Page 2 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
“My point is that sometimes people do odd things. That doesn’t mean they’re serial killers. Or stalkers. I’m sure your neighbor is very nice, and if you had an actual conversationwith him I’m sure you’d see that. And no, him commenting on stomach wounds does not qualify as a conversation,” Josh said.
He was always so reasonable. Sometimes it was annoying.
“I ought to call Seb. He’ll totally agree with me,” I grumped.
“Yeah, maybe don’t call him about your serial killer neighbor,” Josh warned.
I immediately stopped what I was doing and leaned against the counter, focusing on the conversation. “Uh oh. What happened now?” I asked.
“Apparently he was out on a date and the guy at the next table had a heart attack and died,” Josh sighed.
“Aww, man. He hasn’t been on a date in ages. I’m guessing it didn’t go well after that?” I asked. Poor Seb. He did not have good luck.
“Nope. He performed CPR until the paramedics got there, even though he said the guy was gone. And you know Seb—nothing fazes him. I think there could be a zombie apocalypse and he’d be asking if we felt like going out for ice cream in that cheery tone of his,” Josh said.
I snorted. It was true. Seb was probably the happiest person I knew, despite the fact that people were always dying around him. And yes, he worked in a hospital, so it was kind of expected that he’d see some death, but people seemed to die around him outside of work all the time too. It was amazing the guy didn’t get a complex.
“So he went back to his table and started eating dinner again,” Josh went on, “and his date was all shocked and asked him how he could eat after that. I think the guy said something about him being heartless, which is crazy. Seb is the sweetest guy I know. Anyway, I told Seb obviously a guy who was that blind didn’t deserve him, but Seb was pretty bummed.”
“Yeah.” It was my turn to sigh. “I wish we could find someone for him. I know he’s lonely.”
It was a shame that Seb and I wouldn’t work out, but we just weren’t each other’s type. We were far too similar, and the only chemistry between us was the course we’d taken together in college. Where someone had died, by the way. Lab accident, although their death hadn’t been immediate. I’d looked it up later, and I hadn’t told Seb. I didn’t want my friend to actually get a complex.
“Maybe your serial killer neighbor?” Josh joked. “I mean, people dropping dead around Seb wouldn’t scare him off if he really is a serial killer.”
“Nope. I get first dibs on serial killer hottie,” I announced.
Josh laughed, and we said our goodbyes. Josh was supposed to go meet his boyfriend, who I didn’t much like, for dinner. The guy just gave me creep vibes, but I knew Josh wouldn’t listen. I might have an overactive imagination, but that didn’t mean I was totally wrong about people.
With that I walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room to look out the side window at my serial killer’s house. There was no fence until the backyards, and I had a pretty clear view of next door. His car was there, so I knew he was home. I pushed the curtain aside, and then I nearly screamed when I saw my neighbor staring out his window at my house.
“Shit!” I yelped, dropping onto the floor and out of sight.
And oh my god, if that wasn’t the stupidest reaction ever. I peeked up over the window, and yup, he was still there, staring at my window with a slight smirk on his face. I sat up a bit more and gave a wave, pointing down and trying to make some vague motion that I had fallen.
Not sure he bought it. He just looked amused, and I gave a random shrug and waved again before sliding over to the side of the window and bumping my head against the wall a few times.
“Nice job, Toby. Now the hot serial killer neighbor will totally think you’re a stalker,” I mumbled to myself.
Chapter 2
Dexter
Icouldn’t help the slight smile on my face as thumps were followed by Toby’s comment. If the poor man knew how good my hearing was, he would probably die of mortification. He was quite dramatic like that, but I found myself amused by it.
Which was rather odd for me.
It isn’t that I didn’t enjoy life, because I did. My enjoyment was just… flavored a bit differently than most.
I waited until I heard Toby get up and his footsteps took him upstairs. I watched the light turn on in the window I knew led to his bedroom, and when the light finally went off, I moved.
Stalkerish? Probably. But I felt oddly protective of my next door neighbor. My brain was equating him with pack at this point, and I didn’t fight my instincts. Toby was mine to protect, whether he knew it or not.
With that thought, I made my way to the basement, leaving the light off tonight. I could see just as well without it, and the main area where I worked was a soundproof booth that had separate lighting.
I opened it up to see the naked man hanging from the ceiling. Chains on his wrists were looped over a hook, and he was just low enough that he could almost stand. The choices were achingshoulder joints, which would eventually dislocate, or the agony of supporting his full body weight on his tiptoes.
I’d already had a bit of a start on him, and his body was a canvas of blues, purples, reds, pinks, and yellows. Some of the marks even had a greenish tint, and there was a large bruise on his chest that reminded me of a nebula. It was quite beautiful.
