Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (15 page)

“No,” I said. Melinda was a different story, though, if I remember
correctly. “Melinda has.”

Melinda took a while to catch onto what I was talking about. “Oh
right. Yeah, but you know, I didn't think it was weird. I actually found it
quite flattering really.”

“What happened?” Daniel asked.

“Well, Stuart and I were out shopping the other day, and there was
this guy watching us. But he was gone almost instantly.”

A long silence followed. “I had the same thing. Except it wasn't a
male. You haven't had this experience, Maya?”

“Nope.”

“It could just be paranoia, Daniel. I'm not worried about it, and
hell, maybe the girl wanted in your pants. It wouldn't be the first time.”

“She has a point, Daniel.” I agreed, only because Daniel was the
sane one out of the three of us and I didn’t need him losing it over this
random person. “She was probably nervous but loved what she saw.”

More silence continued and I knew he was over-exaggerating my
comment. “True. I do make the girls crazy and nervous all at the same time.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned forward, placing my lips where the mic
was. “Daniel, sweetie, no one likes a self-obsessed freak.”

“That's fresh coming from you.”

I should be offended, I really should.

But I wasn't. “Touché.”

****

Neither of us had the motivation to cook dinner tonight so we did
the alternative and went to a Chinese restaurant. It wasn't a fancy restaurant,
only because I can't stand being around people that talk like they’re royalty,
drink expensive wine, and just... do all those things I wish I could do. And my
demon had a fascination for rich people, so I wasn't going to start being a
gold digger because of her fetishes.

“Oh, look, it's Noah. Hey. Noah!” Melinda called out.

I turned around in my seat to spot a familiar mess of black hair. He
grinned when he saw us and walked over.

I was actually nervous if he would act normal or not, being what
happened between Tristan and I. Would people even know? Even though it just
happened last night? Besides, even if everyone knew, Noah and I bonded over who
would get the last beer bottle in my fridge. I think that is way more
important, even though I won.

“Well, isn't it two of my favorite girls around town.” His brown
eyes brightened as he leaned down and hugged both of us. “What's the gossip?”
He took a seat to my right and leaned back, waiting for the latest news.

One of the things about Noah was that he hated being a part of the
gossip. He loved hearing about something that happened to someone else though.
I guess everyone's like that. Noah just happened to rely on Melinda and I, the
two people who were practically always the gossip of campus. And it's always
something stupid like '
Oh, Maya took this guy to her room last night
' or
'
Melinda totally fucked that guy from the club, what a slut
'.

Being called a slut became easier to handle. It was pretty much the
modern version of what we were. The twenty-first century whores. If only people
understood why, then I bet they would jump on the boat. I could name about
fifty people who would kill to have an excuse to be a slut. And I'm sure there
were about two billion more people out there.

But it’s not something to be proud of. I don’t walk around, gloating
about who and when I slept with someone, because I wasn’t proud of it. I did it
because I needed to. The only people that I spoke to were Melinda and Daniel,
but that was because we felt something different during sex. Instead of the
lust and heat that humans felt, we felt the lust, yet we could feel our demons
getting satisfaction.

And, a happy demon means a happy holder.

“Not much,” Melinda said blankly, “just the normal.” Other than the
entire succubus shit, it was the truth. Unless you counted the Tristan drama,
but we weren't going to bring him up.

“Did you guys hear about Tristan?”

Well, apparently he was going to come up anyway.

“So much for avoiding that,” I muttered. Our food arrived at exactly
the right time and I didn't hesitate in giving it all my attention.

“Am I missing something?” Noah asked, confused.

Melinda waved her hand in the air. “Nothing, but yeah, we did hear
about him. Pretty messed up, huh?”

“Yeah, and then he goes and spends money on her, like the trip to
Hawaii
that they went on today.”

Goodbye, appetite, thanks for popping in.

“What trip to
Hawaii
?”
Melinda asked.

“Not sure what it's about but they left today. I thought you two
would be the first to know, considering you guys are close, Maya.”

Were
, I refrained from correcting. We
were close, until he went and ruined it all. “Not a single word,” I murmured,
moving my noodles around the plate with my chopsticks.

I was so confused by Tristan that it was turning into a mind fuck.
First he gets distant with me, then he's telling me that there's nothing
between us—not even a friendship. He then terminated his gym membership and now
he's taking the blonde to
Hawaii
. What's next, a new house?

“How did you find out then?” Melinda always knew how to avert the
attention from me at the right time.

“Through Facebook. You guys aren't on there right?”

“No way,” I murmured, forcing down a mouthful of noodles before I
started degrading Tristan out-loud.

Melinda, Daniel and I weren't Facebook people, we didn't like it. We
didn't have anything against Facebook, it was the people
on
Facebook
that we had a problem with. And, we didn't like to be tracked. It was a
succubus and incubus thing. Sometimes, when things don't go according to plan
and the subject of our demon remembers who we are, it’s not always pretty. They
gather a curiosity for us and they end up adding us on Facebook and following
us on Twitter. Social networking ended up being a no-go altogether. We
preferred our feeds to be fresh, not something we'd already been with and
tainted.

“Anyway, ladies, as much as I would love to spend the night with two
gorgeous babes, I have a date.” Noah grinned widely.

Finally a new topic. “Oh yeah? Who with? Is it Samantha or Natasha?”
I whispered their names seductively, ignoring that I was in a slump a few
minutes ago.

