Elizabeth texted me the address. It was on the other side of town, so Gemma had to give me a ride.
When I saw the house, I was astonished at how big it was. It was more in between a mansion and a house.
Christian and Elizabeth’s family must have been loaded to afford such a big house.
It had a gothic vibe to it. It would be perfect for a haunted house. It even had two gargoyle statues in the front yard.
I took a deep breath and pressed my button to the doorbell.
Almost instantly, Elizabeth opened the door. “Hello Hope.”
“Hi Elizabeth.”
“Please, come in.”
I stepped inside through the mahogany door and looked around. The decor was right out of a Victorian era movie.
Not really my taste, but it was nice.
“You have an amazing place,” I said.
“Yes, it’s lovely isn’t it?”
I nodded. Everything was lovely this, lovely that with this girl. She went along with the decor perfectly.
“Would you like me to take your jacket?” she asked.
I wore tights and a burgundy shirt with a leather jacket on top. I planned on just taking it off inside, but it was freezing inside of their home. “That’s okay. I’ll just keep it on.”
She smiled. “Suit yourself. Dinner is just about ready so we can go into the dining room.”
I followed her down a hall and into a dining room. The table looked big enough to seat twenty people at least.
“I’d give you a tour, but we’re having some renovations done.”
“No worries. Thanks for inviting me over.”
“Of course. We love having company. And you’re new. I know how hard that can be.”
I was used to it, but it was a hassle having to change schools all the time. Mainly just because some schools had different curriculums and class names. It wasn’t always easy for my classes to transfer.
“Do you guys move around a lot?”
“I wouldn’t say a lot. But we do travel a lot. The world just has so many wonderful things to see. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yeah, for sure.”
I honestly hadn’t given it much thought. I was more worried about getting through high school in one piece.
“Would you care for a beverage? We’ve got scotch, vodka, red or white wine.” She stopped. “Actually pretty much anything you can imagine we have.”
I wasn’t a big drinker. Mostly because of what I saw it do to people. One of my foster father’s threw up his guts in front of me one time. After that, I got pretty turned off by anything that smelled like alcohol. “How about water?”
“Sparkling?”
“Sounds good.”
“Wonderful. One sparkling water coming right up. I’ll be just a moment. Make yourself at home and grab a seat.”
I was about to sit down when I heard the front door open and slam shut. A moment later I heard a man’s voice. It sounded familiar. “Why do I smell food? Elizabeth, are you starting with your ridiculous cooking shows again?”
He stopped in the doorway when our eyes locked. His lips stayed straight, but then he smirked the smirk I’d seen on his lips every time we crossed paths with one another.
Wyatt.
“Hope.”
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He looked taken back. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question? You are the one standing in my home.”
“Your home?”
“You two know each other?” Elizabeth asked.
When did she come back in?
“Oh, me and Hope? We go way back. We’re best buddies.”
Christian looked between us curiously as he walked into the dining room. He seemed bothered by something. It was the first time I ever saw any kind of emotion other than anger from him. He looked at me and cleared his throat. “Hello Hope.”
“Hi Christian.”
“Aww, you’re friends with my younger siblings,” Wyatt said.
I wanted to laugh. I should have put two and two together. They all looked perfect and always put together. They also all had the same piercing blue eyes.
“We’re trying to be yes,” Elizabeth said. She and Christian shared a look I couldn’t quite decipher.
The tension in the room was so thick I’d need a chainsaw to cut through it. I knew this was going to be a bad idea. And now it was an even worse idea. Not only did I have to sit through dinner with Christian, the moody guy in my class. But I now knew that the creepy guy from the street was joining us too.
What a small damn world.
Elizabeth finally broke the silence. “Well, we should all take a seat. Dinner is ready.”
Christian and I sat down next to each other. I could tell he was feeling just as awkward as I was, if not more. He kept looking up at his brother.
Wyatt grinned from ear to ear as he pulled up the chair across from me and sat down. He placed his hands on the table and winked at me.
I groaned. Nightmare.
* * *
Dinner was terrible. It was good, but terrible. Elizabeth was a really good cook.
We got through dinner with small talk. Christian answered everyone in one word answers. Wyatt, on the other hand, wouldn’t shut up.
The two brothers couldn’t be more different. Elizabeth was even acting like less of her outgoing self. Something told me that there was something wrong between Wyatt and Christian. No idea what and I really didn’t care. Not my problem.
I couldn’t wait until dessert was over so I could get the hell out of here.
Elizabeth came into the dining room with mini cheesecakes that she made for scratch.
She was pretty domestic for a teenager. She was an even better cook than Gemma. No offense to Gemma.
I couldn’t help but wonder that their parents weren’t present. I didn’t dare ask about it though.
“I hope these came out okay,” Elizabeth said as she placed a cheesecake in front of everyone.
“I’m sure it will be delicious like everything else,” I said. “Where did you learn how to cook?”
“I picked up a little of this and a little of that through the years. I’m really not that great.”
