Page 14 of The Heart of Midnight

Avery

It’s insane how hot he looks.

I’m sore as hell from what took place last night, and yet I still feel my thighs clench when I check him out in his henley. I can’t stop myself from wondering how big he is and how sore I’d be after a night with him, but I really need to stop objectifying my damn neighbor. It’s just really hard when I can’t put a face to Midnight. They’re pretty similar in height and build, but so many small mannerisms are off I can’t even pretend to entertain the connections right now. I’m just happy Scarcello is here at all. “Yeah, come on in. Pick my brain all you need.”

He steps in, locking the door behind him and peeking out the window. “How are the cameras working out for you? Are you having any issues with the interior feeds?”

Biting my lip, I turn away so he can’t see the guilt I know is there. If he saw what I allow at night... he’d never look at me the same. “They’re great. I thought I’d struggle to figure them out, but they’re pretty user friendly. What makes you ask?”

I lead him toward my office so I can continue working as we talk, or at least pretend I’m working by moving my mouse around every so often. It’s pretty much what I’ve been doing all morning so I could watch the feed repeatedly.

“Just curious. They wouldn’t do you much good if they weren’t working, and I promised you I wouldn’t check the inside cameras. The exterior ones seem to be fine.”

“I’ve only checked those ones once,” I admit. “I get an eerie feeling when I see the outside of my house over a camera feed. I don’t understand why. Maybe it’s because I imagine Muertestanding there and I think I’d have a heart attack if I actually saw it. Ha-have you checked for me?”

He nods once, but his posture is tight. Nervous. “I have motion detection set up, and I’ve checked a few times just to be sure they’re working okay. I haven’t seen anything. Are you still... worried Muerte might find you?”

“Not worried really, not when I know you’re home. Guess it’s just a natural paranoia from seeing him at my work. Did anything trigger the motion detector last night?”

I force my voice to sound more curious than anything, but I’m not sure it works based on the way his eyebrows raise. “No. Should something have triggered it?”

“No... or well, I have this little raccoon that lives under my porch, so I wasn’t sure if he’d trigger it. He’s welcome company, by the way.”

“Hm. I’m not sure something as small as a raccoon would trigger an alert, but I’ll keep that in mind. Do you feel any safer with the cameras?”

Nodding, I pull out two Red Vines from the package and hand one to him. “Yeah, I do. I feel bad you don’t have any, but I appreciate you letting me have them. I slept amazingly last night.”

For more reasons than one.

“I didn’t potentially catch the eye of a suspected serial killer,” he mutters. “You need them more.”

“At least he doesn’t know where I live. I hate going into the office anyway, most of my coworkers are dicks.”

Scar nods, shoving half the Red Vine into his mouth and biting it off. “Any in particular?”

“Well, pretty much all of them except Janet. They laughed at me when I told them who I saw. Called me crazy, and maybe I am. But whatever, they’re not important.”

“You’re right, they’re not important. I believe you, if it helps at all.”

“I know,” I say with a smile. “So did Janet, and you two are the only people that matter to me at this point.”

I bite my candy with a flirty grin, drawing his eyes to my lips.

“Just us, huh? How sad for you.”

“Hey, I’ve got one more than you,” I tease back, standing to close the distance and poke his chest. “You haven’t spoken of your other friend in months. I’m almost positive you made him up anyway.”

Scar laughs, gently grabbing my finger. “He’s real, we’re just men and he lives in The Maldives. We don’t need to talk five times a day to be considered friends.”

“That’s such a dude thing to say,” I argue. “You’d be surprised at how happy he’d probably be if you texted just to say hi.”

“Really?” he challenges, pulling out his phone. “Let’s test your theory.” He types for a moment then shows me the text, a simple “Hi” sent to his friend Tex. The reply comes in while I’m still looking at it.

Tex:Don’t do that. It’s weird. What do you want?

I grab it before he can pull it away and bend over so he can’t reach it as I hastily type out a reply.

Scarcello:We should get together soon, I miss y

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