I smiled at him. “You?”
“I’m here with you,” he said. “How could it not be wonderful?”
I squirmed. “Falafel flutes, you are a mushy, mushy vampire.”
He tipped his head back and laughed uproariously, and then he drew me into his chest and arms and snuggled with me. “Only with you,” he whispered.
More mush, but I allowed it because he was both warm and happy. It was a big change from when I’d first come for the interview 8 months ago.
I looked up at him. At his wild, brown curls, and his warm chocolate eyes, at the 5 o’clock shadow that never seemed to go away no matter how much he shaved, and I realized…I loved him.
I loved Draven. I loved a vampire.
It hadn’t come all at once, like most people believed it came, but instead it had come little by little. Each moment we spent together building onto the next, and the next, until my heart had all of these happy moments within it that were all filled with Draven. With his goodness, his smile, his intelligence and humor. His laugh that made bubbles burst in my chest. The way he treated me like I was precious to him.
And I knew Iwasprecious to him.
I cuddled in closer and closed my eyes. It wasn’t the right time to tell him, but I vowed I would tell him soon. Even if he wasn’t at the same place as I was in his feelings for me, it was still something he’d want to know.
I extricated myself from Draven’s arms when the song was over and went to hunt for my best friend. I needed to talk with someone about this. How did you tell someone you loved them?
He was dancing with Dice, and it looked like they were arguing with each other. Uh oh. I winced when she stopped hissing at him as I drew closer.
“Can I cut in?” I asked, trying to look angelic as Dice shifted her frown to me.
“He’s all yours,” she growled.
Ouch. And Rhys looked crushed. Maybe right then wasn’t the best time to ask Rhys about love. So I pulled up my big-girl panties and was there for my bestie.
“What’s wrong?” I asked in a gentle voice.
Rhys’ nebula eyes looked bruised and exhausted. He sighed and shrugged while leading me around the room masterfully. My bestie could dance! LikeDancing With The Stars,dance! “I finally asked her about what she’s on the run from.”
Oh. Yeah, I can’t imagine that went well.
“I’m sorry, Rhys. Maybe it’s too soon? It might take a while for her to trust us more. It feels like she’s been through the ringer, ya know?” I tried not to fumble or step on his toes as he spun me out of his arms and then spun me back in. “I know we want her to trust usright nowso we can help, but it has to come in her own time.”
Rhys pursed his lips. “I was only trying to help.”
“I know. I really do. I want to help as well. But we have to let her reach out to us on this one.” I stopped dancing and gave him a hug before I pulled his gift out of my pocket, unable to wait another minute to give it to him. It was four tickets to see an Angel’s game. “Happy festivities!”
He laughed at my work-around for the word Christmas and dragged me off the dance floor to open it. When he saw what it was, he looked at me in adorable confusion. “Thank you? What is this?”
I laughed. “It’s to a baseball game! I have a contact who gave us these for next season. They’re for a field level hospitality suite so we can be comfy and well-fed as we watch your first ever baseball game!” I made jazz hands in atadacelebration, but Rhys continued to look at me like I was speaking a foreign language.
“I only recognized maybe five words out of what you just said.”
I laughed and snuck into his back pocket for his phone. I pulled up an Angel’s game onYouTubeand hit play. “Study, my friend. You need to be completely fluent in baseball by the time we go. And the great thing is, you can bring Dice, and I can bring Draven!” I wanted to jump up and down in excitement. Seriously, suites were insanely expensive, but my contact was a kindly old man who’d owed me a favor. His only son was a professional baseball pitcher and was able to score us the tickets.
Rhys hugged me in thanks, glued to the game on his phone, and we went our separate ways.
By around 2 the next morning, the party was winding down. People were finding their coats and bags and saying their goodbyes. I was feeling like I might need a mocha to give me theumphI needed before I could seek my bed, so I sought out the coffee bar and had them give me a double shot of espresso. Yum. I sipped and sighed. Seriously. Loved. Chocolate.
After that I felt like I could go run a marathon in 6 inches of snow. I was bouncing around from departing group to departing group, giving hugs and saying my goodbyes, while Draven was keeping me in his line of sight like I was a slightly spazzy ping-pong ball.
After the last guest had departed, I turned around, leaning against the door in a state of hyper exhaustion. I was really regretting that mocha right then. “Lancing leeks, that was a busy night!”
Draven laughed as he pulled me away from the door. “Lancing leeks? That’s a new one.”
