Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf

Innocent Devil's Harem | Chapter 7-2: Everyone Wants a Piece of My Girlfriend

Climbing out of my car, we were careful about regrouping behind it, ensuring we didn’t accidentally touch while we walked side-by-side toward one of the mall entrances. When I held the door open for her, I didn’t even bother meeting her gaze, wanting to make sure I didn’t catch her giving me an endearing glance that would start pushing me over the edge.

Gabriella was more familiar with where we were going, so I followed her lead as she sort of led the way, although I still mostly kept to her side. I really wanted to hold her hand, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to under these circumstances – at least not yet. However, I was sincerely looking forward to the day when I could touch her more casually without my body flipping out.

The mall wasn’t overly crowded, given the time of day even if it was a Friday, but there were still a decent number of people milling around. As we made our way to the bookstore, for the first time I finally got a glimpse of what she had to deal with regularly.

To be completely honest, I kind of thought she was exaggerating before, even despite how hot she was. Yet it seemed as if almost everyone took the time to glance at her as we walked together.

Granted, I could understand why.

For one, there was nothing like a skinny girl with a huge chest to catch everyone’s attention. But that was the thing – even the other women would look at her with jealousy in their eyes. And it certainly didn’t help that she naturally had vibrant red hair, and was overall drop-dead gorgeous.

Comparing her to the other women we passed, Gabriella was like a vibrant rose amongst thorns – a goddess, among mortals. A hot young woman with a physique that almost seemed impossible in real life, without surgery at least.

After about only a couple of minutes, I finally realized I’d probably have to try focusing my attention on her after all, so I could actually enjoy myself.

Nothing like sensing the abrupt arousal of other guys to ruin my mood. It had happened when I was out with Serenity before, but she and I were so emotionally close that it almost didn’t matter.

In a strange way, Serenity felt like mine to the point that I didn’t have to worry about anyone else, even though she obviously wasn’t mine in that way.

But with Gabriella, I supposed the newness of our relationship made me feel like one of the guys was going to try to steal her away. I wasn’t nearly as secure with her as I was with Serenity, even though my older friend was ironically not the one considering to be with me forever.

However, I realized this was probably just the curse that came along with being so beautiful. And for me, the curse of having such a hot girlfriend. Everyone else was going to want what I had.

Sighing heavily, the gesture caught Gabriella’s attention.

She immediately looked up at me in concern. “Are you alright?” she whispered.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s just…” I paused. “I can see why you bought a treadmill,” I admitted.

She mimicked my nod somberly. “Yeah, I’ve gotten used to all the stares, but having guys approach me and simply refuse to leave me alone is the worst part. And it’s not even like they can’t take a hint – I tell them flat-out to leave me alone, and yet they still try to get in my pants.” She sighed. “I’m really glad I have you here, actually. It’ll be nice if having my boyfriend around keeps them away.” She then looked at me apologetically, likely concerned that calling me her boyfriend would affect me.

I shook my head to indicate I was fine. “I’m okay.” I then grinned at her. “I’m looking forward to being able to show more affection in public, eventually.” I abruptly looked away then, blushing at the thought, realizing this really wasn’t a subject we could talk about right now. From the corner of my eye, I saw she was blushing too.

I was thankful when the bookstore came into sight only a few seconds later, because she used it as an excuse to change the subject.

“Oh! We’re here,” she said excitedly.

As we walked in, I saw that the bookstore was really a separate building attached to the mall. It was massive inside, much larger than a traditional mall shop would be, with there being rows and rows of books of every genre imaginable. Of course, I’d been to this mall before with Serenity, but never looking for books. Plus, there was another smaller strip mall that was closer to our house, that we visited much more frequently if we went shopping.

I could understand Gabriella’s excitement though. This place was like a little slice of heaven for a book lover. There was also a coffee shop inside at the other end of the store, so she asked if we could go there first.

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I smirked at her enthusiasm. “As long as I get to pay. This is our first date after all.”

My comment made her so happy that she almost grabbed my hand, only to abruptly pull it away and hold her fingers up against her chest. “Oops, sorry,” she said, quickly changing subjects. “Umm, what do you think you’ll get?” she wondered, as we continued walking down the main aisle.

I shrugged. “Probably nothing,” I admitted, lowering my voice. “Definitely not coffee. Too much caffeine can trigger the same effect as when I touch you. That’s why I usually don’t drink it.”

“Oh!” she said in surprise, quickly lowering her voice. “I didn’t realize that, but it makes sense. Good to know.”

Surprisingly, in contrast to the thinner crowd of the mall itself, the bookstore was pretty packed with people due to the storewide sale going on. The main aisle wasn’t too bad, but there were a lot of customers standing between bookshelves as they browsed, along with a nice long line of people waiting to order coffee.