“Nonsense,” Wyatt said. “She’s being modest, as usual. You’d cook Betty Crocker under a table Lizzie.”
Lizzie. That was cute.
“Don’t ever think of calling me that, Hope. Wyatt insists on calling me my childhood nickname.”
“I used to change your diapers. You’ll always be that sweet little girl in my eyes.”
“How many years apart are all of you?”
“I’m twenty-two,” Wyatt said. “Christian is seventeen and Lizzie is sixteen. But, I’ve always felt like I’ve had an old soul. Very old.” He wiggled his eyebrows and grinned at Christian.
Christian glared at him.
“Well, you definitely don’t look old.”
“Thank you Hope. You’re so kind.”
“That’s me. Oh so kind.”
“So, Hope, please do tell us more about yourself,” Elizabeth said. “I feel like we’ve barely gotten to know you.”
“I don’t really like talking about myself very much.”
She smiled. “Why did you come to Salem Point?”
“My aunt lives here.”
“What about your parents?” Wyatt asked.
I gulped. I really didn’t want to talk about my mom. “My mom passed away. And my dad was never in the picture.”
“I’m so sorry,” Wyatt said. “Our parents are dead too. They died in a tragic accident. Fire. It was a very, very long time ago.”
“We don’t need to talk about that, Wyatt,” Christian said. He looked at me and then back at his brother.
Apparently Christian didn’t like talking about his past either.
“Sorry, Christian is so sensitive when it comes to our parents. I forgot. My bad Chris.”
He glared daggers at Wyatt.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and put h
er fork down. “Boys.”
This family was really creeping me out.
I looked at my phone. It was almost nine o’clock. I sent Gemma a text that I was ready to go now. I needed to leave this place. “I think I should be going,” I said. “I have some reading I need to do. I’m trying to catch up on all of that.”
“I understand,” Elizabeth said. “Thank you for coming. We should do this again sometime.”
No thanks. “Yeah, totally.”
I got up from the table. Wyatt and Christian both stood up from their seats as I did.
“I’ll walk you to the door,” Christian said.
I couldn’t even try to hide the surprise on my face. “Okay.”
He smiled at me and put his arm out and gestured towards the doorway. “After you.”
Christian was acting so much more polite all of a sudden. I don’t know what was creepier; moody Christian or too polite Christian?
Christian walked me to the door. I stepped outside and he followed me. He closed the door and looked down at me. “I’m sorry about my family. They can be intrusive.”
“It’s fine. I’m sorry about what happened to your parents. I understand what it’s like and it sucks. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
He nodded his head in agreement. “Thank you. Wyatt was right. It was a really long time ago.”
I tilted my head and looked him in the eyes. “I lost my mom seven years ago. It still hurts like I just lost her yesterday. Grief doesn’t have a timeframe.”
He smiled. He had a really nice smile. I wished he’d use it more often. Seeing him smile was a beautiful sight.
We were looking into each other’s eyes. It was like neither of us could look away from the other. It was so intense. I had no idea what was happening. A few minutes ago I hated his guts for how he’d been treating me. Now I couldn’t take my eyes off of his.
A horn honked. I looked and saw that Gemma had arrived. Thank God it’s only a five minute drive.
“I should go.”
“Yes. Goodnight Hope.”
“Goodnight Christian.”
Chapter 22: Christian
I walked back into the house and took a deep breath. I was so angry. I wanted to punch whatever I could get my hands on. There was one person in particular that I wanted to kill.
I could hear him in the study. I ran in there in the blink of an eye. He was leaning against the desk smiling at me. He knew this was coming. “Is something wrong baby bro?”
“What are you doing with Hope?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
I glared at him. “Leave her alone Wyatt. She’s not some girl that you can use as a pet.”
He pushed off of the desk and went to the minibar on the other side of the room behind the couch. “Do I sense hostility brother?” He poured his drink and downed the glass in one shot. “Hmm. Does someone have a little crush?”
“This has nothing to do with Hope.” It did, but I didn’t want him to know how much I liked her. He had the tendency of going after the girls I cared about. He was sadistic like that. “This is about Elizabeth. We can’t risk exposure and you have a history of exposing us when you find a new pet.”
He laughed. “Oh, Christian. I don’t think this has anything to do with our baby sister. You like this girl. I can tell.”
“Leave Hope alone, Wyatt.”
He looked at me and shook his head. “You’ve got that tortured look in your eyes. It’s pitiful. You look pitiful.”
I curled my hands into fists. He was pissing me off.
“Wyatt…”
“Tell you what. I’ll back off Hope, if you tell me the truth about how you feel for her.”
I glared at my brother in anger. I was trying so hard not to let him get a rise out of me. If I reacted, he’d know for sure just how much I cared for Hope.
“There’s nothing to admit. I’m just trying to keep you under control.”
He laughed again as he advanced towards me. “Come on say it. You like her.”
“I don’t.”
He got right up in my face. “Say it.” He shoved me. “Tell me how much you want her and I’ll let you have her brother.”
