Need Me - M. Malone Page 0,25

shadow in her eyes that told me she’d been disappointed by people more often than not. She’s a warm, caring woman who is afraid of letting anyone too close.

“Still trying to scare me off, hmm?”

She’s so used to people backing away that I don’t think she has any idea what to do with someone who challenges her. But her smart mouth doesn’t turn me off a bit. In fact, I enjoy the hell out of waiting to see what wild thing she’ll do next.

And I think she feels the same even if she can’t admit it.

Well, let’s not disappoint her.

I crack up again as I look at all the penises on my desk. She really outdid herself finding a wide variety of shapes, colors and sizes. It’s a funny mental image to think of her poring over some sketchy website to buy all of these. Unless she already had them on hand.

Which, knowing Ariana, is not out of the realm of possibility. In her mind having a bunch of dildos for just in case probably isn’t that weird.

It takes me a few tries but I manage to get a good picture that has all of the dildos in frame. Lined up in rows on my desk they look like a pornographic candyland.

I text her the picture and then think long and hard about what to write.

Vin: Thank you for the thoughtful gift. You can never have too many.

Later that night, I check my phone again, amused I still haven’t gotten a response.

Could it be that I have finally surprised her? Maybe she thought the dick explosion would finally be the thing that won the war.

It’s tempting to think she might have finally given up on this feud but I know my girl well enough not to rest easy. Ariana is not the type to allow me to have the last word. Which only means she’s formulating some new evil plan to take me down.

I am undeniably looking forward to it.

But first, it’s my turn.

It’s tempting to go all out and buy something extravagant but instinct tells me that’s the wrong move. She doesn’t want to be impressed. That’s the whole point here.

All I can do is be sincere.

I order three dozen roses to be delivered to her address. Maybe she’ll enjoy them. Maybe she’ll throw them in the trash. I can only hope they give her a little bit of joy. She deserves that even if she’s convinced it’s not what she wants.

Plus, I’ll enjoy seeing what she decides. I’ve given her enough time to stew.

I’m going to go see my girl tomorrow.

11

Despite getting at least six hours of sleep, I still feel exhausted. One of the downsides of working part-time is not having a set schedule. I fill in where needed, sometimes going back and forth between day and night shift.

The agency messed up my schedule, so I’m not on shift again until next week. Which is the perfect opportunity for me to do a little sprucing up. I enjoy redecorating. It makes me feel like I’m starting over with a clean slate.

A clean slate would be nice. Yesterday I expected an angry phone call from Vin or maybe a retaliatory flaming bag of shit.

Instead he’d sent that tongue-in-cheek message that made me feel petty as hell. Clearly he’s not holding a grudge. So that just leaves me as the asshole who can’t let the past go.

In our game of wits, he’s definitely winning.

Which, of course, really pisses me off.

I call my mom and leave her a message. She never told me exactly when she’d be arriving but it should be this afternoon. Then I change into an old pair of gym shorts and one of my favorite science shirts. This one says Higgs Boson Gives Me A Hadron.

It’s incredibly geeky and always puts a smile on my face.

An hour later, I’m in the middle of rearranging the pictures on the wall when the front door opens with no warning. The couch is sitting in the middle of the floor blocking my escape route so I clutch the level in my hand like a weapon. Then Casey pokes her head in, looking both ways, before she enters.

“It’s safe!” she calls over her shoulder.

“Are you sure?” Mya’s voice echoes in from the hallway.

Casey glances at me. “You’re not doing anything weird in here, are you?”

I scowl.

She shrugs. “I had to ask.”

Mya follows her inside. “See, I told you. I knew it was bad. It’s always bad when she starts moving