She laughs as she holds her hand out, which I take. Her friends are toward the middle, so it pulls me away from Huang, but if I position her just right, it should be okay.
“What’s your name?” she asks.
“Matías. You?”
“Hanna. Are you here alone?”
“I wasn’t supposed to be. My friend is supposed to meet me in, let’s see…” I pull out my phone to check the time, “thirty minutes ago. He said the game ran over, so he’ll be late.”
“Well, he can join us when he gets here. My friends won’t mind,” she says as she pulls me right into the thick of the crowd of dancers.
I wrap an arm around her waist and turn her so my eyes can stay on Huang. I don’t know the man well and I’m sure he won’t recognize me like this, but I know what he’s done. I’ve heard the stories, and I’ve seen the results of his actions.
He clearly didn’t heed my warning because now… now I’m about to ruin his life and I don’t even care. But I have to be careful because vampires are tricky. It’s not easy dealing with something stronger, faster, and more lethal than you.
I down my Coke and set it to the side as I try to dance with her while pretending I’m interested. It’s hard when Huang’s right there. So fucking close and my mind is consumed by it.
Hanna shouts something at me, but her voice is lost in the noise, so I duck my head down closer to hers. “What?”
“Do you come here often?”
I shake my head. “First time. You?”
She presses her lips close to my ear and it makes my anxiety grow even though she’s a human. I still get this tightening in my stomach because I don’t trust her and I don’t want her near. “A couple times a month. I’ve never seen you around here before which is why I asked.”
She presses into me, and I find myself wishing it was Bentley who was grinding up in my space. Then again, I should be happy it’s not because this way I don’t have to worry about embarrassing myself. I can play drunk guy looking to be laid and not bat an eye.
I still kick myself in the ass for ruining that perfectly beautiful kiss. Oh… why’d I fuck it up? And then when he wanted to part ways for the night, I got no kiss at all. In its place, I got the most awkward hug known to mankind, and instead of grabbing his face and dragging him in for the sexiest kiss he’d have ever had in his hundred and sixty years—okay, okay, I’m sure he’s had sexier kisses—my stupid conscience got in the way and I just smiled and said… wait for it… “Have a g’day, mate!”
Kill me now.
I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to face him again. Finally, finally, I have a sexy and extremely kind man interested in me and I end our third—okay, second—date with a “g’day, mate”? When did I become Australian? And do Australians even say that? Is that just a stereotype? I have no idea.
Save me from this hell. It’s no wonder why he hasn’t even messaged me today, and I’ve been too mortified to message him.
What if I just give up on everything and go crawling back to him and tell him that “Hey, I really don’t know you all that well and this might be creepy, but I want you to just instantly fall for me because I can’t get you out of my head.”
I sigh and Hanna gives me a little shake. “Matías!”
A part of me realizes that she’s been calling me for a while, but I’d forgotten my new name and I didn’t pick up on it. “Sorry, it’s so loud. What’s that?”
“You seem a bit distracted.”
“I’m drunk,” I say, blaming it on that.
“You drank a Coke.”
“On music. Drunk off the song. Yeah. That. I’m going to get a drink. You want something?”
“Sure. Could you get me a lemon drop? I’ll meet you back at the table there,” she says as she points to where some of her friends are. “I’m going to hit the bathroom!”
“Have fun!” I say before realizing that I fail at even fake flirting. “Not like… in the bathroom but you know…”
I just leave before I ruin anything else. When I step up to the bar to make my order, I notice a young man leaning in. He’s cute with brown hair and blue eyes. It may be the way he’s leaning against the bar, but it seems like he’s rather short and if my mind wasn’t currently consumed by Bentley, I might have tried my hand awkwardly talking to him for the hell of it.
“Hey,” he says, giving me a flirtatious look.
I’ve literally never had two people try to pick me up in such a short span of time. And while I’d definitely be more interested in him than Hanna, it feels more like cheating. Which is really freaking weird when Bentley and I aren’t dating.
So I just give him a sorta smile and nod before turning back to the bartender who is way on the other side of the bar and can’t save me.
“It’s taking a while. I think they’re short-staffed or just really slow,” he says. “You might as well take a seat.” He pats the seat next to him.
“Oh, I’m fine. Thank you,” I say as I give him another smile.
That’s when I notice an absolutely terrifying-looking vampire heading toward us. It instantly makes my fear spike as I take a step back. And then, when I see him glare at me, my blood runs cold. Does he recognize me? Does he know who I am? I don’t remember seeing him, but there were so many there that it’d be impossible to know them all.
“Stop glaring at him!” the young man says as he smacks the vampire’s chest.
“I told you to flirt with someone ugly and he’s not ugly,” the demon from the deepest pits of hell growls.
“Maybe I didn’t want to listen to you,” the human says as he gives the vampire a sly grin, and I wonder why he wouldn’t want to listen to him. The man is terrifying! I hate the idea of listening to a vampire as well but when the vampire looks like that, there aren’t too many choices to be made.
“Maybe I should eat you,” the vampire says and the human laughs. Laughs.
“Ah, I’d like that very much. Now get the bartender to stop flirting with those girls that are at least twenty years younger than him and get over here.”
The vampire slams his hand down on the bar and everyone around the bar draws deathly silent. “Bartender, my date would like a drink now,” he growls.
My good god. I’m glad I don’t have to go against this man. He’d likely eat me before I even got to the drugging him part. The bartender rushes over, probably terrified he’ll be eaten if he doesn’t.
I turn and slam into someone before feeling a familiar aura. “B-Bentley?” I ask in surprise.
No… no, no, no! What the hell is he doing here? What if he thinks I’m with Hanna? No, that’s not what’s important, what is important is that I had shit to do with Huang and I can’t have people here knowing who I am or placing me here.
“Hey,” he says with an instant smile. “You here with friends?”
“No…” I say before realizing that I should probably lie. It’s weird for me to be here alone and for what? “Well. I was supposed to be. My friend couldn’t make it… I think. I don’t know, he was watching some sport something, and he’s late and I was just thinking of leaving.”