Page 7 of The Human’s Heart

He meant it. He truly meant every word.

I sucked in a breath, relieved beyond words. He really did want to stay with me, didn’t he?

I examined our bond, sifting through his emotions again and letting them soak into me, letting them reinforce his words.

He did. He really did want to stay with me.

I rested my forehead against his. “Thank you.”

He squeezed my hips. “I’m sorry I made you think I didn’t want to… live longer or however you want to say it.”

“It’s okay.”

“It’s really not.” He released one hip to cup my cheek, rubbing his thumb across my skin. “I’m sorry.”

After taking a breath, I gave a nod. “Thank you.”

He kissed me lightly before backing away again. “I’m so sorry, but I have to leave before I’m late for work. But… are you okay?”

I gave a genuine smile. “Yes, isa mezelie. I’m great.”

His answering smile was sweet. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

After walking him to the front door, he gave me one more kiss and ran off to my car. He didn’t have a car, so I’d insisted that he use mine when I wasn’t using it. I hated the thought of him walking home alone in the dark, which was exactly what he’d do rather than call a taxi or a ride… to save money. That he didn’t need. Sigh.

The only way I could convince him was to suggest that he could drive Jett to and from work as well, since he also always walked. Because of course Hugo’s best friend would do dangerous things like Hugo did.

Those two definitely drove Ward and me insane with protectiveness on a regular basis.

I was planning on buying Hugo his own car so he’d always have one, but I wasn’t sure he’d accept it.

Actually, I knew he wouldn’t.

He was too stubborn, or maybe too proud, perhaps a little of both. He acted like every time I bought him something, I was doing it for charity—even when it was something as simple as a candy bar. But that wasn’t it at all. I wanted to help him. I wanted to do things for him. I wanted to give him nice things.

Was that really so hard to understand?

Sigh.

I knew it was for him. After the way he’d grown up, I shouldn’t be surprised by any of it. Though thinking about it made me want to hug him again—everything made me want to hug him.

Maybe I could buy myself a new car and then give him my old one.

Hmm. I might be able to work with that.

Chapter 3

Hugo

Iserved my customer a beer, then scooted closer to my best friend, Jett. “You really want to do this?” I asked him for the millionth time.

Jett rolled his eyes at me, served his customer, then turned to face me. “Dude. What don’t you get about this? Vampire blood won’t harm us in any way or do anything irreversible. If you don’t like the way it makes you feel or whatever, you can stop, and nothing changes at all.”

Someone grabbed his attention, so he smiled at the new customer and took care of her while I cleaned the bar top.

As soon as he finished, we faced each other again. We were used to having our conversations interrupted, so he continued without preamble. “But the blood will help us. It’ll protect us and help us heal faster and all kinds of other great things. And most of all, it’ll help Ward and Zay feel more comfortable since we’ll be a little safer. I really think you’re making more out of it than it needs to be.”