Faster We Burn

passion.
    “I don’t have a favorite song. I have a current favorite song. It changes a lot. I have different favorite songs for different situations.”
    “What’s your favorite song right now?”
    He answered without hesitation.
    “‘Demons’ by Imagine Dragons.”
    “I’ve never heard it,” I said. I thought I’d heard Lottie mention the band once or twice, but it didn’t sound like anything I would listen to.
    “I’ll play it for you.” I heard him set the phone down and put it on speaker. “Can you hear me?”
    “Yeah.” Of course he had a guitar. I would have been surprised if he didn’t.
    “I’ll be right back. Hold on.” I waited and heard him crashing around getting something. “Sorry about that. Needed to find the right instrument. Haven’t quite learned this one on the violin yet, so you get the boring guitar version.”
    “I’m fine with that.” He played the violin? Now that was a shocker.
    He laughed before he started strumming, and then he began to sing. His voice had a rough quality that pulled at something inside me. I found myself breathing quieter, clutching the phone to my ear and turning the volume all the way up so I could hear him better.
    Since I’d never heard the original, I didn’t know how his version compared, but it sounded damn good to me. I heard him put aside the guitar and pick up the phone again.
    “So that’s my favorite song. Sorry about those little screw ups on the second chorus. I’m still working on the arrangement.”
    “What screw ups?” I honestly hadn’t heard any. He’d been flawless.
    He laughed.
    “Never mind. So how am I doing on verbal distracting?”
    I didn’t want to blow up his ego too much. “I’m impressed with your skills.”
    “If you ever want to experience more of my skills in the physical distracting department, I’d be more than happy to share them with you.”
    I rolled my eyes, which he couldn’t see, but he probably knew I was doing it anyway. “Yeah, I bet you do. Guys always talk a big game but when the time comes to deliver, they can’t.”
    “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I can walk the walk.” There was a fluttering below my waist that I tried to ignore. That lasted about five seconds.
    “Come over. Right now.” The words were out of my mouth before I even knew I was saying them.
    He paused before he said, “No.”
    “No?”
    “No. I’m not just some guy you can call for a fuck anytime you want. You called me for verbal distractions and you want physical ones in the same night? Sorry, sweetheart. You don’t always get what you want.”
    I was about to say something, but the call cut off. He hung up on me. I hit redial right away. What the hell?
    No answer.
    I tried again.
    No answer.
    I texted him and got back a response a second later.
    I’m going to bed. You probably should too. Get your beauty sleep. To be continued
    I typed an angry response and then deleted it before typing something else.
    Dot dot dot .
     
    Stryker
     
    It was only a matter of time before I got into bed with Katie again, and it was only a matter of time before we got caught. We were in the thick of it when Katie’s door opened and I head the gasp of surprise.
    As expected, Lottie gave both of us a talking to. For a tiny girl, she sure knew how to make you feel like you were even shorter. Zan didn’t seem either surprised or upset, which led me to believe he’d known all along. I was an idiot to think I could put it past him. He noticed everything. I apologized and tried not to be a dick about it, but I knew that I was going to be on Lottie’s shit list for a little while.
    After Lottie dragged Zan down to his room for the night, Katie dragged me back to her room.
    “Shit. Shit, shit, shit,” she said as she tried to put her clothes back on with shaking hands. “Now she’s going to hate me and Zack is going to find out. Shit, shit, shit!” She tried to get her panties on, but tripped, and I caught her.
    “Here.” I pushed her onto the bed and got them over her feet and pulled them up for her, following them with her jeans.
    “You don’t have to baby me,” she said, snatching her bra from the bedpost and putting it on.
    “I’m not trying to. I was just trying to help.” I backed off and dressed myself. It never bothered me when Katie talked like that to me. I was pretty sure I was the only person who saw this side of her. To everyone else she was sweetness and light. I got the sarcastic side. But sarcasm was