Taste For Blood: Stir (Nephil-Vamp Series Book 1)
Page 20
"Seriously though, something is different about you. What is it?" I asked, looking over Kate's transformed demeanor as I put my makeup away.
"My attitude. This morning I woke up, and decided I was sick of being bummed out about Eli. So I got out of bed, picked out something special to wear, and committed myself to getting over it and moving on," Kate explained. My heart sank when she mentioned Eli's name. Perhaps I could’ve managed not to be obsessed with him for a whole five minutes.
Eli was previously pretending to be a substitute teacher at our school, in order to look after me, when he met Kate. They were supposed to go out on their first date last weekend, but he sent her an email saying he got a job offer in Europe that he couldn't refuse. He apologized that they didn't have the chance to get to know each other better. But I knew the truth, and it killed me to continue to keep it from her.
"Good for you," I said, patting her on the shoulder. Kate was strong in so many ways that I wasn't. I hoped someday her positive spirit would rub off on me.
"I was surprised not to hear from you this weekend," Kate said, pulling her cheek to one side with dismay.
"I practically ran for the city as soon as the bell rang on Friday," I explained vaguely, since I was actually stuck with Alec, heralding bad news all over the Midwest.
"Yeah, I get it. You could have hid out at my house, though," Kate suggested, and I imagined that meant she was stuck home alone again, having to deal with her clingy, pill-popping mother.
"Thanks, I'll need a good hide-out for next weekend," I said with a small smile.
Everyone knew that Alec and I were finished before we even really started. At school, I avoided him as much as possible, which was tough since we shared eighty percent of our classes, by his design, of course. I still wasn't talking to Evan, because of that night at Dale's party. He blabbed to half the school, right there on the beach, that he'd spent many nights in my bed, like we'd been secretly hooking up. He and I knew that wasn’t true, and we were just close friends. The sleepovers were strictly platonic. But his girlfriend, Harper, certainly didn't believe that, and spent all of her free time convincing anyone who would listen, what a back-stabbing slut I was.
Our social group was pretty split over the whole drama. Obviously, Sienna and Alicia, Harper's little minions, now hated me, not that we were best buds before the incident, but that really sealed the deal. The guys on the baseball team, however, mostly didn't believe it; but they also didn't really care that Evan "cheated" with me, despite Harper’s best attempts to sway them otherwise.
It was complicated since we were all in the same social circle. I pretty much tried to dodge everyone at school except Kate, because no matter what they believed, I was tired of their speculation and theories, as well as their pity and ill-conceived judgments. Plus, the tension was awful ever since Harper formally decided to "forgive" Evan and keep dating him. I thought it was more like a guarantee to make his life miserable.
Kate pulled into the lot and I dreaded getting out of the car. It didn't help that the first person I saw was Alec, leaning against his black Audi, and clearly waiting for us.
"Do you want me to run him over?" Kate asked, and I smiled, seriously considering it, even though the impact could do nothing to dent his carved body. Vampires were so annoying that way.
"No, let him live," I teased, appreciating that Kate had my back. She parked a few spaces away from Alec's car, and he began walking toward us. I jumped out before he could try to score chivalry points by opening my door.
"Good morning, ladies," Alec said happily, but it sounded rather contrived. It wasn't like him to mask his true mood, and I instantly wondered what was going on.
"Morning," Kate said with little enthusiasm, while breezing past him to get to her class across campus. She shot me an apologetic look for leaving me alone with him.
"Well, she seems to be warming up to me again, how ‘bout you?" Alec said jokingly. Kate had clearly picked her side. Alec also did his part at making false insinuations at the beach party. I told Kate that it was obvious he was just a player who wasn't worth my time. I almost wish it were just that simple. It would make the attraction I felt toward him so much easier to ignore.
"Dream on," I said, walking past him toward Mapleton Prep's entrance.
"Speaking of dreams, have you been sleeping all right? You look tired." Alec clasped my wrist to stop my stride and forced me to face him. I looked down at his hand and realized it was his disembodied hand that kept pulling me out of my unsettling ocean dream in which my maker appeared. That revelation instantly sent a chill down my spine.
"Thanks, you look like crap too," I mumbled.
"Dani, that's not what I meant. You are the most stunning creature to ever grace this earth," Alec said sincerely, stroking his hand down the length of my long, auburn hair and making my whole body involuntarily hum with pleasure.
"I really wish you'd let me drive you and Kate to school. I know you hate me right now, but I still have to protect you. And I certainly prefer your company over anyone else's at this school…" He continued looking at me like I was the most fragile flower on the planet.
"Forget it. I can take care of myself. And you'd be sleeping badly too, if your friend was out somewhere, being tortured because of you, and there was nothing you could do about it," I said. I wanted to break the palpable tension that always flared between us, especially when he looked at me the way that he did right then.
"Trust me, I'm losing my fair share of sleep, too," Alec said, and I huffed my skepticism.
"Trust you? Interesting choice of words," I grumbled under my breath as I walked away.
"Dani…" He said at length, but I didn't look back…
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TASTE FOR BLOOD: SAVOR (Nephil-Vamp Series, Book 4)
Coming Christmas 2016!
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Other Jenna Bernel Books Now Available on Amazon!
Taste for Blood: Stir (Nephil-Vamp, 1)
Taste for Blood: Pour (Nephil-Vamp, 2)
Taste for Blood: Simmer (Nephil-Vamp, 3)
The Secret Trinity: Unearth (Fae-Witch Trilogy,1)
The Secret Trinity: Ignite (Fae-Witch Trilogy, 2)
The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, 3)
The Secret Trinity: Glass Castles (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Prequel Novella)