Page 19 of Stella

I needed food. I needed to get laid.

My phone rang. When I rolled over to see who was calling, it was Jerrick.

My pussy immediately started tingling. I let out a breath as I answered. “Hey.”

“Hi.” His voice was thick, husky, and uncertain.

“Sorry I left without saying goodbye. I wasn’t certain that if I saw Simon again, I wouldn’t slit his throat.”

I heard Evan laugh in the background. No sounds from Simon, so he was elsewhere.

“Evan told me I should call you,” Jerrick said finally. “But if you don’t want to be bothered, tonight, or…anymore…I understand.”

“What?” I blinked. Lando chose that moment to jump on me, landing on my stomach. I coughed. “Oh my god Lando, that’s my spleen.”

“You’re busy. Sorry,” Jerrick said quickly.

“Wait,” I wheezed. “My cat knocked all the air out of my lungs.”

“Lando is a cat,” Jerrick said, sounding confused.

“Yes. Who did you—oh.”

Jerrick thought I had a guy friend. I wanted to tell him if I had a guy over, I wouldn’t be answering my phone, but Jerrick sounded so uncertain that now obviously wasn’t the time for teasing.

“You’re not bothering me,” I said. “I have a horrible headache. I’m trying to put all the pieces together but feel like I’m missing something.”

Jerrick cleared his throat. “It’s today. I mean. This evening.”

“Be less subtle,” Evan hissed. “She’s not a mind reader.”

Jerrick sighed. “I promise I don’t have you on speaker. Evan is almost in my lap so he can eavesdrop.”

“There’s a nice image,” I said with a grin. It was averynice idea.

“The bookstore. You asked me to take you to The Bent Page tonight.”

“The bookstore!” I sat up quickly. “Damn it, Jerrick, I suck. After everything that happened this morning, I left work in a huff.”

Jerrick chuckled. “It’s okay, you don’t suck.”

“That’s disappointing,” Evan said, and then cried out in pain.

“I’ve got this, Evan, thanks,” Jerrick told him. “Go away.”

Maybe Evan could come, and it would be a party. A sexy, sexy party. I pushed the thought away. I wanted Jerrick by himself to start with.

“If you’re not interested anymore, I understand.” Jerrick’s voice was quiet. “I didn’t want to stand you up.”

I thought about the pros and cons of leaving the house. A date with Jerrick sounded like heaven, but that would require I leave the comfort of my couch.

“Do you want to come over to my place? We could read if that doesn’t sound too lame.”

“Not lame.”

“Good. I don’t feel like peopling, even in a bookstore. I might yell at someone for looking at you too long.”

Or convince him to have sex in a public bathroom.

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