Page 22 of Demon's Desire

“Mia!” Kelly beamed. “Was that him?”

“You didn’t tell us you had a date!” Torie clapped.

I pursed my lips for a second before closing the door behind me. “It’s a… weird story.”

Kelly and Torie came over to crowd me, but Mica lingered at the window for a few more seconds. Finally, he turned around and got up to move to stand by Torie’s side.

I grabbed a little stool with a flower-shaped seat I’d brought from home and sat across from them, setting my drinks on our new coffee table. And by ‘new’ coffee table, I mean new to us. It was actually a simple wooden table covered in old scratches and pen marks, but Kelly swore she could fix it up and make it look nice. Plus, it had only been fifteen dollars.

I started telling them about the coffee shop—how I went, and Elias hadn’t been there, but Marcus had talked to me. They all insisted on trying the Coke and cold brew drink. Kelly and Torie hated it, but Mica gladly finished the rest of it off for me. I told them that Marcus had kind of reminded me of Elias last night, and how when Elias finally had shown up, he’d brought his friends and didn’t remember me, or he’d acted like he didn’t remember me, so I’d let Marcus walk me home.

“Wait…” Torie frowned when I finished my story. “So that guy, Marcus… You just met him?”

“Yeah.” I shrugged.

“And you let him walk you home?!” Torie crossed her arms.

I blinked, looking between the three of them. They all looked shocked. “Yeah… What, should I have said no?”

“It’s… Okay, in her defense,” Kelly began, “everyone knew where we lived in our old town, so it was never a big deal. But yeah, in bigger cities like this, maybe don’t let strangers walk you home. Marcus sounds great! He totally does! But if something were off about him, now he knows where you live… I’m absolutely sure he’s fine. Just be careful in the future.”

“Yeah!” Torie nodded quickly.

“Oh…” I blinked. “I didn’t even realize… I won’t do that again. But he really does seem nice. He was funny and smart and… he was just fun to talk to.”

“At least he was there for you when Elias bailed.” Kelly nodded.

“I don’t know Elias, actually,” Torie pointed out, looking at Mica. “Otherwise, I’d tear him a new one. How do you know him?”

Mica blinked and looked at Torie. “I thought he was one of your friends. I don’t know anyone named Elias.”

Torie frowned when he said that. “What do you mean?”

“I literally have never met anyone named Elias in my entire life.” Mica shook his head.

“I… I worked with an Elias last year, but he was white, and he sure as hell didn’t know about the party,” Torie muttered. “Wait, so this guy was in our house, kissing our friend, and we don’t even know him? Mia, did he come with someone?”

“I don’t… I don’t think so?” I shook my head. “I didn’t see him arrive or leave, but I actually didn’t see him talk to anyone else the entire night.”

“I had the door locked,” Torie pointed out. “How did he get in? I let everyone in.”

“Maybe someone else opened the door when he knocked and assumed he was a friend?” Kelly suggested. “But that’s pretty fucking weird. There were almost three dozen people at that party, and the one that hits on Mia is the one that nobody knows.”

“But that doesn’t mean anything, right?” I asked. “Like, it was just a coincidence. He was just a party crasher.”

“I really don’t know.” Torie looked concerned. “If you hadn’t been making out with him when the power went out, I’d be pretty suspicious about all of this.”

“I’m suspicious, anyway.” Mica raised an eyebrow. “I don’t like strangers in my house.”

“Um… I’m really sorry, guys,” I said softly. This all felt like my fault.

“No, honey, you didn’t do anything wrong!” Torie said quickly. “You flirted with a cute guy! That’s great! It is not your fault he was a dick. And I’m sorry he blew you off. But Marcus sounds really great!”

I smiled slightly, though I was feeling a bit skeptical. This whole situation was a little weird. Everything about Elias was freaking me out a bit–why he’d been there, how he’d known about the party, and why he’d acted like he didn’t remember me today. Still, I tried to put it out of my head. I’d probably never see him again. In a couple of days, I’d go back to see if Marcus was working and chat with him again, and in a few weeks, we would all forget about this weird shit.

6

The following week was pretty uneventful in comparison to the last couple of days. Torie and Mica helped us unpack, and we finally found an affordable couch. It was a little small, but it worked. By Wednesday, Kelly was going into work. A couple of times throughout the week, Mica and I went to Short and Steamy, but Marcus was never working. Every time we went, Mica ordered two of those Coke and cold brew drinks. It was a little crowded with four people in our small apartment, but honestly, I appreciated having Torie and Mica there. They showed us a few restaurants they liked, took us to the beach once, and we made plans to go to the Shedd Aquarium in a couple of weeks once everything settled down.