Page 174 of Soul So Dark
“For you? Absolutely.”
I catch a glimpse of AJ’s bright white teeth through his mask when he smiles, “I’ll make you a deal, I’ll hype you up until GalactiCon, and then we’ll talk.”
“Do you meanhypeor do you meanshit-talk?”
Regardless, it’s actually a pretty good offer since AJ has a substantial following. And maybe him shit-talking me to all his followers would garner more excitement.
“Why would I shit-talk one of my close, personal friends?”
“That’s nice, but I’ve never even seen your face.”
“Are you afraid I’m repulsive?”
“Are you?”
AJ sets down his controller and reaches down for the hem of his shirt. With one hand, he pulls it up to the bottom of his chest and with the other, hooks his thumb in the waist of his pants and pulls it down enough to expose the V of his hips.
Usually, it’s difficult to convey emotion from behind a mask, but this is the first time I’ve been truly grateful AJ can’t see my face. If he could, he’d see my eyes bugging out of my head and my jaw hanging open like a trout. My eyes move down his torso, the glow of his monitor only accentuating the contours of his abs in excruciating detail.
“BALLSACKS!”
I nearly toss my controller in the air and tumble off my chair onto the floor when I notice Shelby off to the side, gawking at my screen. AJ releases his shirt and lets it fall back over his torso, then he raises his hand, making a show of waving to Shelby.
Shelby leans over me, crowding into the frame. “If she doesn’t want you, I’ll take you!” she calls as I shove her away.
“Get out!” I gasp through laughter.
“Your friend’s cute,” AJ drawls.
“Shut up,” I retort, giving him the biggest eyeroll he’ll never see.
“Is this what you do in here every night?” Shelby grins. “Do you cam girl on the side?”
“No!” I squeal.
“Oh,” she gives a dramatic eyeroll, “so you just cam foreach other,is that it?”
I hear a faint clicking sound in my headset and then realize that AJ’s laughing. Through the dim light, I see his shoulders shaking against the back of his chair.
“Can I help you?” I hiss.
“Yeah, answer your fucking texts,” Shelby tamps down her laughter. “We’re about to watchHalo, do you want us to wait for you?”
I glance at the screen and hesitate, chewing the inside of my cheek. I do want to watch it, but I also don’t want to log off yet.
“It’s OK, go ahead and start without me. I’ll be down later.”
Shelby glances at my screen with a devious smile and leans into the camera, giving a salacious wave before prancing back out of the room.
“Can’t wait to meet your roommates,” AJ quips.
An unexpected wave of butterflies rolls through my stomach. I know we’re going to meet soon, but it’s still so surreal. For three years, we’ve been long-distance friends—facelesslong-distance friends—and I’m trying my hardest to remember that and not let what happened with Bowen ruin everything.
He wants to ruin everything.
“Anyway,” I turn my attention back to the screen, “a lot of people have jacked bodies and ratchet faces. You could prove me wrong by showing me your facenow.”
“Whatever,” AJ scoffs. “I could look like Jason Voorhees and you’d still be weak for me.”
