Eye of the Sh*t Storm by Jackson Ford (most romantic novels .txt) 📕

I tried to explain why I couldn’t reveal my ability, he said some… ugly things. Accused me of being selfish, said he was embarrassed for me.

Yes, I know I just threw my ability out in public today. It probably wasn’t the smartest decision, but I was high on meth at the time so shut up.

Nic apologised later. Of course he did. He’s not a bad guy. He wanted to reconnect, sent text after text after text. Problem is, I didn’t know what to say, and it became one of those problems that you just ignore and hope it goes away. I missed him, but I was also mad at him, and in the wake of Paul’s death, I didn’t want to start untangling whatever situation Nic and I had. So I ghosted him. I didn’t plan on it. It’s just that one day, I realised I hadn’t replied to his last text for a while, and I couldn’t think of anything good to say, so I just… left it. Not proud of it, but there you go.

We haven’t spoken in months.

How does Africa know him anyway? I’m sure I’ve mentioned the big guy to Nic once or twice, but they’ve never been introduced. Yeah, we’re gonna have to talk about that.

You want to know the most fucked-up thing? Nic is one of the only people in the world I can date. He knows about my ability, after all – and more importantly, he knows about what happens to it during sex. Back in the day, I managed to convince Tanner that I had the right to be with someone. Not even I can blame her for how fucked-up things got after.

So what have I been doing this whole time, where I don’t want to date and I can’t have sex? Let’s just say I’ve gotten very good at not thinking about shit. Which has been especially hard lately, let me tell you, even before the meth made me ultra-horny – a feeling which has utterly and completely vanished, by the way, swallowed by the hollowness in the pit of my stomach.

Nic isn’t the only person I’ve thought about romantically – there’s a guy called Jonas Schmidt, a German tech bro who happens to be that much-sought-after combo of insanely rich, ridiculously hot and genuine. He helped us out during the quake, and we definitely had something. Or at least, I think we did.

Jonas doesn’t know about my ability. I haven’t seen him since the quake, and that’s not going to change. All the same, over the past few months, he’s been in my thoughts more than Nic has.

“My brother!” Africa pumps Nic’s hand hard, even though Nic clearly still doesn’t know who he is. “Good to see you, huh?”

“Yeah, you too.” Nic cuts a glance at me, and my cheeks go red.

“Hey, Nic,” I say, putting as much confidence into my voice as I can. Trying to pretend I’m not still high on fucking meth. Hoping he doesn’t notice. God, what if he does? Then again, fuck him.

“Hey,” he says. The word is a balloon: bright and shiny on the outside, nothing but hollow space inside.

We fall silent. Africa, finally, picks up on the vibe. His eyes dart between us. “I was… Teggan and me, we were just eating some chicken from Ray’s. You had it too, yaaw?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s good.”

More silence.

“How have you been?” I try.

“Oh, you know. We been working out in SB still; it’s pretty crazy out there.”

“Oh yes, I have many friends in San Bernadino,” Africa says, clearly delighted to find a conversational ice floe to crawl onto in this freezing sea of awkwardness. “Very bad stuff. The buildings, they not up to code. Not like in Downtown. One of my oldest friends, Trevor, he tell me there still no power out there sometimes.”

“It’s pretty crazy,” Nic says again, hands in his back pockets.

“You’re still at the DA’s office?” I ask, eyeing the high-vis vest.

“Gave it up. I’m doing quake relief full time now.”

“For real?”

He shrugs, like he’s had this conversation before. “Aw, you know. They’re kind of running on a reduced staff at the moment anyway. They don’t really need me.”

Please. I might not have spoken to Nic much over the past couple of months, but I know him. He gets off on helping people. All the same, to quit his position… leave a promising legal career behind…

Africa nudges him, a move which actually staggers Nic. “I forget you are a lawyer! Hey, let me ask you: let us say I want to buy a property here in Los Angeles, but because of the quake the owner has just left it. If I cannot find them, must I legally pay them if I go and take the land?”

We both stare at him.

“Um,” Nic says. “I don’t really…”

“Myself and Jeannette – she is my girlfriend – we are looking to buy property. We think maybe we open a business here, on the side, you know, and we find this one place that maybe—”

My phone rings.

I am not a big talking-on-the-phone person, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to get a call. I don’t even care if it’s someone pretending to be the IRS, demanding I pay my taxes using Best Buy gift cards.

Fortunately, that isn’t the case. “It’s Reggie,” I tell Africa. Then, to Nic: “Sorry, man, I gotta take this.”

“OK, yeah, sure. Good to see you.”

“You too, man.”

We’re talking over each other now, both of us super-enthusiastic. “Take care.”

“Yeah absolutely, for sure.”

He leaves quickly, zigzagging back to his table. Africa gives me a confused look.

I move my thumb to answer the call, then stop. “When did you guys even meet? I never introduced you.”

“We didn’t. I find him on the Facebook.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ya, you mention your boyfriend, so I’m curious, you know?”

“OK, one, that is creepy as shit, and two—”

“Teggan.” He nods at the phone.

“We are not done talking about this, just so you know.” I hit the answer button. “’Sup?”

It takes me