Hunted by a Night Fae

Chapter 2

"You're late."

I had just walked in through the door of the bustling Jameshouse when I heard the voice. I looked up through a few strands of my black hair to see Brody. His muscular forearms were exposed where his shirt sleeves were rolled up. One side of his dark wavy hair brushed his brow, framing his bright blue eyes.

Eyes that tempted me into some pretty bad decisions lately.

"This is the third time this week. If I wasn't correcting the time sheets you would already be fired. It only takes three, and in the last month you have been late five times." He sighed dramatically, and then the ghost of a playful grin flitted across his full lips. "You're very lucky it's me and not Jessica in tonight."

Jessica, the other supervisor, always gave me the rowdy tables. Groups of men that would make a crude jokes—usually directed at one of my body parts. It certainly didn't help that the dress code practically required we wore the skimpiest clothes possible.

"I am quite lucky," I said pulling off my denim jacket with a large grin. Our eyes caught, and I sensed the lingering tension between us. It had been that way for days now. After a few too many moments looking into his eyes, I turned away. I brushed past him so I could go put my things in the back.

"You staying later tonight?" he asked, catching my arm in a familiar gesture. I had known Brody for a long time. We went to the same elementary school as kids, and it was me who introduced him to my best friend Priya, his current girlfriend. They had been dating for three years now. But, that didn't change the lingering attraction between us. A history of mutual crushes as children that grew into a pattern of flirting as adults that neither of us could seem to shake off.

"Yes," I said, not removing my arm from where he touched me. His fingers caressed my bare skin, giving me goosebumps. He didn't answer me, and I struggled to untangle myself from his gaze.

"Briana's coming to meet me after my shift," I said, breaking the moment. "Didn't she tell you?"

Brody frowned while darting his gaze away from me, dropping his hand. "She might have," he muttered. "I probably wasn't listening."

Yeah, I had heard plenty about his lack of listening lately. It was hard listening to Briana complain about it when I had the sneaking suspicion I was partially to blame for his wandering attention.

I felt terrible. Yet, there was a part of me—a small yet loud part, that felt a rush. And though, another part of me hated hurting Briana—or anyone for that matter, I still couldn't shake the invigorating rush that pursuing something forbidden gave me.

There was something inside of me that wanted adventure. It wanted to test the boundaries that constantly piled on top of me, and the urge made me do things I shouldn't. Even when I knew I there would be disastrous consequences, it was hard not to follow my impulses.

Brody nodded to the table just coming in, a group of young people whose loud voices filled the room. It was a nice-sized table, the zone itself favorable on the busy nights for the high tips I was likely to get. "That table's yours. You should probably get to them soon, they look thirsty," Brody said, shaking off the awkwardness of the moment with a devastating grin.

I quickly turned away from him, feeling all kinds of traitorous things in my body. Oh, good God, I was in trouble.

In the backroom I glanced in the mirror, making sure my makeup was still in place, and ran my hands through my hair to tame it from the big gust of wind that had greeted me earlier when I had exited my car my. I left to enter the restaurant, passing through the kitchen. I almost walked into two other waitresses there to place their order.