Chapter Eleven
“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked when he just stood there, that stupid grin on his face. The one I used to find adorably charming.
“I thought maybe we could go talk somewhere.”
“Well, you thought wrong.” That was the last thing I was interested in doing. I had the entire night ahead of me, and even sitting alone in my apartment with a Golden Girls marathon sounded better than talking to him.
“Don’t be like that, Anja. I thought you still wanted to be friends.”
“You want to be my friend?” My voice rife with skepticism, I fixed him with a flat, unfriendly look. “Friends don’t betray each other, let alone boyfriends.”
“You never let me explain about that, An. I made a mistake, I should have told you about her, but I’d already decided to break things off. You’re the one I asked to move in with me, remember?” His voice dripped of sincerity, but I wasn’t interested in his excuses.
“Oh please, you were still hot and heavy with her when I showed up with the movers.”
“That was a goodbye kiss, I swear.”
Ugh, what a pig. “Do you honestly think you’re helping your case right now?”
“Your parents love me, doesn’t that count for something?”
“Surprisingly, no. Then again, they don’t know anything about your walk on the wild side with Bridget.” I turned and took a step away from him and he reached out to grab hold of my arm.
“Anja, she meant nothing to me, you’re the one I want. And when I saw you up there tonight… it was like… it was like I heard the voice of an angel telling me you’re the one.”
“Get your hand off of me, Trent. I’m warning you.” I knew I was strong enough to break free. Heck, I was strong enough to tear his arm out of its socket, but I didn’t want to cause a scene.
He ignored my advice though. “Just give me one more shot. I know we can make it work.”
“I’m not kidding. If you don’t let me go, you’ll regret it,” I repeated the low warning, but his smile grew wider, his voice tinged with condescension.
“You’re adorable when you’re angry, did you know that? Now why don’t you let me make things up to you?” He pulled me closer and my hand shot out, almost of its own volition, cracking him soundly across the cheek. He went down like a sack of potatoes, a bruise already starting to form there.
“I’m sorry!” Christ, had I really hit him? I’d never hit another person before in my life. While on the one hand, it was exhilarating to show him he couldn’t push me around, I also felt awful for having knocked him out. What if I’d really hurt him? Good… a mean-spirited little voice inside whispered. “Trent?” I knelt down beside him, patting his cheek gently. A crowd of onlookers started to gather around, curious to find out what was going on and my cheeks blazed with the heat of embarrassment.
“Five more minutes, Mom,” he murmured, nuzzling against my thigh, and I pushed him away. He was too hard headed to be seriously hurt. There was more danger of my reputation suffering serious injury. Thanks to my vampire hearing, I was privy to every whispered speculation.
“He’s fine guys, nothing to see here.” Assured he would find plenty of assistance should he need it, I slipped out of there as fast as I could, eager to get outside into the night air. Instead of taking the bus as I usually did at night, I decided to walk to take advantage of the cooling breeze. After all, I wasn’t too afraid of getting mugged anymore after my show of strength. I hadn’t even been trying and I’d knocked Trent out cold. Even if someone shot or stabbed me, I would heal quickly, according to Bishop.
Bishop.
Nope. I wasn’t going to think about him, I had to start relying on myself. Sitting around at home every night hadn’t gotten me Prince Charming. All I’d gotten for my efforts were a cheating boyfriend, a surly but well meaning roommate, and a mysteriously absentee Sire. It was time to stop being a doormat and take control of my own destiny instead of waiting for someone to chart it out for me.
Somehow I had to learn how to blend my old life with my afterlife. I had to learn how to push my boundaries and figure out what being a vampire meant to someone like me. So far I hadn’t felt the need to feed apart from when seeing fresh blood triggered the thirst. That was fine with me, because the idea of actually stalking someone and sinking my teeth into their flesh… kind of made mine crawl. I didn’t have the first clue how to go about hunting. Just because I knew I was capable of compelling someone into letting me feed on them and forgetting all about me didn’t mean I had the foggiest notion of how to go about it. I figured eventually the thirst would win, and instincts would kick in, but what if they didn’t? I needed answers, and there was only one place I knew of to get them.
“Anja my dear, this is the first night of the rest of your life,” I murmured to myself as I turned onto my street. “Time to make the most of it.”