say next. He stole her breath and all of her thoughts. He practically crippled her.

He reached out, tugging on the tassel of her purse. “Let’s go inside.”

“Yeah.” The air in her lungs whooshed out. At least he had a plan forward.

Gen followed him in stiffly, feeling like a marionette that the artist only tinkered with in advance of the performance. A cool waft of coffee-tinged air swallowed them. The quiet chatter of patrons soothed her, while some jazzy rock lilted through the shop. A few sets of eyes found them as they walked toward the front counter, but other than that, nobody cared that they were there.

Gen couldn’t fight the grin on her face. The coffee menu was expansive, nearly endless. She sighed heavily. “Do you even like coffee?”

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