Bloodlust

Men In Black

— VENICE —

Two weeks. Two agonizing weeks since I last saw Liam.

Each passing day was somehow more monotonous and grey than the one before it. My life could be a porno featuring a sexy-ass vampire, but here I was.

Bored and sad and anxious, 24/7.

I gave up trying to convince Marvin to leave. I knew nothing more about whoever he called that day, but I knew the second shoe hadn't dropped yet. It was coming and it would be ugly.

Liam didn't leave his house unless we were all inside. Seeing him always lit a match under me, but then I remembered that I didn't know when we'd get to speak again.

What if he moved on to some other girl by then? I was certain he could find a thinner, funnier, smarter, prettier girl who had way less baggage than me.

I couldn't even hold it against him if he was seeing other people. We weren't together. We just made out a couple of times and he'd felt up my boobs.

My body felt hot all over at the memory of his strong fingers kneading my breasts. I'd never been touched like that before but I didn't want it to end. He was the first guy I ever considered having sex with.

I resigned myself to being perpetually horny and unsatisfied. Every night, I buried my fingers inside myself to ease the ache. I couldn't come by my hand anymore. I could be dripping fucking wet and yet I couldn't crest the wave of an orgasm.

I'd never been so sexually frustrated in my life.

Meanwhile, things with Marvin remained tense. I ignored him most of the time when I wasn't trying to eavesdrop.

Isaiah and I went back to work like nothing ever happened. Still, something about our dynamic had undeniably shifted.

He was moody pretty much every single day. Our conversations were condensed, only exchanging the bare minimum. We exclusively talked about work. I couldn't remember the last time we all sat down and ate a meal together.

In just a matter of days, the entire dynamic of my relationship with both of these men had changed. We weren't best friends anymore.

Marvin didn't stop trying to mend things with me, though. He probably deserved an award of some kind for his persistence.

He insisted on buying groceries or ordering takeout. He helped out with cleaning and doing the dishes. He made coffee and bagels for me in the morning.

Although I hadn't told Isaiah, Marvin even went so far as to leave a cupcake with a heart on it in the fridge and, on another occasion, a rose under my bedroom door.

He was trying to make it impossible for me to ignore him. My walls were crumbling and I knew it. Loneliness and boredom were slowly driving me insane.

I wouldn't allow myself to trust him, though. I still believed the whole military thing was just a cover for being a Hunter.

How else could he just take so many days of leave?

His whole life was a freaking lie, a giant secret. I wondered if that was why he was so set on fixing things between us. I knew his secret. I knew more about him than probably any other girl ever had or would know about him.

That made me easy, comfortable, and familiar.

From the moment my alarm went off at seven o'clock, I could tell something was going to change today. Tension filled the air and weighed on me more than usual.

I moved sluggishly through my morning routine before work. After taking care of my hygiene habits, I dressed in a knee-length white skirt and a pink floral blouse paired with nude heels and simple gold jewelry. I took my time applying my makeup, knowing after this I would have to face the world.