Page 62 of How to Bare Your Neck and Save a Wreck
He meant it to be teasing, but there was a very real pang in his chest that told him otherwise. He missed her, regardless of his fear that she’d figure out what he was. And beneath that, he worried that perhaps there was another reason he’d pulled away, one that had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with him. This distance felt safer. Far fewer things could hurt him over text.
Cat Mom
Yes, fine, we can hang out soon. We’ll see a movie or something, like the old days.
Hell Creature Extraordinaire
You know my parents still blame you for corrupting me. I think CPS now arrests teenage boy-appearing individuals who take their child cousin to R-rated shit just to watch her laugh at the blood.
Cat Mom
I needed the emotional support, okay. You were always braver.
(I miss spending time with you, though. I really do mean it when I say we should go out.)
Also I saw someone who looked like the pics of your newest boyfriend last night and it tripped me so hard.
Hell Creature Extraordinaire
Ha, maybe it WAS him. (The fucker.)
I know we’re in an open relationship so it’s not technically cheating, but god, it does kind of feel like cheating when he’s all mysterious about where he’s been and shit.
It’s fine though, you know? It’s just a rough spot.
When he looked up, Andres spotted Shane hovering around the entrance of the place with his phone, somehow making his simplistic green t-shirt and ragged brown scarf look like a fashion statement with half his dirty-blonde waves pulled up and his long lashes catching the streetlights. Andres couldn’t help but smile. As he watched, the text came through:Here!Just took my insulin so we should get onto the food <3 Hyped for this Cali Burrito.
Cat Mom
My date’s arrived, but I promise popcorn is on me next.
(Love you, Natalie.)
Hell Creature Extraordinaire
Love you too, you idiot.
He slid out of the car and jogged to the front of the shop, opening the door for Shane with a little bow. “My dear Cygnus.”
“Thanks,” Shane laughed. His gaze traveled down Andres’s outfit, lingering on the tight lines and revealed skin. He sucked his lower lip into his mouth like it was an impulse and the softest flush bloomed on his cheeks. “You look magnificent.”
“As do you,” Andres replied.
And everything seemed all right—seemed normal.
Andres let Shane order and collect their food—a pair of medium horchatas, a California burrito, and the plain cheese quesadilla that Andres could reasonably assume had not a pinch of garlic in it—and waited for him to slide into one of the old red plastic booths that hugged the shop’s tiny stall before sitting down across from him.
Shane handed over his phone. “This won’t take long, I promise.”
“I’m happy to watch you rate things all day.”
“You’re an enabler.”
“I cleaned your apartment.”
“A better life enabler, then.”
“I am going to do incredible things to one specific part of your life, that’s for certain.” Andres grinned and purposefully licked the canine where his fang would normally sit.
