Chapter Twenty-Eight

We sat in the living room, not talking while Vaughn rubbed my back.

“Maybe we should stay home,” he said.

“I’m feeling much better,” I said. I wanted to spend time with Vaughn that didn’t involve The Drainers leering at me or the Bleeders trying to grope my boyfriend.

Vaughn didn’t look convinced, but he grabbed our stuff. I’d managed to persuade myself that it was just my imagination, but as soon as I stepped foot outside, it happened again.

When I came back from the bathroom, Vaughn was reclined on the couch, his phone in hand, but he put it down once he saw me. He didn’t say anything. He just held his arms open wide, and I flew into them. He held me while I cried out my hurt and fear onto his T-shirt.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. He punctuated his words with little kisses, along my jawline, down my throat, and across my clavicle. And then below. “Your skin is so soft,” he murmured.

I burrowed into him, trying to absorb his warmth. Vaughn’s hard body became harder, his muscles straining against me. I pressed into him. “Kiss me.”

We kissed for a long time, but then Vaughn sat up. “I packed a picnic,” he said. “Let me go get it. You should probably eat something.”

I turned on the TV and searched for a show for us to watch. When Vaughn came back with the food, he also had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

We had an indoor picnic and watched movies all afternoon. It didn’t seem to bother Vaughn that I couldn’t go outside without blowing chunks…but it might not always be that way.

“What if I’m an actual vampire?” I asked. “The creepy kind, like Travis or even that Sundowner we met, Temple.”

“You aren’t,” he said. “And even if you are, you won’t be anything like them. You’ll still be Tansy.”

I couldn’t help it. I launched myself at him and kissed him while I tugged frantically at his T-shirt.

“What do you want?” Vaughn asked. I accidentally touched my tongue with one of my fangs and drew blood. I hadn’t realized that they’d come out.

“You.”

“Tansy, you’re upset,” he replied. “I don’t want to take advantage of that.”

“You’re not,” I said.

“Ashley was right about me, you know,” he said conversationally. “I was too scared to reach for what I wanted. For who I wanted.”

I looked up at him. “And now?”

“I’m not scared anymore,” he replied. “Are you?”

I shook my head.

“Say the words,” Vaughn said. “Say what you want.”

I pulled his head down to mine. “I want you.”

He was smiling as he kissed me, and somehow, that made it even hotter.

“Take this off,” I said, pulling again at his tee.

Vaughn yanked at his shirt one-handed, but it got caught on his chin. I started to giggle, then my laughter stopped quickly at the sight of his bare chest. My face felt hot as I stared at his sculpted body.

“Let me help,” I said. I snagged his shirt and carefully lifted it the rest of the way off before I threw it over the back of the couch. I kissed the hollow of his throat. He smelled like the ocean, sun, and sweat. I breathed it in.

He put his lips over the little golden fang mark. It felt so good when he touched my neck, not anything like when I’d been bitten. I didn’t want to think about how it had happened, so I concentrated on the feel of Vaughn’s callused fingers sliding over my skin.

I was going to get undressed in front of Vaughn. We were best friends, but I’d never taken my clothes off in front of him before. I sucked in a breath.

He picked up on my nervousness. “You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for,” he said. “We don’t have to.” His voice shook just a little. Someone who didn’t know him as well as I did might not have even noticed.

“I know,” I replied. “But I want to.” I took off my shirt and sent it sailing. Part of me wanted to hide, but instead, I relaxed my shoulders and wiped my sweaty palms on my shorts.

I slid my hands down his chest to where his heart thrummed against my palms. It helped somehow that Vaughn was as nervous as I was.

That we were both new at this.

…

Everything looked different in the morning. Sunshine streamed into the bedroom through the open curtains. I yawned and stretched before I realized that I wasn’t alone. Vaughn was asleep beside me, lying on his back with one hand flung over my stomach.

I stared at him long enough to veer into creeper territory. When he and Ashley were dating, she’d marked him with a clear “You Shall Not Pass” sign, and I wasn’t going to lust after someone who had a girlfriend—even someone with gray eyes and the best smile I’d ever seen. Now I looked my fill: dark-brown hair cut short on the sides but longer on top so a tiny bit of curl came out to play. Deep tanned skin, gray eyes—erp, gray eyes staring back at me.

