9 reminded me. “But I should be back in two days. We aren’t doing much more than signing some papers.” In the past few months, Jack had stepped up and started helping Ezra with the family business. They owned a few companies overseas and had lots of stock holdings. Every now and then, Ezra left for a few days to work on something, and Jack finally decided that he should do it. Also, he’d rolled his car, and Ezra demanded that he work for his money to pay for the next one. “Oh. Right. Well… call me when you get back.” “I always do,” Jack grinned, and I got out of the car.
10 - 2 - Summer nights were too short. Vampires spent more time indoors in the summer, but heat didn’t agree with them anyway. Jack lived in beautiful house on the lake. It’d be a rather conventional square house if not for the balconies and the turret that connected the house to the garage. As many times as I had been here, it never really stopped being intimidating. We spent a great deal of the summer in the backyard, either lounging on the stone patio or swimming in the lake or taking out the Jet-Ski’s. Milo and I spent so much time on the water that Mae bought us several swimsuits to keep at the house. I changed into my suit, keeping the towel wrapped around me when I came out of the bathroom, and Milo had already changed into his swim trunks. He sat at island in the kitchen, munching on some grapes, and helping Mae. Mae had been the eldest when she turned, at twenty-eight. Her skin was flawless white porcelain, and her caramel waves of hair had been pulled into a loose bun. Wearing only her bathing suit and an apron, her warm, honey- colored eyes danced as Milo talked to her. As a vampire, she didn’t eat, and since Milo was an excellent cook, so he became her sous chef, helping her prepare all the meals she made for our benefit. I would’ve protested all the extra work and expense Mae put into it, but it was obvious that she relished this sorta thing. “Where’s Ezra?” I asked, walking over to the island and stealing a grape. Mae was making some kind of fruit dip with cream cheese and yogurt, and slicing up apples, pears, and strawberries. “He’s taking a nap,” Mae informed me in her warm, British accent. “He’s a little jet lagged from the trip.” Like the other two boys, Ezra was incredibly attractive. His eyes were deep mahogany and infinitely warm. His skin was the same tanned color as Jack and Peter’s, and his sandy hair had soft blond streaks through it.
11 The most powerful thing about Ezra was his voice. It was low and resonated through everything. He had a faded accent that came from being born in England, but he hadn’t lived in Europe in over two-hundred years. Through the glass French doors off the dining room, I saw Jack rollicking about with his Great Pyrenees, Matilda. The deck lights revealed the taut muscles of his chest and back as he rolled around with her. The stones of the patio should’ve left him battered and bruised, but he’d have nothing to show from it. “Alice, do you wanna try it?” Mae asked, pulling my gaze away from Jack. She held out an apple slice covered in dip, but I shook my head. “I’m getting pretty chilly. I think I’m gonna head outside.” “I’ll be out in a minute,” Milo said through the mouthful of the fruit he’d sampled. “Okay,” I nodded and headed out the French doors into the night. Jack ventured off the patio in his pursuit of Matilda, but I saw easily in the light of the full moon. It was much warmer outside than it had been in the house, but I kept the towel wrapped around me. I walked down the patio onto the small lawn that separated the house from the lake. Matilda caught sight of me and bounded towards me. She’d knock me over, since she was used to vampires who could handle her lunging at them, but Jack overtook her and playfully tackled her. Then he stood up, brushing the grass from his swim trunks, and grinned at me. “Are you gonna go swimming with the towel too?” Jack teased. “Maybe.” I pulled the towel more tightly around me, and he laughed. Matilda sniffed me heartily before concluding that it was only me, and then sauntered off, wagging her tail slowly behind her. A mischievous glint caught Jack’s eye, and after spending a summer getting thrown in the lake, I knew exactly what it meant. Dropping my towel, I turned and ran towards the dock. He trailed a few steps behind me, even though he could easily sprint past me. The sport was in the chase for him. I almost made it to the edge of the dock when I felt his strong arms
12 looping around my waist. I squealed and let him twirl me around once before he released me, sending my soaring into the air and landing in the lake with a loud splash. Jack took a running jump and leap out, flying over me and splashing way out in the lake. He howled excitedly, as if he hadn’t made that same jump a million times. “Jack!” Mae leaned out the French doors and shouted out at him. “You’ve got to keep it down so the neighbors don’t call the police again.” It was after midnight on a Wednesday, and the neighbors weren’t big fans of the noise. “Yeah, Alice,” Jack said. “Oh, whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “As if I’m even half as loud as you are.” Jack laughed, taking long strokes out farther into the black water. He swam slow circles around me, but I was content to float on my back, staring up at the full moon and the stars shining. I had never really had the courage to swim too far from the shore when the water was so dark. I always had these horrible visions of being eaten by some unseen monster coming up from the depths of the lake. Milo joined us in the lake a bit later. Mae stayed inside to continue chopping fruit. She always went overboard trying to feed us. We were just two people, but she cooked like we were an army. It only made it more obvious when they didn’t eat anything, but Milo had only made a few comments about it. Surprisingly, he hadn’t really caught on that they weren’t human. Jack had been more discreet about his paranormal abilities, but Milo was a smart kid. I thought that he suspected something but let it go, because they didn’t seem dangerous and they made me happy. “It’s a really beautiful night out,” Milo said. He floated on his back, admiring the night like I was. “It’s been a fantastic summer.”
13 “I can’t believe it’s almost over,” Milo sighed. “Don’t remind me!” I cringed. “It won’t be so bad.” School was only three short weeks away. Milo tried to convince me that it had little effect on my life, but it changed everything. There’d be no more all- nighters with Jack, and soon everything would get cold and snowy, and Milo would make me do homework. Something grabbed me and pulled me under. I tried to scream but water buried me. I pictured some evil sea creature coming to eat my soul. Clawing my way to the surface, I grabbed onto something strong and soft and pulled myself up. As soon as I reached for him, Jack pulled me up out of the water and let me cling on to him. Over my own frightened gasps, I heard him laughing softly, and I realized he’d been the one that grabbed my ankle. After a summer of similar antics, I should’ve caught on that Jack thought it was funny scaring the crap out of me. I should’ve slapped him or told him he was a jerk, but the feel of his arms distracted me. His chest pressed up against mine, and he had to feel the frantic beating of my heart that drove him crazy. I looked up in his soft blue eyes, and I felt breathless for a whole new reason. His laughter died down, and his smile faltered as his body temperature started to rise, smoldering against my skin. Ordinarily, he would’ve pushed me away by now, but he let me linger in his arms. My thoughts went back to that amazing kiss, and I tilted in towards him, hoping he’d let go just long for one innocent kiss. “Hey! Look! A shooting star!” Milo shouted. It was just enough for Jack to realize what was happening, so he pushed me back and swam away. Jack did everything he could to keep from letting things get out a hand, and sometimes that meant that he’d physically push me away. It was getting harder to shrug off, though. Although I hadn’t asked about it, his temperature only seemed to rise