Page 40 of They Call Me Wicked
That something being me.
My cheeks heat to a painful degree and my jaw clenches.
For a blind chick?For a blind chick?!
I snap my cane open like a warrior going into battle as Gizmo and Snitch race to me, picking up on my change in mood. Before I can even retort, or possibly deck the idiot, my body is picked up and spun around before being deposited in another set of arms. I try to wiggle out of Ezra’s strong hold, but he tightens his arms. If it weren’t for him, I might just go full on trailer trash in this bitch.
“¡Tonto del culo!Didn’t your mother ever teach you to respect women?” The smooth accented voice takes me by surprise, slightly quelling the rage settling into my bones. “Run along,Arlo, and go help your coworker make our drinks.” He says his name with obvious disdain and, when the boy starts to retort, he immediately cuts him off, letting violence simmer behind the words. “Now.”
The shop grows quiet as Arlo runs off, only the sounds of the two employees preparing our drinks reaching my ears. Ezra finally lets me go when I no longer fight to inflict violence on the asshole behind the counter, and I immediately bend to give Gizmo and Snitch some head scratches for being the amazing little guards they are.
“Thank you, Nic.” The words sound odd leaving my mouth. I never thought in a million years I would be thanking Nic for literally anything. Yet, here we are. He doesn’t respond, just lets out a strangled grunt before meandering somewhere else in the shop.
“You really attract the oddest sort of people, Wick.” Kai cuts through the awkward tension still left in the room like he’s prone to do, and I release a short, dry laugh.
“Case in point,” I respond, gesturing in his direction with my hands.
“You little shit!” I feel him rush at me and squeal when his fingers start digging into my sides, forcing laughter from me. “Take it back!”
“No!” I wheeze a frantic, squeaky sort of giggle before letting my entire body go limp. Just as I predicted, he stops trying to tickle me and catches me mid-fall.
“Told you I’d catch you,” He teases with a chuckle. “I just didn’t expect to have to do it so soon.”
“You’re such an idiot!” I grin to myself, hiding it in my hair so he doesn’t see, before trying to get back to my feet. He doesn’t let me, instead, throwing me over his shoulder and smacking the hell out of my ass. I let out a squeal of laughter as I smack at his back. “Let me down, you freaking caveman!”
Kai ignores me, moving into a crouch and beating on his chest while making ape-like noises. “Me caveman. You cavewoman. We make babies. Teach them hunting.”
“Ezra! Ezra, help me!” I screech out, laughing when Kai straightens and turns to run.
“No! Not the giant!”
He doesn’t get very far before an oomph leaves his throat and my body is pulled from his shoulders as he crumples to the ground. I latch onto Ezra like a monkey, swinging around him and settling myself on his back. He doesn’t even seem to mind, just loops his hands over my thighs to hitch me up higher.
“That’s not fair! Why do you get the jolly giant as a personal bodyguard?” Kai gasps from the ground, the struggle to breathe a very real thing.
“Because I’m tiny, blind, and adorable.” I stick my tongue out at him, settling myself further onto Ezra as he holds my thighs tighter and more securely. Everywhere his hands touch feels like it’s being imprinted on my soul, sparks lighting up my nerve-endings.
Shit. I thought getting laid might help quell these sorts of feelings, not make them worse! It’s like my sex drive has been reawakened and anybody with a dick swinging between their legs has me ready to spread my own and invite them in.
“Order up for Wicked and friends.” Arlo’s voice interrupts my thoughts and I cringe. Okay, so maybe not anybody. Certainly not him.
I quickly drop from Ezra’s back before walking to the counter and feeling for the drinks. Hot, hot, cold. I try to latch on to the cold one, but a frigid, clammy hand snags mine and pulls it away.
“Sorry, no.Thisone is yours.” Arlo once again has a flirtatious lilt to his voice and I want to smack him, even as he deposits my drink in my hand and closes my fingers around it.
“Don’t touch me.” I snag the drink and back away, whistling for my furry boys as I get the hell out of the coffee shop. I don’t even pause to wait for the guys or anything, just walk straight back to my house as I hear their steps quicken to try and catch up with me.
Even the excitement over my coffee is gone. I don’t even want to drink it. Something about the way he made sure only this one was mine–even though Kai got the same thing–puts me on edge.
Would some random, flirtatious douche at the coffee shop really slip something into my drink? Maybe, maybe not. But a girl can never be too careful.
So, I don’t drink it. I can’t. And that makes me so fucking angry. It makes me want to burn the shop down with him inside it. Instead, I just collapse on my front steps and let Gizmo and Snitch climb on my shoulders and nuzzle my face in that reassuring way they do.
“Hey, are you okay?” Kai makes it to me first, no doubt sprinting because he doesn’t have boiling hot coffee in his cup like the other two.
“Yup. Dandy.” I frown as I play with the straw of my favorite morning caffeinated drink.
“Here.” Kai bends closer to me and places his own iced coffee in my free hand, before taking my possibly tainted one away, making my heart thump painfully in my chest.