This Strange Addiction, Julie Steimle [little readers txt] 📗

him. He then peeked to Rick as it really confirmed that Hogan genuinely liked Audry.

Rick closed his eyes, wincing. “Audry is against hunting.”

Matthew snorted, nodding, though he could tell that Rick was not upset over the goddess’s hunting aspect. There was something else lingering on the borders of Rick’s thoughts, though he was not thinking it about it at present. Rick was extremely good at banishing a thought if he did not want it to bother him.

“She’d be insulted,” Rick muttered peevishly.

Bobo thought on that and nodded. “She would probably prefer Demeter.”

“Athena,” Matthew suggested, pointing to him, as the goddess of wisdom was a pretty good choice.

But Rick opened his eyes and marched back into the kitchen. “I think she’d prefer not to be labeled at all.”

Bobo and Matthew exchanged looks.

“Audry is a modern woman,” Rick muttered as if it bothered him. “One which does not like to be put into a box… unless she is the one deciding the box. Damn, why does she have to be a vegan?”

Matthew laughed. Yes. That part bothered Rick. Not her eating habits, but rather that some vegans were self-righteous little pricks who assumed anyone who ate meat was a savage barbarian. And that meant Rick in her eyes.

“Why is she attracted to that guy?” Rick asked from the other room.

Coloring a little, Matthew coughed. “Do you really want me to tell you?”

Groaning, Rick huffed. There was silence for a while before he said, “No.”

But his mind was screaming ‘Yes’. He wanted to know what had attracted Audry to the man he had seen on the beach. Rick wasn’t all that impressed with him. Hogan was a posh hippie. He was neat where neatness counted, but the guy was all for his activism. Besides, Rick thought Hogan not just a player, but a skilled actor. Rick believed that he as playing a part and was clearly good at it. Like a method actor—which he thought were kind of creepy.

“I’ll tell you,” Matthew said, trying to end this argument so Rick could accept things and move on.

Rick groaned. He was fighting his instincts to get upset at Matthew for reading his thoughts. He knew it was a given in all conversations with his friend.

“She likes his looks, yes,” Matthew said. “But that isn’t what really attracts her to him. Whether he is the real McCoy or not, that guy acts in the way she likes. He is devoted to altruistic causes, he does respect her boundaries, and they have talked about marriage and kids.”

“Shut up, I don’t want to hear it.” This time Rick’s thoughts and words matched. He didn’t really want to hear why the girl he liked was attracted to a presumed player. It was possible that Hogan truly was reformed. And Rick was trying hard not to think about Audry in a romantic way. He wanted to keep their relationship in the realm of ‘annoying friend’. He wanted Audry safe from the supernatural world which he was unable to avoid. People like her died around him.

“Ok.” Matthew then looked around for the remote control to Rick’s TV. It wasn’t on the coffee table.

“Is there anything you can do?” Rick asked, coming back from the kitchen to fetch the meat fork he had left in the front room. “You know, for her? Just in case he is a total creeper?”

Shaking his head, Matthew weakly chuckled. “No. She has to make up her own mind. You know this. And he hasn’t made any plays on her yet. The guy is smart. And, I dunno, maybe all that was in the past and he’ll actually settle down with her. Like I told you, he likes her a lot.”

“Damn,” Rick muttered.

Bobo shot him a look, smirking. He snuck a look to Matthew, asking with his eyes how much Rick really liked Audry. Bobo had been out of the loop for a while. Audry’s existence had sort of been sprung on him, and back at the beach, Matthew had to quickly explain who she was and how Rick knew her. Bobo had been impressed.

Taking up the meat fork, Rick gestured with it for them to join him in the kitchen. “Come on. Dinner’s up.”

Both men quickly followed him and the wonderful aroma of roasted fowl.

Bobo said as he stared at the juicy meat in the large pan, partly carved, “Are we goin’ to have any vegetables with this bird?”

Matthew broke into a laugh, as the island counter where the roasted chicken was set was bare of anything else.

“Ha ha ha,” Rick ‘laughed’ back. “Salad’s in the fridge.”

Bobo went to get it. He also brought out some fruit.

As they were eating dinner, mostly in silence as a chicken roasted by a Deacon was a savory tender experience of almost euphoric proportions, Rick nudged Matthew with his fork and asked, “Can I beg a favor from you?”

 Matthew could already hear the favor, and he moaned. “Look, Rick. If your friend Semour can’t find anything on Hogan on the internet, I really doubt there will be a police record on him that Semour could not have hacked.”

Rick closed his eyes, moaning. “I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“You like her,” Matthew said, nodding. He patted Rick’s sore and bandaged shoulder. He could feel the wrappings underneath Rick’s shirt, having only barely seen the edge of them since Rick refused to show him the full extent of his healing wounds. Matthew knew he would see the scars later, but the way Rick’s body carefully moved to avoid pulling out stitches made him feel awful. He was sure Rick had barely survived the attack.

Rick tried to shake him off. But he did not refute it. He sighed with the weight of so much on his chest and back. “I don’t want her to get hurt. And I’m afraid for her. I can smell it on that guy.”

“Smell what?” Matthew asked.

Meeting his eyes, Rick said, “A predator.”

Bobo sighed with a groan. “Ok. Ok. I’ll do it.”