Noah was a player. Well, not as bad as Ryan, but he wasn't far off.
He actually called it '
having fun until someone lasso's him into settling
down
'. Samantha, he and Natasha just had this weird love-triangle going on
which I had no motivation in even explaining. There wasn't even a short side to
it. It was too complicating to understand.

“Actually, it's a new girl. Samantha and Natasha have gone away for
the summer, and I already know they'll be off with other guys. I'm also
thinking about settling down, you know, trying out the relationship thing.”

“Oohh, it’s a love-square.” Melinda smirked and wagged her brows in
my direction.

I laughed for the first time today.

Noah leaned forward and picked a piece of carrot out of my Chinese,
causing me to slap his hand when he came back for more. “Aw really, Maya? I’m
hurt you won’t share.”

“And I’m hurt you haven’t added me to your list of fascinations,” I
replied.

He rested his elbows on the table, watching me with a glint in his
dark brown eyes. “Trust me, if Tristan wasn't my best mate, you would be.”

The mention of Tristan only killed my mood, but Noah didn’t notice.
Instead, he leaned forward and pecked both Melinda and I on the cheek. “See you
around.”

What did he mean if
Tristan wasn’t his best-mate
? And what's
up with guys saying '
I'll see you around
'?

I watched him leave, my confusion still burning in my brain. “Huh.”

“Tell me about it,” Melinda said, “I can't believe Tristan took
Blondie to
Hawaii
.”

I was really starting to get back into my food, but she took my
huh
in a direction I wasn’t even directing it at. “I was talking about Noah.”

“Oh,” she cringed, “sorry.”

We were already on the subject now. “It is weird.”

I could feel her relief from a mile away. She obviously wanted to
rant about this. “I know right? What the hell has gotten into his head? He's
completely gone crazy. He's officially mental. I swear, he's crazier than you,
and that's saying something.”

“Offended,” I stated, but way past the point of caring.

“And then,” she continued, “he goes and makes the plot even more
twisted by taking the one girl he could never understand on a trip to one of
the best vacation places on this Earth. I'm telling you, something is going
on—” her voice cut off. I thought it was the end, but then her eyes bugged out
and she stayed that way for a few seconds, until I got impatient.

“Melinda?” I snapped my fingers in front of her and she shook out of
her trance.

“Maya, you don't think...”

What is she talking about? “What?”

“You don't think that... Tori knows, do you?”

She was really not getting to the point of this. “Know about what?”

“About you and Tristan.”

Oh.
Oh!
Shit. “But—”

“It would explain a lot of things, Maya,” she interrupted, “it would
explain why he was distant, why he was mad, and why he called it off. I think
he finally told Tori, and this is his way of trying to get back on her good
side. Taking her to
Hawaii
—it
would make her forget about everything. If he added in nail and hair trips, it
would be like you never existed to her.”

“That's a harsh way to put it.”

“It's the truth.”

Unfortunately, it was. Nails and hair would distract Tori from
starving children in
Africa
. It
was why I hated the bitch. My stomach churned in annoyance with the sunken
feeling of realization I just went into. My demon, she hated Tori, she despised
her at first sight. My demon and I, we were meant to be.

But I was distracting myself from the subject at hand. There was
something more important going on
right now
. “My appetite has just
disappeared, and that annoys me because I was so hungry before.”

Jamie was fast asleep in her room which was a big relief. She would
just sleep through what was happening two rooms away from her. Yeah, she was on
the other side of the dorm, but you just never knew what could and couldn't be
heard.

The sounds of Tristan’s music played softly from my stereo. I wasn’t
sure what song was playing, but judging by the slow strum of a guitar, soft
sensual lyrics and the way Tristan kept pressing his lips on my skin, I didn’t
care as long as he didn’t stop. Then again, if it put Tristan in this kind of
mood, it would be nice to know what the song was… for you know, future
references.

“Do you know how much I love when you wear this bra?” Tristan smirked
from under the covers. His chin rested just below my breasts, his blue eyes
darkening to an almost deep color when I looked into them.

“Why do you think I wear it when you're around?” I replied smugly. I
knew how much he liked it. Actually, I wore it tonight for his twenty-first
birthday, not knowing I was going to end up in bed with him. Thank fucking God
Tori left. I was about to give her boyfriend a better present than she could
give her hair.

Tristan's hands slid over my hips and he fingered the fabric of the
matching panties between his fingers. “These too?” His fingers were soft as
they brushed along my skin. I wasn’t a huge fan of soft and gentle, but the way
he gripped my hips always managed to balance it out.

I had to admit, alcohol was a part of why we ended up here, but we
weren't that drunk. I don't even need to get the demon out to tempt him, he
does it all on his own. My demon circled around my stomach, causing flutters
within me. She always got excited when Tristan was around. When he touches me…
well that was a different story. She goes absolutely crazy. Like right now, I
was refraining from turning this whole thing around and having my way with him.

“Well I'm not going to go out with non-matching lingerie now, am I?
I was hoping to get laid or something and I wanted them to get a good view.” I
lifted my shoulders in a meaningless shrug.

“It definitely worked.” He kept his eyes connected with mine as his
lips pressed softly against the skin of my abdomen. “It worked very well.”

The heat within me started to grow, and as much as I loved his lips
on me, I wanted his lips to make their way right up to mine.

“Tristan,” I murmured, shifting my body slightly under his weight.
“You've been here for five minutes now, and not once has your lips kissed mine.
Please, do hurry up. I'm going to get restless.”