Vaughn was awake…

He smiled at me, and my heart stuttered. “Morning,” he said, low and rumbly.

I could feel the mascara crusted around my lashes, and my breath probably smelled like a goat’s butt. Yet Vaughn looked fresh as a flippin’ daisy.

He leaned in to kiss me, but I jumped and covered my mouth. “Morning, and I have the breath that goes with it.” I needed mouthwash, stat, but I also had to pee, which was something that always happened when I was jittery.

“I don’t care,” he said but moved aside to let me up.

I hurried into the bathroom and closed the door. I brushed my teeth, took care of my bladder, and then tried to regroup. I’d spent the night with Vaughn.

“Couldn’t sleep, babe?” He called me babe now?

“I’ve been thinking about last night,” I said, coming back out to the bedroom.

His smile grew wider. “Yeah?”

“About what you said about Skyler,” I clarified, feeling the blush creep up my neck.

We were quiet for a minute. It was sinking in that Vaughn and I were a couple. The hottest guy in school was my new boyfriend, but also, of course, still one of my best friends. What did we do now? I’d never had to maneuver a relationship before.

“This is weird,” I said. “Isn’t this weird?”

“This is wonderful,” he countered.

While I stood there fidgeting, he got up and took his turn in the bathroom. As he came back out, the muscles on his bare chest flexed when he stretched and yawned.

He caught me looking and grinned. “C’mere,” he said. “I haven’t had my good-morning kiss.”

He didn’t wait for me but wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close. His lips trailed along my neck. “We could go back to bed,” he said.

I tilted my head to give him better access. “I wish I could call Sky to tell her about last night.”

“You want to tell her what happened?” Vaughn stopped kissing my neck. I glanced up at him and saw his expression.

“Not a play-by-play,” I assured him. “Maybe just the highlight reel.”

“What were the highlights?” His lips curved upward a tiny bit.

“All of it.”

His smile grew and grew until it turned into a full-on laugh, and I couldn’t help myself—I started to laugh, too. When I finally could control myself enough to speak, I said, “I know what we did is private. I just wanted to tell her that it happened and that we’re…”

“Happy,” Vaughn said. “Together. You’re my girlfriend.” He nuzzled my neck, which sent shivers through my body.

…

But in the middle of the night, my stomach started cramping again. I slid out of bed, careful not to wake Vaughn, and tiptoed to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and filled it from the tap.

I guzzled the water, but I was still thirsty, so I drank another glass, then another. When I shut the fridge, Vaughn stood there, wearing only black lounge pants. I stared at him—all that smooth, tanned skin on his chest. I wanted to sink my teeth into him.

My stomach cramped, and when I bent at the waist from the pain, the glass flew from my hand and shattered on the tile floor.

“Are you okay?” Vaughn started toward me.

“Be careful,” I said. “The glass.”

“Stay there,” he said. “I don’t want you to cut yourself.” He bent and started to scoop up the shards but then let out a short grunt of pain.

Drip. Drip. Drip. My hearing was suddenly amplified, and I could hear the drops of blood as they hit the tile.

“Did you cut…?” A delicious scent wafted through the kitchen. Vaughn crossed to the sink and put his fingers under the water. He let it run for a second, then dried his hand on a paper towel.

“It’s just a nick,” he said. “Where are your bandages?”

My eyes were focused on the drop of blood welling on his finger. My jaw tightened. My teeth elongated. I wanted that blood more than I’d wanted churros from Alvin’s churro stand. More than I’d wanted Vaughn to break up with Ashley. More than I’d wanted for my mom to come back. I was sure at that moment I would have done anything for it.

“The t-tonic,” I managed to say. “I need the tonic Evelyn left.”

Vaughn caught on right away. “Shit, Tansy, I’m sorry. I forgot that…” He reached into the fridge and handed me the container of tonic. I chugged it until the fog lifted from my brain.

“Sorry,” I said.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I nodded, even though I was pretty sure that what I had, even a tonic couldn’t fix.