Rick looked to him, perking up. “Really?”

Matthew frowned, hearing their thoughts but needing to guess to fill in the real holes. He had not been present when Rick had asked Bobo of this favor, but clearly it was important to Rick. “Do what?”

Looking to him, Rick said, “Be Audry’s bodyguard.”

Entirely astonished, Matthew’s jaw dropped open. “What?”

“Not like a stalker or anything,” Rick added, making sure Matthew understood his thoughts better. “But to join their club and make friends with her at those functions where she might be alone with that guy. To be on hand in case she doesn’t have her tazer or her tranquilizer gun on her.”

It was impossible for Matthew to hold in his laughter. He found it ironic as Rick was in more danger than Audry really was. She was a capable woman and not a target of anyone who could hurt her, and more than able to hold off a hormonal creeper. And for that matter, Matthew honestly believed that that Rick was exaggerating the kind of player he thought Hogan was. Frankly, Hogan’s thoughts revealed a man who was enraptured by an amazing woman and was serious about his relationship with her. It was most likely Hogan and Audry would get married. Rick was just getting carried away by his jealousy.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Rick murmured, meeting Matthew’s critical eye. “I know I am probably just blowing this out of proportion. I know it. And I know I can’t have her.” He huffed, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have her. A werewolf has no business screwing up somebody else’s peaceful life.”

Matthew set his fork on his plate, pushing aside the chicken bones as he weighed what he had to say. He cared about Rick. Rick was genuine and he was good. The whole werewolf business was more like dealing with an obnoxious disability which came and went, and afflicted Rick with heavy allergies. “Rick. You’re not contemplating going back to Daisy, are you?”

Immediately Rick’s cheeks colored. He peeked once at Bobo who didn’t know a thing about Daisy MacTire, the she-wolf he had a ‘thing’ with in Alabama many years ago. Bobo barely lifted his eyes in curiosity. But Matthew felt it was safe enough to mention this person in his presence.

“No,” Rick bit back.

“Because your thoughts always seem to go back to her whenever you’re depressed about—”

“Enough!” Rick’s face was now entirely red and warm. He then looked to Bobo. “I didn’t tell you, but that is another person you may need to watch out for.”

Bobo listened patiently, putting down his fork to stop eating.

The color in Rick’s face was now to his ears. He could hardly meet Bobo’s gaze as he said, “There is she-wolf I had a relationship with years back who had, uh, sort of made prior claim on me.”

“What?” Bobo then looked to Matthew who nodded.

“We,” gesturing to himself and other invisible friends who were not in the room, “met her at a convention last year,” Matthew said. “And she also met Audry.”

Rick nodded, glad Matthew could phrase it right. He could now cut to the chase. “The thing is, Daisy most likely sees Audry as a threat to her claim.”

“Because…?” Bobo peered into Rick’s face but peeked at Matthew for an interpretation.

Matthew laughed. “Think of Daisy as a crazy ex. Right? Rick is trying to lose her, and that girl seems to think Audry is his new flame.”

Rick put his hand over his face. Conversations about Daisy was beyond mortifying.

“Because Rick likes Audry,” Bobo said.

Shaking his head, Rick said, “No. No. No. It is because Daisy assumes that—”

“Yes,” Matthew said, nodding.

Rick grabbed his skull. There was no way Bobo was not going to believe Matthew. Of course Matthew could read Rick’s tangled thoughts.

“No.” Rick rose from the table. “Look. Yes, I like her. Ok? But the feeling isn’t mutual. Audry doesn’t see me like that, and that is good. I would be terrible for her. Her life would be in danger… and she is a vegan, like I said. I would have no problems with her living her lifestyle, but she loathes mine. So please, help me get over her so I can move on.”

They were both silent.

Until Bobo said, “But you want her to have a bodyguard.”

Nodding, nearly groaning inside, Rick said, “Yes. But only temporarily, at least until after all this mess is over and I am proven wrong about that Hogan.”

“Proven wrong?” Matthew asked.

“When I have their wedding invitation in my hands,” Rick said, nodding hard to him. “If I have that, I will breathe easier. Then I can set her in my head as somebody I used to know.”

Matthew nodded. It probably was for the best.

Matthew left Rick’s apartment, going back to his own more humble place of living soon after Rick arranged for Bobo to enroll in night classes at NYU. Bobo could not join the school club without being a student, and Bobo had also wanted to improve on his education. He had only gone to junior college for a couple years before getting a job around Louisiana where he had grown up, and it had not gone well for him there. It was only after bumping into Tom Brown again while Tom was doing a job for the CIA in New Orleans that Bobo thought about contacting his old friends for some help. After all, why waste knowing a powerful multi-billionaire? All real job searching was done through networking anyway.

Stepping into his apartment, Matthew’s thoughts were full. He had not expected to see Audry Bruchenhaus at the cleanup. He had thought she was still in Africa. And though he barely knew her, he once had hopes that Rick and she would eventually have gotten together. It would have helped Rick get over his addiction to Daisy at least.

But now that was a bust.

Taking off his jacket and hanging up his umbrella and coat, Matthew removed his shoes and went sock-footed over toward his bedroom. But opening his door, sitting upside-down on his bed, was Tom.

Tom Brown was reading one of