Page 62 of Anathema Codex

Twenty minutes.

It's taken me twenty fucking minutes to find this blonde bitch, and she's already salivating over my attention. I can't tell how old she is, probably early twenties, but I'd probably have a better idea if I was even remotely paying attention to whatever the fuck she's been talking about for the last five minutes—which is already more time than I really have to spare.

"So…" I cut her off, keeping my back to the only camera in this shitty little shop as I turn on my most charming smile, the one that's never failed to get a girl into bed when I wanted it. As much as I hate it, Daphne's bullshit suggestion is just about the only way I can pull this off in the time Lakyn gave me. "I was about to leave, but I don't really want to end this. Would you wanna hang out for a bit?"

"Where are you going?" she asks, smiling at me as she tugs on her shirt, lowering her neckline just a little, and I let my eyes go where she obviously wants them before I bring them back to hers with a chuckle.

"Well, I had planned on grabbing some stuff, but if you just want to go somewhere and get to know each other better"—I shrug—"I'm down for that."

"Um, wow…" She giggles, blushing as she glances down at her phone and then out the windows before she looks at me again, tracing her tongue across her bottom lip in what I'm sure she thinks is a sexy face, but it looks more like she's trying to find crumbs from whatever shit she ate for lunch. "Do you live near here?"

"Yeah," I lie easily, it's never been hard for me, and I can tell she's so close to giving in, so I tug on the line to reel her in. Pushing a hand back through my hair, I take a step toward the door. "But if you're not interested, that's cool. I can just—"

"Wait." She wavers, and then she seems to make a decision and closes the gap between us, her hand reaching for mine, and I let her interlace our fingers as I flash a grin at her and lead the way out the door.

Once we're in the parking lot, I let go of her hand and toss an arm around her shoulder. Then I pull her closer and lean down to whisper in her ear, "Somehow you look even better in the sunlight."

"Yeah?" she giggles again, and I wish I'd paid attention to her name, but since the first three bitches I talked to didn't pan out, I hadn't expected this one to actually agree. I'd already had my eye on another blonde that I'd seen walk into one of those tacky girl stores filled with cheap jewelry and make-up and hair shit—but this one is already halfway to the truck and slipping her arm around my waist as she fishes for compliments. “You really think so?”

In the bag with time to spare, now I just have to keep her entertained.

"Yeah." I nod, scanning the area around the SUV for any sign of Lakyn or Daphne, but I don't see them yet. "You caught my eye in that place and I just knew I had to talk to you. Guess it's my lucky day, right?"

"Guess so." She lifts her chin, a little self-satisfied smile curving her lips, and it makes me want to shove her face down on the asphalt. If I didn't need to her to believe she was the hottest piece of ass I've ever seen right now, I'd be more than happy to take her narcissistic ass down a few pegs—but if Lakyn's bullshit is real then I'll get to do more than that to this chick before the day is over.

When we get to the truck, she tries to peel off for the passenger door, but I tug her to the far side of the car and gently press her back against the door. Taking off my hat, I toss it on the roof before pushing my sunglasses to the top of my head. I lean back to look her over, grinning.

"Sorry, there's just something about you…" I let my voice trail off as I bring my gaze to her lips and she laughs a little, her smile widening. Her hands land on my waist to pull me closer, and I return the favor.

"Your eyes are unreal," she whispers, but I have to fight the urge to roll them. Sure, I used to like how girls reacted to my blue eyes, but now that I've met the asshole they came from—the charm has sort of worn off.

"Thanks, I think I'm a little more focused on your lips right now. They make me want to…" Closing the gap, I lean down and kiss her. Softly at first, but with the first little sound she makes, I crank it up. I nip her lip before delving in, pressing her harder against the side of the SUV, and the whore moans like she's auditioning for a goddamn porno. Fortunately, no one else felt like parking at the back of the fucking lot.

"We should go to your place," she pants as she turns out of the kiss, all breathy and irritating because she's fuckingtalkingbut I just trail my lips down her throat, pretending to be too caught up in touching her to respond.

I'm not even picturing this bitch anymore—I'm thinking about Willa. I'm thinking about the way her shampoo smelled, and how whenever she dropped her goddamn guard for a minute, she would melt against me just like this. The cunt ruins my train of thought by pushing at my chest, and it takes more self-restraint than I expect to stop myself from pinning her wrists against the windows.

"Come on, Carter, let's go." There's an edge of a whine to her voice, and for a second I'm more than just irritated because I forgot I'd given her a bullshit name. Leaning away from her, I glance toward the back of the SUV and shake my head a bit when I realize they're still not back yet.

Thirty fucking minutes. Bullshit.

"Just a few more minutes," I say, moving in to continue kissing her, but she pushes at my chest again and this time I grab her wrist.

"Ow!" she shouts, yanking her arm free before she shoves me harder. "What is this, Carter? Are you waiting for friends or something?"

"No, I—"

"Then what the fuck were you looking at?" Moving past me, she walks to the end of Willa's SUV and then turns to stare at me. "Is this some fucking prank? You get some girl to make out with you in a parking lot and your friends record it and post it?"

"That's not it." I grab her arm as she tries to walk away again, but she starts screaming like a fucking psycho.

"Let go of me! I'm not going anywhere with you! HELP! SOMEONE!"

I let her go as soon as she really gets loud, raising my hands to my shoulders. "Chill out, okay? I thought we were having fun."

"Yeah, fuck off, douchebag. You’re not that hot, and I'm not that stupid." She flips me off as she moves backward. "Go jack off while thinking about me, loser."

I'm so damn tempted to just grab her and shove her in the back of the truck, but it's broad daylight and I still don't see Lakyn or Daphne, which means I'd have to knock her out, and it's way too likely someone would see us struggling. So, I let her walk away and then I slam my fist into the door, cursing under my breath when pain radiates across my knuckles—but it's not a bad thing.

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