The Nightlife: New York (The Nightlife Series) by Travis Luedke

positions,
blocking off avenues of retreat, Michelle intervened.  She addressed Kyle as
though he’d been speaking to her with his protests.  “ Oui, is true, we just met a
few days ago.  But what can I say?  Is très
magnifique!   We are together all the time.  Is like I don’t want to
let him escape!”
    He snickered.   If only they knew how very true those
words are .
    With this, Michelle reached around and squeezed his ass,
planting a loud smooch on his cheek.  He was now marked territory with a big
sign hanging from his rear that said, Property of Michelle––NO TRESPASSING .
    Delia looked both Aaron and Michelle up and down with a
scowl painted on her face.  He read how Delia puzzled over what qualities he
had that could attract Michelle and keep her occupied for an entire week. 
Delia wondered if she’d missed out on something.  Maybe she should’ve let Aaron
have his way with her.  Was he really all that in bed?  She thought
perhaps he was like that guy from the movie Fight Club–– an unremarkable,
scrawny weasel who suddenly transforms into a badass alter-ego, a
screw-your-brains-out-all-night-long Brad Pitt.
    Aaron became overwhelmed at the girls’ thoughts in response
to Michelle’s boldness.  All three girls and Kyle hit his mind in a tumbled
mess of irritated confusion.  “ What is she saying?  Are they sleeping
together?  Is he living with her now?  God, I wish I had her hair.  What a
slut!  I bet she has him totally pussy-whipped.  That’s so typical of Aaron to
fall in love with the first girl who grabs his ass.  Look at her eyes.  That
color is freakish, that’s gotta be contacts.  Those are seven hundred dollar
Gucci shoes!  I bet he paid her to do this.  She can’t be for real.  What could
she possibly see in him?  Delia must be dying with jealousy by now! ”
    Dazed and confused, Michelle tugged on his arm, bringing him
out of his internal mess.
    “Is only fair to Kyle we pay this month’s rent.  Is so
sudden.”  Michelle had entranced Kyle.  He was putty in her hands as she
maintained her wicked soul-snatching eye contact.  The woman could charm the
skin off a king cobra.  Her distraction provided Aaron the stimulus he needed
to hastily erect a mental block to ward off the tangled assault of thoughts
aimed in his direction.
    After enjoying a couple seconds of mental silence, he got
with the program.  “Yeah, um … I guess you’re right.”  He turned to Kyle and
offered a wad of bills that Michelle had given him the night before.  “Here’s
six hundred.  That should cover you through the next month.”
    Kyle nodded in agreement with a dreamy, idiotic expression. 
He barely managed a one word answer, “Okay.” 
    As Kyle shoved the cash into his pants pocket in a crumpled
ball, Michelle finalized the transaction with one of her adorable French asides. 
“ Viola ! ”
    This foreign sound from Michelle elicited frowns from all
three girls.  Kyle remained bewitched with his idiot smile pasted on.  Amber, the
girl to the right of Delia, leaned in, looking back and forth at Aaron and
Michelle.  “Wow, that’s really cool.  So like … you guys are moving in together?” 
    As she spoke, Amber nudged Delia with her elbow.  Delia barely
noticed.  She stared unwaveringly at Aaron.
    He made the mistake of staring back, catching Delia directly
in the eyes with the full force of his gaze.  He forgot how powerful his eye
contact could be.  He broke away from her stare after a few seconds, but the
damage was done.  He followed her thoughts as Delia picked up on the subtle but
distinct differences in her ex-boyfriend.  She felt a near irresistible attraction
to him, far stronger than ever before.  She wanted to run her hands all over
him, under his shirt, down his pants.  There was something disturbing about him,
something strange, almost unnatural.  She regretted having dumped him two weeks
ago.  This situation wasn’t right at all.