1

Ollie. "

My sigh carried the silence of peace and resonated with my soul. And with a little luck, his too.

"Ollie."

My dissatisfied whining.

"Ollie!"

My cry at the climax of the nights that only belonged to the two of us.

His face is indelible and burned into my memories. Indestructible.

Long black hair all around shaved and pulled into a ponytail. A silver tunnel in each ear. So the left one was decorated with three more surgical steel earrings. Tongue piercing. The scar under my eyebrows and the bewitching look of the chocolate eyes, which darkened with desire and hid so many secrets that I had no idea. And also the body of a demigod.9

Just looking at him for more than three seconds made me press my thighs together. And what if he looked at me.

But it has been more than five years.

Five.

And he kept coming back to me in his dreams.

Just like today.

I woke up sweaty with a fading orgasm and a blanket crumpled between my thighs. My heart was pounding and I could barely breathe smoothly. I blinked into the darkness and reached for the phone on the bedside table. It was a little past three-thirty.

Well, that's fucking great.

What was even better about the hair?

Text by David: Are you at work tomorrow? I could stop by for lunch.

I just whimpered, tossed my cell phone back, trying to think of a hundred and one reasons why I would have dreamed of my friend, whom I had dated for almost two years.

David was a nice guy too. His tousled blond hair, pale blue eyes that hid absolutely nothing, and his developed body were even more muscular than Ollie's. But that was not the case. Watching Ollie walk was like watching a beast hunt. There was something about him that made me watch his every move, that kept me keeping an eye out because he could attack at any time. At any time. And David was just ...

Wait, why did I actually compare them?

Damn.

This was not fair to me from David. He was a faithful and good friend. Everything about him was safe and familiar. Being with him was as sure as the sun rising tomorrow.2

Anything could go to hell with Ollie at any time.

In addition, he sang in the band. Believing a singer is in itself quite a stupid thing.

Good and enough.

It's time for a cold shower and a book, because I'm probably not going to sleep today.

***

What did I not expect? That I would really fall asleep - with my nose buried in the book - and I would be able to fall asleep to work in the morning.

I called my colleague and longtime friend June, but she didn't answer, so I had to move my ass seriously.

I rushed into the bathroom, quickly changed my morning hygiene, highlighted my dark blue eyes with mascara and black lines, and pulled my red hair into a very casual bun. That will have to be enough.

I ran to the bedroom to the closet. Little time for contemplation forced me to choose an easy standard. I pulled on torn light blue jeans, a white tank top, a plaid red-white shirt, and added a white Conversky. Then I grabbed a "Zen as fuck" canvas bag that put a wallet, cell phone, headphones, and a book.

Then all I had to do was run down ten floors, which was faster than the local elevator, and I dashed in front of the house. So I caught the tram at the stop on the corner.

Breathless, I sat down on the seat and called June again. Without success.2

She will surely kill me.

June wasn't the type to mess with anyone, and she certainly didn't like it when I arrived late for the morning shift, which was usually the biggest blast of customers demanding their first coffee on a new day.

To calm down a bit, I stumbled upon my deep blue space-themed headphones and played Under And Over It from Five Finger Death Punch on the iPod. This music sometimes worked even better than the morning coffee.

I got off six stops and two more streets ran. Along the way, I checked the time and incoming calls. I was an hour late.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

As I ran, I pulled my headphones around my neck and rushed into the cafe like a lot of water. I glanced at the tables and boxes by the wall. I was reassured that fortunately it wasn't full that it was Friday morning. A lot of people used this day to get away from work, and most of the time June and I didn't stop much. Today, however, my luck was playing luck.

June stood behind the bar and looked around bored. As soon as she saw me, her face lit up. She was a small blonde of small stature with her hair cut to her shoulders and a bang that was so long that it crawled into her bright green eyes. And to top it all off, she was the owner of two show dimples in her face. She looked like a cute doll until she opened her mouth.

"Where the fuck have you been?" She asked cheerfully instead of greeting. "Did David sleep with you?"

I shook my head. "She did not sleep. I just fell asleep, "I explained very briefly, and I definitely didn't intend to elaborate further.

I ran around the counter into the staff room, took my shirt and headphones off my neck, took my green apron, and returned to her. The whole thing couldn't take more than a minute and a half.

I finally took a break as I stood next to June and pulled the apron strap over my head. "Good morning," I said, trying to smile.

"Yeah, that's right," she said like a cat.

I chuckled and tied the two cords at the back of my shoulders. "So excited that there are few people?"

She waved her pink-painted nails at my question. "But not the hell. What am I after? I'm looking forward to the end of my shift, Chad is in town. "

And shit.

A. Do. Pr. The. Le.

Chad was her older brother. But he didn't interest me at all now, but at all.

I leaned against the counter next to my friend. "Seriously? That you haven't mentioned it before? "

She raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well ... I guess you assumed you saw leaflets pasted around town. In fact, I really thought I told you about it. Didn't she say? "

Leaflets? What the hell flyers?