As we got in line at the end, remaining silent for the most part, I tried to focus on the menu, just to have something to do, only to notice that people were staring at us.

Like, not just Gabriella, but I was getting looks too.

Granted, most of the other customers were women, and I knew I wasn’t bad looking myself, assuming that the reactions I got from some of the girls at school were any indication. However, I felt like I didn’t normally get a ton of stares.

It kind of made me wonder if the difference was the fact that Gabriella was by my side, with the combination making us stick out more together. It was also possible I just ignored the looks before, since I was primarily only thinking about my older friend as being my friend, and housemate, not my date.

At the very least, I felt like they probably weren’t thinking, ‘How did he end up with someone as attractive as her.’

Or at least, I hoped.

Kind of made me wonder what was actually on their minds. I strongly doubted the other girls closer to my age were jealous of Gabriella, for having me, but the idea that they might be jealous of her for having such a hot boyfriend kind of boosted my confidence a little.

Possibly somewhat ironic, but even though I was the supernatural one, when we were walking into the mall earlier, I couldn’t help but find myself feeling a little inferior when everyone had been ogling her. Thus, despite the fact that the stares were awkward, I was kind of secretly thankful for them.

Once I purchased Gabriella’s coffee, I followed her to what was apparently her favorite section – paranormal fantasy.

“Huh,” I commented. “I kind of figured you would like romance or something.”

She blushed slightly. “Well, I do like that too. I read a lot of different stuff. But some of my favorite book series have been fantasy.”

“Like what?” I wondered.

Her face began turning red again. “Oh, you know, stuff about vampires, werewolves, and such. I guess they do usually have a good romance in them too. I just finished a book about demons actually. Well, not exactly demons like we think of them, but it was interesting. Different.”

“Different like me?” I teased quietly.

She smirked, focusing on some of the titles. “Yeah, except you’re better, because you’re real. Never thought any of this stuff could actually exist,” she admitted. “Kind of crazy when I think about it.”

I nodded.

She pulled out a book then, focusing on the cover, before holding it up toward me. “This seems interesting.”

I glanced at it, not really agreeing, but not wanting to admit that. “Cool,” I said simply.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, looking apologetic now. “This isn’t boring for you, is it?”

I shook my head. “No, this is fine. I’ll admit that I’m not super excited like you are, but I just want to hang with you. I don’t care what we actually do. Being around you is plenty entertaining enough.”

She smiled up at me warmly. “Are you sure though? Because I’m fine with doing something else if you want.”

“No, really. It’s fine. Even if I’m not interested in books much, I’m not bored being here with you. Trust me, I’m anything but bored around you.”

Her expression became more tender, prompting me to look away.

Sighing, she put the book she was holding back, only to pull out another that was bright red. It caught my attention, with me realizing the vibrant color reminded me of what had happened only just that morning – killing the cop, drinking his blood.

I abruptly turned my head away again, glad her hair color didn’t have that same effect, but she didn’t seem to notice.

“Huh, this looks interesting,” she commented, finally looking up at me. “Are you fine if I read a little to see if I want to buy it?”

I nodded, clearing my throat. “Yeah, of course. That’s fine. We’ve got all day, really. I should probably send a message to my friend anyway, to let her know where we are. I don’t want her flipping out if she comes home early and we aren’t there.” To emphasize my point, I pulled out my phone as I spoke, which was only half charged after Gabriella plugged it in for me earlier.

She smiled and eagerly began reading the first few pages of the book she was holding.

After sending a quick message to Serenity, I focused on her again, finding my cheeks warming up at just the sight of how adorable she was reading her book in the middle of the aisle. I then decided to occupy my time by looking at some of the book covers on the shelves. A lot of the books were showing only their spine, but there were quite a few that were situated so that the cover was visible.

After a few minutes, Gabriella closed it. “Well, this one isn’t on sale, but it has a pretty interesting start, so I’m going to get it.” She seemed hesitant then. “Would you be alright with holding it for me?”

I smirked at her. “Of course,” I replied, reaching out to accept it.

Before long, she’d handed me another two books that she wanted to get, and then decided to move on to a new section. We checked out the science fiction next, where she picked out yet another book, and then finally romance.

However, in the romance section, I finally had to walk away from her after catching a glimpse at a particular cover that was overly suggestive. Normally, it wouldn’t have bothered me, but the image prompted me to think about what we’d done just not even a full hour ago. Never mind the fun we had before our nap.

I could feel her eyes on me as I abruptly disappeared around the corner, but she didn’t chase after me right away. Instead, she waited a few seconds, before I heard her slowly leave the section, seeming to just want to keep me in her sight.

Once I’d collected my thoughts and gotten my mind off doing her, I made my way back, unwilling to make eye contact now. I was thankful that she realized I was still struggling a little.

Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf