some other time.”
“Sarah!” Lyn pushed the blond aside. “Hey, Kaden. What’s up?”
Oh, just making sure you hadn’t been abducted or murdered. Checking for bogeymen under your bed. Goblins and the tooth fairy too. What was I doing?
“I just wanted to see how you were,” I said. “I was in the neighborhood.”
She cocked her head. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
There was a short, awkward silence. She didn’t understand why I was there any more than I did. “Right.” I scratched my head. “I’m sorry to bother you. Have a good night.”
“Well,” she called as I turned around, “since you’re here, did you want to come in for a while? My roommates have a couple people over, but I’m not hanging out with them.”
There was a shriek of laughter from a girl inside. Drunk humans didn’t sound like fun to me. “I should probably get going.”
“Are you sure? We ordered a couple pizzas.”
Her brown eyes smiled up at me. How wrong would it be to go in? I asked myself. Could I even handle sitting in a house full of warm-blooded humans? I had never put myself in that kind of situation before. The club was different. It didn’t have the right amount of privacy or that relaxing, homey feel. It was all business.
But this was business too. I had to check on Tom’s niece. I shook my head. I wasn’t kidding anyone. This had nothing to do with Tom. I had fulfilled my promise to him. She was fine. I was here for reasons I couldn’t explain.
“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll come in for a little while.”
My inner voice groaned, but I was going to find out what was so appealing about this girl. If I figured it out, then I might be able to stay away.
“Sorry. It’s kind of a mess in here.” Lyn moved a heap of mail off the dining room table. “This is my roommate, Sarah.” She pointed to the blond. “And my other roommate, Emma. Sarah’s boyfriend just ran out for more beer. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Sarah laughed a fake laugh.
“Oh, please. He’s here every night,” Emma scoffed. Her hair was dark with a layer of blond beneath it, and she had tattoos covering both arms. She got up from the card game she was playing with three other people and pretended she needed something from the kitchen. She “accidentally” bumped into Lyn and whispered, “You said he was cute, but you didn’t say he was drop-dead gorgeous. He’s hot. If you don’t want him, I’m making a pass.”
Please don’t.
I pretended not to hear by looking around. The house had an open layout. A counter separated the kitchen from the dining room. The floor was that vinyl stuff that comes on a roll; it was beginning to come up where it met a burnt orange carpet straight from the seventies. There were spots on the wall where pictures had once hung.
It wasn’t like I was going to be frequenting the place, but I really wanted to give it a good cleaning. Not me per se, but someone needed to. There was a pile of clothes in the corner. I couldn’t tell if they were clean or dirty. Dust was accumulating on top of the television, and empty bottles were sitting in odd places all over the house.
Then, like she was reading my mind, Lyn touched my arm and walked toward the stairs. She motioned for me to follow with a bob of her head.
I hesitated. When I was alive, you didn’t go into a girl’s room unless you were married. If you did, she was ruined and your only option was to marry her. The times had changed, but that didn’t make me feel any better about it. I’d had my fair share of bedmates, but that was all a matter of blood. And a temporary loss of morals. This was different. I would like to bite her, but it felt like there was more to it than that. It was more than not wanting to break my diet. I didn’t know what had happened to the “don’t play with your food” philosophy I had. Apparently my good sense had flown out the window.
I gave in though and followed her up the
“Sarah!” Lyn pushed the blond aside. “Hey, Kaden. What’s up?”
Oh, just making sure you hadn’t been abducted or murdered. Checking for bogeymen under your bed. Goblins and the tooth fairy too. What was I doing?
“I just wanted to see how you were,” I said. “I was in the neighborhood.”
She cocked her head. “I’m fine. Thanks.”
There was a short, awkward silence. She didn’t understand why I was there any more than I did. “Right.” I scratched my head. “I’m sorry to bother you. Have a good night.”
“Well,” she called as I turned around, “since you’re here, did you want to come in for a while? My roommates have a couple people over, but I’m not hanging out with them.”
There was a shriek of laughter from a girl inside. Drunk humans didn’t sound like fun to me. “I should probably get going.”
“Are you sure? We ordered a couple pizzas.”
Her brown eyes smiled up at me. How wrong would it be to go in? I asked myself. Could I even handle sitting in a house full of warm-blooded humans? I had never put myself in that kind of situation before. The club was different. It didn’t have the right amount of privacy or that relaxing, homey feel. It was all business.
But this was business too. I had to check on Tom’s niece. I shook my head. I wasn’t kidding anyone. This had nothing to do with Tom. I had fulfilled my promise to him. She was fine. I was here for reasons I couldn’t explain.
“All right,” I agreed. “I’ll come in for a little while.”
My inner voice groaned, but I was going to find out what was so appealing about this girl. If I figured it out, then I might be able to stay away.
“Sorry. It’s kind of a mess in here.” Lyn moved a heap of mail off the dining room table. “This is my roommate, Sarah.” She pointed to the blond. “And my other roommate, Emma. Sarah’s boyfriend just ran out for more beer. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” Sarah laughed a fake laugh.
“Oh, please. He’s here every night,” Emma scoffed. Her hair was dark with a layer of blond beneath it, and she had tattoos covering both arms. She got up from the card game she was playing with three other people and pretended she needed something from the kitchen. She “accidentally” bumped into Lyn and whispered, “You said he was cute, but you didn’t say he was drop-dead gorgeous. He’s hot. If you don’t want him, I’m making a pass.”
Please don’t.
I pretended not to hear by looking around. The house had an open layout. A counter separated the kitchen from the dining room. The floor was that vinyl stuff that comes on a roll; it was beginning to come up where it met a burnt orange carpet straight from the seventies. There were spots on the wall where pictures had once hung.
It wasn’t like I was going to be frequenting the place, but I really wanted to give it a good cleaning. Not me per se, but someone needed to. There was a pile of clothes in the corner. I couldn’t tell if they were clean or dirty. Dust was accumulating on top of the television, and empty bottles were sitting in odd places all over the house.
Then, like she was reading my mind, Lyn touched my arm and walked toward the stairs. She motioned for me to follow with a bob of her head.
I hesitated. When I was alive, you didn’t go into a girl’s room unless you were married. If you did, she was ruined and your only option was to marry her. The times had changed, but that didn’t make me feel any better about it. I’d had my fair share of bedmates, but that was all a matter of blood. And a temporary loss of morals. This was different. I would like to bite her, but it felt like there was more to it than that. It was more than not wanting to break my diet. I didn’t know what had happened to the “don’t play with your food” philosophy I had. Apparently my good sense had flown out the window.
I gave in though and followed her up the
Similar Books
