Eastern Lights Page 5

  “I’m just saying he’s my choice. I don’t have to explain my cannibalism to you.”

  He released a hot breath of air, shaking his head back and forth. “It disgusts me that you would choose the world’s most hated villain over the best superhero.”

  I laughed out loud. “The world’s best hero? Don’t flatter yourself.”

  “What?!” He gasped again, still loud as day. “Are you kidding me? I’m Captain America! Doer of good!”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t make you the best. Your moral compass often gets in your way. You can’t be good all the time. But don’t worry—you are at least in the top ten of best superheroes.”

  “I hear what you’re saying, but it doesn’t soothe my bruised heart.”

  “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings by claiming I wouldn’t eat you.”

  “It’s okay. I forgive you. Not everyone in life makes good choices, but I just want you to know one thing before we continue this walk.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, pausing my steps, locking his beautiful blue eyes with mine as he gave me the most serious tone he’d delivered all evening. “I would eat the hell out of you.”

  A pool of heat filled me up as his words simmered in my head and in my lower region. “Is that a sexual reference?”

  “What? No. All I’m saying is that I would willingly eat you.” He cocked a brow with a smug smirk. “I would eat you…all…night…long.”

  I shoved him away from me and continued walking. “You’re annoying.”

  “Maybe you should eat me to shut me up.”

  “No, I’m going to feed you to shut you up,” I explained right as we stopped in front of Grant’s Wings. “Welcome to Grant’s. This, my friend, is where all dreams come true.” I gestured toward the small restaurant as if we’d just found our way to Disney World.

  Captain got a goofy look on his face, and I was learning fast that whenever he got a goofy stare, his mind was thinking something ridiculous.

  I sighed. “What is it?”

  “Nothing, nothing. It’s just that you called me friend.”

  “Oh gosh. Don’t let it go to your head.”

  “I’m not. I mean, I am, but I’m not. All I’m saying is that we’ve already progressed from perfect strangers to friends.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a tight squeeze. “And everyone knows every great love story begins with friendship. Ask Harry and Sally.”

  He ordered three different types of wings, and I was deeply offended when he got boneless. ‘Boneless wings’ was just a code word for chicken nuggets. He watched me as I taught him how to successfully remove all the meat from the bone of a wing, and then I sucked it down, cleaning the bone completely with one swipe.

  Captain’s eyes were wide with amazement as he witnessed me taking care of the bone. “I know that wasn’t supposed to be a sexual experience for me, but holy shit, that was quite the sexual experience.”

  I smirked and shrugged, grabbing another wing and pushing the meat down the bones. “What can I say? I’m good with my mouth.”

  His eyes widened with intrigue. “Is that a sexual reference?” he asked, using the question I’d asked him before we walked into the restaurant.

  “What? No. All I’m saying is I’m good at sucking.” After my words, I sucked the chicken wing clean then slowly licked my fingertips, one at a time, very, very slowly because I knew he was watching.

  “You’re a damn tease,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Says the man who talked about eating me all night long.”

  “Touché, Red. Touché.”

  He slightly readjusted his superhero suit below his waist, and I couldn’t help but think that my small actions might’ve actually awakened something in him. I didn’t know why, but that idea kind of made me smile. I liked the idea I was able to turn him on, even if it was from just eating a freaking chicken wing.

  He went back to eating his wings, clearly not wanting to push the sexual comments too far, and asked, “When did you find this place?”

  “Oh gosh, it’s been years. I think I was like fifteen years old when I ran away and came here.”

  “I’m sorry, what? Ran away?”

  “Yeah. I was placed in a bad home for a while. I wasn’t the easiest kid to deal with, but they were cruel. So after a night of them belittling me, I ran away. I didn’t want to go back to a group home, either. I didn’t know where I was going and I didn’t know what I was doing, but I packed up the few belongings I had in a backpack, and I left. I wandered the streets for a while. I spent one night sleeping under a fire escape behind a building.

  “The following day, I walked up and down this street, feeling scared and alone. Then I ran into Grant, who was standing outside the shop. He asked me if I was hungry. I was starving, so he took me in and fed me. He did the same the following week and he allowed me to sleep in that booth right over there. He brought me blankets, pillows, and everything. He never even talked to me after the first night I showed up for food. It was like an unspoken connection.”

  “That’s amazing.”

  I nodded. “He was amazing. He’s the one who bought me my first comic books, actually. After the first week passed, he spoke to me again, sat right beside me after making me chocolate chip pancakes—my favorite. As I was shoving the food into my mouth, he said, ‘It’s time to go home.’ I told him I didn’t have a home. He told me I needed to go back to the group home. If I did that, he’d give me a job and send me to college. I laughed because I’d never thought I would ever go to college. My grades weren’t impressive, and I never really felt as if I had anything worth being driven about. I told him I didn’t believe in myself.”

  “What did he say?”

  I laughed lightly, looking down at the glass of water both of my hands were wrapped around. My fingers were wet from the condensation, cooling off my system as I thought about Grant. “He said it didn’t matter if I believed in myself. He’d believe in me until I learned how to do it myself.”

  “And he followed through?”

  “Yup. I graduate next spring because of that man. I owe him my life.”

  He smiled, but then it faded a bit. “You said he was amazing…past tense.”

  “Last year, he was in a bad car accident. He didn’t survive it.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I couldn’t imagine.”

  “He was my almost…” My voice cracked a little as I thought about Grant. “My almost family.”

  “No—he was your family. He will always be your family.”

  I smiled. “Thank you for saying that. Each week, I go to his grave and read him comics. It’s a weird tradition, but he’s the one who got me into comic books, and we’d always read them together. So, I just still need to hold on to him that way, and have conversations with him, even if he can’t hear me.”

  “He probably can.”

  “I hope so. It’s also weird how you can randomly meet people who just so happen to change your life forever.”

  He leaned forward and placed his hands on top of my hands around the glass. “You’re going to change my life, Red.” His words weren’t said in a joking manner. No, he said them so sincerely that somehow his touch was more chilled than the glass I held.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “You ever just get a feeling in your gut?”

  “Mostly after I eat these wings. I just call it gas.”

  He laughed, and the sound made me melt inside. A part of me couldn’t believe I’d spoken about gas in front of him. The other half felt as if it was completely natural. What was it about this guy? Why did it feel so easy to be myself when I sat across from him?

  Without asking, he reached across to grab one of my bone-in wings, and I smacked his hand.

  “What are you doing?” I yelped in horror.

  “I wanted to try a wing with the bone in.”

  “Well, you should’ve ordered a bone-in wing. Honestly, I silently judged you when you ordered boneles
s wings. In my expert experience, they aren’t wings. They are big chicken nuggets.”

  “You’re a professional wing eater?”

  “Yes, and don’t mock it. I wear that title with pride.”

  He held his hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I never mean to offend a woman and her food.”

  I sat back in my chair, smiling in pleasure that he knew when to let up. At least I thought he had. Right when I got too comfortable with his defeat, he leaned forward and swiped one of my wings from my basket. After waving it in the air with pride, he licked it as a way to indicate I wasn’t going to get it back.

  “You’re a jerk,” I said, glaring his way with the death stare.

  “A jerk you’re going to love soon enough.”

  “Don’t hold your breath.”

  “I wouldn’t dare. I’d end up choking on my chicken wing.”

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. “At least eat it like a champ. Use my technique, and I swear to the heavens above if you leave any meat on that bone, I am coming for you.”

  “But no pressure, right?” He laughed. Then he looked up at me. “Dare or dare?” he asked.

  “Don’t you mean truth or dare?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to give you the chance to back out and choose truth. So, dare or dare?”

  I snickered under my breath. “Hmm…I think I’ll go with dare.”

  “All right. I dare you to hold eye contact with me as I strip this chicken wing.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Yes, but you agreed to the dare, so here we are.”

  He shimmied his Captain America pecs a bit before locking his stare with mine. Gosh, his eyes. The universe shouldn’t have ever created eyes like his. They had more power behind them than anyone should’ve ever possessed.

  “I’m going to do it exactly like you did,” he warned.

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

  He started by standing the wing straight up on his napkin and then slowly, slowly, slowly pushing the meat down the bones to capture it all at the bottom. He then lifted the wing to his mouth and lapped up the buffalo sauce with his tongue before lowering it into the pool of ranch sitting in front of him. He brought it back up to his mouth, cocking an eyebrow with a wicked smirk that made my thighs quiver involuntarily. He parted his lips and slid the meat into his mouth, sucking it all off, his tongue licking the bones clean of any sauce that might’ve missed the initial entry into his mouth.

  Then he placed the bones down and dipped his index finger fully into the container of ranch. Pulling it out, he allowed it to drip all over before he brought it to his mouth and sucked it slowly, sexually—and oh my goodness, I instantly became pregnant with twins.

  All I wanted to do was look away and hide my schoolgirl blushing, but a dare was a dare, and I maintained that eye contact the whole time as he made my thighs quiver from eating a freaking chicken wing.

  “You’re ridiculous,” I said, breaking our stare after he finished sucking the wing clean. I took a big gulp of my water, trying to cool my insides from the dramatics that had taken place.

  He laughed. “I think you like that about me.”

  It’s true. I like that about you.

  I shifted in my seat, trying to take the conversation away from the oddly sexual yet not sexual situation that had occurred. “So…” My voice cracked. “Where’s our next stop?”

  He grabbed a wet nap and started cleaning his hands. “Oh, it’s a good one—a great one, actually—and it’s one-hundred-percent solely for you.”

  4

  Connor

  I had an unexplainable need to try to make people happy. Did I understand that a person’s happiness was their own responsibility? Yes. Did that ever stop me from trying to nudge people in the right direction of said happiness? Not at all.

  I prided myself on being an overall happy-go-lucky guy. Sure, I wasn’t always in a good mood, and I had crappy days and nights—I was still human, after all—but at the end of the day, I knew my happiness was something to keep at the forefront of my life. If I felt myself slipping too far down the other road, I did things that made me feel good to find my footing.

  It just so happened that what made me feel good was making others feel good. I got my happiness high from seeing others smile. Something was so rewarding about knowing someone might have a better tomorrow because they crossed paths with me today.

  What I didn’t expect was the fact that Little Red Riding Hood would be the reason for my happiness tomorrow because of the experience she’d given me that evening. I’d already come to terms with the fact that she’d cross my mind repeatedly in the upcoming days.

  Man…that woman.

  I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it!

  Okay, it wasn’t love. But dang, I liked this girl. I’d met a lot of cool people since moving to New York from Kentucky. I prided myself on being a people person. Being involved with others was where I shined. Truth be told, I didn’t do so well by myself. When I was alone, my thoughts got lonely and traveled to places I didn’t want to deal with. Some called it anxiety, but I called it ‘get the fuck out of my head’. Therefore, I spent a lot of time surrounded by people. If there was a gathering, I wanted to be a part of it. Look up the word extrovert in the dictionary, and there would be a cheesy-ass photo of me grinning ear to ear.

  I felt as if Red was different. When I first saw her outside the bar, I could tell she’d stepped outside to get a breath of air, a break from the crowd inside. Every time we moved through it, she cringed a little, even squeezing my hand a bit tighter as I guided her. She wasn’t the same level of extroverted as I was, and I liked that. I liked how calm she was, how deep she seemed without even trying.

  As I said, I liked her.

  Plus, outside all the parts of her I’d discovered from conversation, she was beautiful. Her black hair was long with bouncy tight coils, her lips were full, and when she smiled, it highlighted the golden brown glow of her cheeks. Her body had curves in all the places I loved, and goodness, did I mention her smile? Yeah, I did—but it was worth another mention. She smiled in a way that could make the saddest person feel happy for a few moments. It pulled me in and made it almost impossible for me to look away.

  A part of me was shocked when she agreed to my crazy idea of falling in love before sunrise, but something within me didn’t really want to face the possibility of never seeing her again after the bar closed. If we were dealing with limited time, I wanted to fill it up with experiences outside of drinking in some bar.

  Did I hope by morning she’d give me her number? Yes.

  Did I also hope she wouldn’t? Also yes. I knew what my current life situation was—I was a workaholic, trying to make the craziest dreams come to life. The amount of success I’d found in the past few years had come from me making sacrifices to build the empire that lived in my mind. That meant personal relationships weren’t really on my radar. I wasn’t boyfriend material, and if I couldn’t give Red the time and attention she deserved, I wasn’t going to waste her time.

  But damn…tonight was turning out to be one of my favorites. Had you ever lived in a moment you knew was going to be one of your favorite memories? That was exactly what Halloween night was becoming for me. I was almost certain no Halloween night could ever live up to the situation I was experiencing that night.

  The craziest part of it all?

  I still didn’t know her name.

  “Are you going to give me any clues about where we’re going?” she asked as we walked down the streets. We’d taken a subway to Queens, and I could tell she was confused about what was going on. I had to thank my first New York roommate for putting me onto the location I was taking her to, and I prayed she would like it.

  “Don’t worry, we’re almost there. It’s right around the corner.” I saw as she shivered a bit, and I placed a hand on her lower back, pulling her in closer to me to try to help keep her warm. Before the night was over, I ne
eded to search out a store that might have a coat for her to wear. She didn’t complain about being cold, but it was clear her small frame was freezing.

  To my surprise, she leaned into me, allowing me to wrap my arm around her. She fit against me as if she was always supposed to be there, too, as if she was a missing puzzle piece I hadn’t known belonged to my world.

  At least temporarily.

  “No way,” she said breathlessly as we stood in front of a gaming arcade. She raised an eyebrow. “How did you know I love arcades?”

  “I didn’t until you just said so, but that’s not exactly what I was going to show you, so that makes this a double win. Come on, let’s go inside.”

  UpDown was a bar arcade where people were able to drink and nerd out all at once. The place was packed that night, not surprisingly. Even on a non-holiday night, UpDown always had a line to get inside.

  We hopped in line, and her puzzle piece stayed connected to mine as we talked about our favorite video games growing up. Small talk with her came so effortlessly yet it felt so big. I took in every word she gave me and listened closely. I also took in her small mannerisms. The way she wrinkled her nose when displeased, how she shimmied her shoulders when excited. The way her two dimples deepened when she smiled, how she unconsciously swayed her hips whenever music began to play.

  Once we finally made it inside the arcade, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Red’s eyes widen and she did her little shimmy. Then those brown eyes turned to me, still gleaming.

  “Can we play anything?”

  “Anything you want, darlin’. Let me get some tokens.”

  We played games for an hour, all types of games, from pinball machines to old-school Simpsons. She laughed and cussed when she messed up. She’d jump up and down with excitement and twirl and curtsey every time she kicked my ass at a game—which was often. I’d like to say I let her win, but that would be a lie. She was just that damn good.

  What amazed me most about that girl was that she somehow managed to be sexy and cute all at once. There was something so damn attractive about her and the way she moved, yet it was adorable, too.