TOXIC BLOODLINES: PARADISE - BOOK 2/4

THE EQUINOX

PETE

Everyone is out partying and getting shit-faced on the one day we have had off this whole year. But me? I'm stuck working in a tiny little booth, in the heat, on the longest day of the freaking year at a stupid town fair. But at least Alexander is here. God, he is so hot—oh shit, he's looking at me. Fuck, shit, what do I do?

Act normal you stupid bitch!

"hEya- Hey, hello," I cringed, my voice broke at the worst time. "Hello, Al," I wanted to bury my head in the ground.

"Sup P-dog," Al clumsily entered my booth.

"P-dog?" I laughed picking up on the smell of alcohol on his breath as he passed me and almost knocked over the table with all the prized goldfish. I quickly caught one of the bowls. "Al."

"Oh shit, sorry," Al tried apologizing unaware of the mother and her child who had been waiting their turn. Disgusted by his apparent inebriation, she shielded the boy's eyes and dragged him away as if he were old enough to understand what he was seeing. The kid just wanted a fucking goldfish.

I chuckled. "At least one of us is having fun."

"You know it," Al popped another beer and necked it, trying to impress me. He burped loudly. I covered my nose. "Come on, that was impressive."

"You should slow down," I teased.

"This is peak male performance," he burped again rubbing his belly.

"Sure it is," I rolled my eyes, wiping the sweat off my brow. The heat was getting to me. One thing I hated about summer in Seventh Heaven was the humidity. "We get one day off, one day, then it's back to—"

'"Monster hunting,"'

We said at the same time.

Our eyes locked briefly before I got flustered and looked away. Al chuckled; he always does this.

Hoping nobody would stop at my booth, I took a seat with a sigh. "You'd think that Ian would've stopped treating us like newbies by now—"

"—Hmph, never gonna happen," Al huffed. "After the werewolf incident, Ian tightened the reigns. He does not trust us anymore—"

"—Ian doesn't trust you; you mean. And Lycan. The 'werewolf' was a Lycan," I corrected Al.

Al put his hands up in response. "My bad," he apologized with a chuckle.

"Well, now you know." I took a sip of my water. "Urgh." It had that plastic taste now that the ice had melted. "I can't with this fucking heat!" I fanned myself with a flyer.

"...You know people are asking about us?" Al grumbled, hoping to spark a conversation. "Boss man was on the phone the other day with the mayor. It was her idea we come here. Ever since the expansion and the walls, people are, like, scared of us."

I raised a brow. "So having us work a booth, at the fair, in our uniforms, is the less suspicious route?"

Al shrugged. "Your friends back," he pointed with his eyes.

I turned around only to see that mother return with her Ice scream-stained child who demanded to play earlier. Fuck my life. Standing up from my seat, I put my customer service face back on. "Do you want to play?" I asked the pumpkin spice mother.

She placed the money on the table and made a 'get on with it' gesture with her hand, not even wanting to engage with me.

I put the money in the jar and gave the kid five rings. "You got this," I smiled stepping back. His mother scowled at me through her thick shades.