He shoved me again.
This time, I shoved him back and pushed him back towards the wall.
Before I could make his body slam into the wall, he switched our positions. I slammed into the wall instead.
Books from the bookshelf fell. One of the paintings fell too.
“What the hell is going on here? That’s an antique. It's five times older than the girl you’re fighting over.”
We both looked at Elizabeth. She had her hands on her hips and her finger out in front of her. She reminded me so much of our mother. Especially when she had to play referee between the two of us.
“My apologies Lizzie,” Wyatt said. He sneered down at me. “Our brother here lost his temper.”
“And I’m sure you did nothing to set Christian off.”
He shrugged. “I can’t think of a thing. But, Christian should have known better.”
I got up from the floor and growled. “Shut up Wyatt.”
“I don’t like having to be the big bad older brother, but I’d be shirking my responsibilities if I didn’t warn you against fighting people who are stronger than you.”
He was referring to the blood. He always had a quip about the blood.
“Not everyone is going to be as nice as me. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, or worse. Killed.” He smiled at me before he walked by Elizabeth and out of the study.
“He’s right you know. The animal blood makes you weak.”
“I told you. I won’t drink blood from a human.”
She shook her head. “Then you will continue to allow Wyatt to get the upper hand over you. I’d rethink your decision. If you want to be able to protect Hope from Wyatt.”
She went to pick up the books, but I stopped her. “I can clean up my own messes.”
She nodded and walked to the doorway. “Just think about what I said. If it’s not Wyatt it can be someone else. There are countless enemies of vampires out there. I don’t want to spend an eternity with Wyatt alone.”
My diet was making me vulnerable.
But I couldn’t drink from a human. I made a vow that day. Never again.
I was never going to risk killing another human. I’d die before I let that happen.
Chapter 23: Hope
I decided to stay after school with Jade to do some work in the library. She was really cool. I never clicked with a girl like this before. I wasn’t always the best at making friends. But Jade was easy to be friends with. She was so easygoing and funny. She had a serious sense of humor too.
“Mr. Simmons is on crack if he thinks I’m memorizing the entire periodic table,” Jade said.
I laughed. She also had no filter whatsoever.
“I’m serious. What the hell is the point of this? One, I don’t want to be a chemist, and two if I were to become a chemist, I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to refer to the table if I need to know the atomic weight of carbon.”
I shrugged. “You never know.”
She rolled her eyes. “You only say that because you memorize things like you're some kind of sponge.”
I did have a good memory. It was probably the only way my grades were able to survive me changing schools so often.
“I usually had a lot of time on my hands to study.”
She nodded. She knew about my time in foster care. She didn’t ask me too many questions about my past. I think she was worried she would upset me. Talking about the shitty foster homes I grew up in wouldn’t upset me. Talking about my mom would.
All of the terrible foster homes didn’t seem to compare to losing Mom. That would always be the worst day of my life. There was nothing anyone could do to me that would be worse than having to hear I was never going to see my mom again.
We went back to reading silently across from each other. She was working on some Spanish
homework and I was working on history.
I looked up when I heard the door to the library open. It was Lexie and she was by herself for once. She stopped when she saw me sitting with Jade. She was looking at her too now.
Lexie smiled and waved at us.
Jade did the same. I just smiled. I never knew how to take Lexie. She seemed nice, but she still hung out with Hayden. I don’t know. But for me, I didn’t surround myself with people I didn’t have anything in common with. I didn’t really know Lexie. She could be even worse than Hayden for all I knew.
“Hey Lexie,” Jade said.
“Hey Jade.” She looked at me. “Hope.”
“Lexie.”
We stayed in an awkward silence for far too long. Lexie looked between the two of us and cleared her throat before pointing to the computer lab in the back of the library. “I’ll see you guys.”
After Lexie went into the computer lab, Jade turned to me. “That was kind of awkward.”
“I just don’t know how to act around her. I mean she hangs out with the most annoying people in town. She’s the twin sister of one of them.”
“Yeah, but Lexie is different. We used to hang out in elementary school.”
“Why’d you stop?”
“Aria started hanging out with Hayden and Tegan, and Lexie does everything her sister does. We drifted apart after that. And it got even worse after she started dating Tegan.” She made a disgusted face that I almost laughed at.
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, it is what it is. But I can tell you that she’s not like them. She’s nice. She’s just really close with her sister and follows her around way too much. It’s kind of unhealthy if you ask me.”
“Yeah, it is.”
My phone vibrated on the table. I picked it up when I saw it was a text from Knight. He asked me if I wanted to go to the football game tonight. He told me Jade could come too if I was planning on hanging out with her.
“Knight invited us to the game tonight.”
She made a face. “Games aren’t really my thing.”
They weren’t my thing either, but the idea of hanging out with Knight made my stomach flutter.
“Come on. I’ve never been to a high school football game before. Don’t deprive me from this experience.”
Protecting Hope: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Bloodmoon Series Book 1) Page 7