I shook my head.

"Clearly. So Fallen have a concert here at the House of Blues tomorrow, "she told me almost solemnly." Which is just great, because they've been working on it for almost a year, you know. "

I rested my chin on my palm, and I had just pierced my head with a forty-five Colt. "Um, um ... So that means ..."

She shot me emerald eyes, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. "That the whole band is here. Yeah."

Shit!

How many times already?

But if I'm careful, I won't even meet him, do I? I'll avoid him somehow, somehow ...

"Actually, Chad said something about him getting ready to move soon, so-"

"Moving?" I interrupted, strangled. No. It would kill me.

"Yeah. It was their manager's idea. Everyone in the band still works normally, but they seem to have a better chance of success here. "She shrugged. She studied my face for a moment. Did he look as cramped as I felt?" Are you going to the concert with me tomorrow? "

No. No. Not a hundred times.

"I will make my mind up. But I think we have something to do with David, "I said immediately.

June looked disappointed. "But no, Tate. Guys are sure to see you. Chad asked this how you were. And I bet Zack and Matt would love to see you. "

Of course she didn't mention Ollie. She knew what had happened between us, everything came to her first hand. But she had no idea that I still dreamed of him, or that I had thought of him disgustingly lately. "Then you're really stupid, because it's true."

Fortunately, the door opened at that moment and a new visitor appeared.

Still that. I was not ready for a cross-examination. Not after that dream.

The morning passed surprisingly fast and I didn't even have time to take a good look at the cell phone that remained in the staff room. (And now I'm kind of lying, because I spent every spare moment nervous about Ollie.) However, when David showed up at the door at half past ten, I was surprised. I really didn't remember him.

I certainly wouldn't win the Girlfriend of the Year award.

I smiled broadly and walked around the counter. David was in a suit today. He studied law and sometimes went to court for internships, so I wasn't surprised. He took care of his appearance. Even his blond hair was gelled and combed back.

He walked over to me, pulled me into his arms, and looked around the cafe before saying, "You didn't write me a message, but I decided to risk it anyway."

I smiled uncertainly. "Oh yeah. I'm sorry, there was a rush and I totally missed it. "

He put a quick kiss on my lips. "It's nothing." Then he released me and looked back at June. "Hi, how are you today?"

June grinned from behind the counter. "Like every day. People are being killed. "

Also, none of the customers were close enough to hear her.

Damn, she surprised me when she said again, "Dave, don't you want to go to the concert with us tomorrow?" She looked almost innocent as she stood there, biting the end of the pencil.

Maybe I'll consider killing her.

She must have known I just didn't want to go there, and now she was trying to push me in every possible way.

David raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to a concert? You didn't mention it to me. "

"She didn't mention it because I didn't know about the concert until this morning. Jun's brother Chad has a band and they're playing at the House of Blues tomorrow. "I think I've mentioned Fallen to him once or twice, but I didn't expect him to remember.

"Ah, that's great, June," he shouted at her immediately. But it didn't seem sincere at the time. Then he added, "House of Blues ... Does that mean metal? Rock?"

Of course. David hated this music and for two years he didn't understand how I could listen to something like that. During the moments together, there was not a single chance that I would play my favorite songs. Not that he forbade me to do it, but I could clearly see in him how it bothered him once I tried.

I nodded. "Yeah, they play metal."

"Hmmm," he growled vaguely. Then he took a breath and added, "Well, even if I really want to, I can't. Dad wants me to go to a meeting with him in Phoenix. I'm told I'll learn something."

He betrayed me. He betrayed.

"Really on the weekend?" I didn't like this. It sounded like I was begging.

David scratched his hair helplessly. "Well, they're some important customers. He had to meet them. "

June applauded enthusiastically behind the counter. "So Tate will be off tomorrow and she can come with me because we will have a Zadar entry," she sang.

I snorted in annoyance. What was I supposed to think of now?

Maybe I could call my mom. Make up a family dinner or ...

My thoughts crumbled to dust when the cafe door opened and a bald figure with a goatee appeared. Chad. Not this. I'm not ready. Because he went after him ...

My knees suddenly stopped working for me.

He still looked the way I remembered him, and yet completely different. The beast's gait, the overcast gaze of the chocolate eyes, the shaved ponytail that had become a bun over the years, tunnels, and other earrings. Tattoos have been added. On the left arm, a motif of three pictures stretched from the wrist to the sleeve of the T-shirt - on the forearm it was the lower half of the woman's face, a palms raised in front of her lips, a clock above her and the silhouette of a kneeling man disappearing under the sleeve. holding a sword. The second piece was on the neck, but from my point of view, I couldn't tell exactly what the motive was. It also seemed to me that he was much more muscular than before. But it could easily have been a false impression, because my brain just couldn't think anything objectively about Ollie.