Page 15 of Oracles Always Win

Thensuddenly the stranger was standing behind the bar beside me with the bottle in his hand.Ihadn’t even seen him move.

NowthatIsaw him from head to foot,Irealized he was wearing the same clothes as earlier.Thathad to meanI’dkissed a real person.Him.Thisbeautiful horned man.

Fuckityfuck.

Thestranger's eyes narrowed when he read the label.

"Witch'sMilk?"

"Mine,"OldThomshouted as he hobbled closer.Hereached across the counter and plucked the bottle from the stranger's hand.Thenhe twisted off the cap and flicked it at me.Iflinched when the metal disc hit me between my eyebrows.

"Hey," the new man shouted atOldThom.

Iswore the horned man grew taller and beefier right in front of my eyes.

Wasit possible to feel another person’s fury?BecauseIfelt a deep and foreboding sense of impending violence roll through the air with the horned guy at its epicentre.Alow, deep rumbling sound poured out of the man’s body.Hisskin turned crimson with his obvious anger.

Igulped, unable to drag my eyes away.

Itwasn’t normal to get turned on by something so decidedly abnormal, was it?

Nope.Iwas pretty sure it wasn’t.Butmy unfamiliar stirring of arousal wasn’t going away.I’dnever been turned on by another person.

Ofcourse,Ihad to be different.Thatwas the story of my life.Thekid who hadn’t watched the latest cartoon.Thekid who had never dressed up onHalloween.Andnow,Iwas the guy who was going through puberty at twenty-three instead of thirteen.

It’donly been during the last year thatI’deven discovered all the ways my right hand could be used.Itwas one of the reasonsIput losing my virginity on my list last night.Andnow, as if given the green light, my body was making up for lost time.Ididn’t even have a book bag to hold in front of my crotch like teenagers did.Andrunning up to my room to retrieve a jacket to wrap around my hips would just draw more attention.

Inother words,Iwas fucked.

Whydid all this have to happen now?

Atthe shouts, every other movement and sound in the pub halted.Again.Iswore people were cowering.Eventhe guysMr.HornyDudehad come in with appeared alarmed as they jumped out of their chairs.Paws’ furry coat was standing on end, but he didn’t screech or hiss or even arch his back.Thecat stared atMr.HornyDudeas if daring him to do something more.Thatsense of doom increased.Thestranger’s gaze flitted toPawsbefore returning toOldThom.

Whatthe hell was happening?Ihad to stop this before it got any further out of hand.

"Everyone, calm down.You,OldThom, go sit down.You…”Ipointed atMr.HornyDude, then waved my hand through the air. “Knockit off.Thewhole dark and dangerous attitude might be sexy but wrap it up.”

Mybossy words flew out of my mouth beforeIcould censor them, butIdidn’t have the energy or patience to deal with a bar fight.Ihad enough on my plate, what with losing my mind and all.Icouldn’t cope with anything more.Iheld up my hands, like my will alone would stop the men if they really wanted to have a go at one another.Thestranger’s attention snapped to me.Helooked surprised at both himself and me.

"I’msorryIcan't offer you one of those drinks,”Isaid to him. “Thatwas our last bottle andOldThomasked for it first."

"Ididn't want one, but that guy needs an anger management class."

Yeah.Ididn’t think he was the only one.

OldThom'ssnarl sounded like rocks grating against one another.

"Don'tworry about him.Witch'sMilkis his favorite, andIcan't get any more in.He'sjust cranky."

"Don'ttell him that.Don'ttell him anything."OldThomsquawked and shuffled toward his regular dark corner, which was on the opposite end of the room from the mystery guy’s friends.Hedropped into his favorite chair with his back to the wall, hunched his shoulders, and scowled at everyone.

Thebar was still quiet.Everyoneseemed to be holding their breath.EvenCarterJonesseemed fixed in a bent position over the billiard table, with his fingers tight around his pool cue.

“WhatcanIget you?”IaskedMr.HornyDude, who was still behind the bar with me.Itilted my head back to look at him.HolyRubens, he was gorgeous.I’dalways thought so, right from that first paintingI’ddone of him.ButIcouldn’t reveal how obsessedIwas with him.That’djust be weird and awkward.

Ha!Likemolesting him in a hallway wasn’t weird and awkward.

MaybeifIpretended everything was normal, it would be.Thathad become myM.O. in recent months, andIwas going to cling to it as long asIcould.Ifit worked for my bizarre midnight painting obsession, it’d work for this too.