When We Were Still Human Vaughn Foster (the kiss of deception read online .txt) 📖

aversion to boob money. “Gonna need fifty more,” the drug dealer said after a moment.

“What?!” Avia’s hand flew up and accidently smacked the air freshener. “Come on,” she demanded, wringing out her wrist. “I paid nearly half that two months ago!”

He shrugged. “Inflation’s a thing. Especially when Nico had to switch suppliers. You got a problem, take it up with the feds.”

Avia grumbled and retrieved another fifty. She threw the crumpled bill at his head then turned to leave. Almost unsurprisingly, Lorne rose to follow.

“Hey,” he said, falling into step beside her. The music was back and her body was already gliding into the beat. She just had to give the bag to Cheshire and she could dance the night away.

“Do you want to dance?”

She barely heard the question as she turned to see Lorne still there.

“Nope.”

She spotted Cheshire at the bar and turned to cut across the crowd.

“But wait!” Lorne reached for her arm but got bumped against the wall by a Hispanic guy who was really feeling the remix blasting from the stage. According to the man’s slurred apology, it was apparently his favorite song. Lorne straightened himself out and parted the crowd again to get back to Avia. “You’re beautiful.”

She glanced up at what he probably assumed was ‘woman-slaying charm and charisma’—subtle lip bite, eyes locked on hers with relatively limited detours to her chest. He was trying to do that thing where you’re casually dancing but are also totally cool with getting a drink or leaving. He’d been well rehearsed, so points there, but it was obvious he was just as awkward as Cheshire.

“Honey,” she soothed, patting his cheek. "I just dropped most of my paycheck in the ladies’ room so I can actually have a good time.” She opened the bag and dug around until she found some of the “extras.”

Lorne’s eyes widened in surprise. “Nico said you’re only supposed to take half a—”

She popped three gummies into her mouth and chewed spitefully. “Listen, kid,” she said, leaning onto his shoulder. “You got potential. There are tons of desperate women in here who’d love nothing more than to have you inside of them.” She motioned her hand across the dance floor like it was a sea of treasure.

“Really?” His eyes lit up and he followed her gaze, as if to an undiscovered continent.

“Yeah!” She slapped his chest and took a few steps back. “Lose the tie, shave the scruff when you get a chance. You look like you got money and you’re not hard to talk to, so you’re already ahead of most of these losers. Just be yourself. The less words, the better.”

She scanned the crowd until she found a brunette in something so short it might have once been a dress. She was flipping her hair and “wooing” entirely off rhythm, but still managed to be sexy about it.

“See the girl?”

Lorne looked where she was pointing and gulped. “Mmhm.”

“That was me last weekend. Go up, start dancing with her, and she’ll take the rest from there.”

He blinked twice as if in disbelief, then stared back at the girl, then to Avia. “Th- thank you so much!”

She playfully punched his arm then started dancing her way to the bar. “You got this, tiger! I believe in you!”

Millennials filled the space like water and Avia lost sight of him in seconds. She could already feel whatever was in the gummies starting to take effect and fought to get to Cheshire before she dropped the sack.

“Charlie!” she screamed—the fake name on his ID. Cheshire spun in his stool, breaking conversation with the bartender who looked slightly disappointed by the interruption. She flounced up beside him and leaned into his ear. Her hands found one of his zippered pockets and slid the bag securely in.

“Don’t look now,” she whispered, lingering above his shoulder. “The bartender thinks you’re cute.”

“What?” Cheshire flushed and looked back to see the man give a sly wink.

Avia laughed and pushed away from him. “I took a lot of shit! Find me if you wanna leave early, okay?”

He opened his mouth, but she’d already slipped into the crowd. The beat shook her bones, her heart, her lungs, and the strange drugs bled through her veins. The worlds began to splice, and she could almost make out two ghosts swing dancing overhead. The heavy strobes and neon lights passed through their translucent bodies so that they sparkled like sunbeams on water. A breeze cut through the sweaty air and the hard floor started to feel like soft earth. She tossed her head back and released a wild scream as the music took her away.

A loud knocking forcefully dragged Avia awake. She tried pulling the covers over her head but by the ninth unsuccessful attempt, she pried herself from the blankets.

Throwing the door open, she met an irritable looking Cheshire. He stood in the doorway, still in the wrinkled clothes from earlier that night.

“Ches,” she said sleepily, wiping her eyes. “We’ve been over this. People—human beings—need to sleep at night.”

“As do cats,” he replied. He cracked his neck and she noticed the tired haze that enveloped his movements. “Someone’s been at the front door for like half an hour.”

“Well, why didn’t you—” But he was already gone. She stepped out of the room to see him—this time in the form of a fluffy grey cat—padding down the hall into the living room. A growl sounded from here throat. There were rapists. Then murders. Then the bastards who woke you up at ungodly hours in the morning.

Not bothering to fix her hair, Avia shuffled after him and unlocked the front door. Her building string of profanities died on her lips.

“Rachel?”

The other girl was leaning against the opposite wall. She was dressed for the gym, which meant it was at