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Fun.
It had been so long since I had as much purefunas I had when I was with Tatum. The woman was sunshine, wrapped in a sarcastic, defensive, cinnamon-haired shell.
But I had hurt her.
And I had no idea how to fix that.
If she needed time, I’d give her time, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for her to leave me.
She would be damn sureIwasn’t walking away.
twenty-two
TATUM
“Easy,”I murmured to Miley, when she sat up quickly. Her usually-gray eyes were a faded shade of red, and she clutched the blanket we’d draped over her like it was a lifeline.
Blinking, her head jerked as she looked around the apartment.
And slowly, her body relaxed a little.
We’d thought it was best for her to wake up in mine and Raf’s apartment, since she had been there a handful of times before.
“What happened?” Her voice was raspy, like her throat was dry. “Where’s Brynn?”
“She’s in the apartment next door, talking to her brother. Apparently, Raf, Bash, and Zander own this apartment complex.” I rolled my eyes at her. I’d been instructed to act as normal as possible to make sure she knew I didn’t see her differently, so I was doing my best.
Miles didn’t seem to hear anything I had said, staring down at her hands. They didn’t look any different to me, but maybe they did to her.
“What happened, Tatum?” Her voice was quieter, the second time. More desperate.
If I was treating her normally, I couldn’t beat around the bush. We didn’t do that with each other.
“Evan was working with some vampires who wanted revenge on the Villins. I don’t know what happened when they abducted you, but they turned you, and then starved you. We got to you as fast as we could, and you drank a lot of Bash’s blood. He’s fine, and he was glad to help out. The big bastard had too much blood anyway.”
My joke didn’t hit; she didn’t smile.
It really wasn’t that funny, but I tried anyway.
“The memories are fuzzy, but here.” Her eyes closed for a long moment. “I’m still hungry. You smell good. Not like family—like a meal. How messed up is that?”
“It’s normal, Miles. You can drink from me, if you want. But Zander will be back any time now with bagged blood, if you’d prefer to eat that way.”
“That might be easier.” She leaned back against the couch, pulling her knees to her chest.
The door swung open, and Zander stepped inside. There was a massive ice chest in his arms, but he stopped just inside the door.
Lust immediately broke out over his arms and shoulders, and I followed his gaze to Miley.
There was a little lust coming off her, too, which was unusual for her.
“He smellsreallygood,” Miles whispered, quiet enough that Zander couldn’t have heard her. Her eyes were glued to him.
When I looked back, he was still staring at her.
Anastasia’s explanation about a guy who’d found a potential mate echoed in my ears, but I couldn’t say it aloud. Miles had never wanted a life partner. If Zander did, he would’ve already tracked one down.
“I’m, uh…” He trailed off.
