Текст книги "Onyx (A Lux Novel)"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 16 (всего у книги 25 страниц)

Chapter 25

Running late to trig on the last day of classes before break, I eased into my seat and winced. There was a good chance that I’d broken my butt last night. Sitting was extremely painful. Lesa raised a brow as she watched me struggle to get comfortable.

“Are you okay?” Daemon asked, causing me to jump a little.

“Yeah,” I breathed out as I carefully turned halfway, surprised that he hadn’t poked me. “Just slept wrong.”

His eyes were sharp. “Did you sleep on the floor or something?”

I laughed dryly. “Feels like it.”

Daemon stopped me from turning around. “Kat…”

“What?” Unease crept through me. When he looked at me like that I felt exposed to the core.

“Never mind.” He sat back, eyes narrowed as he folded his arms. “You still on for tonight?”

Biting my lip, I nodded and made a mental note to pick up some energy drinks on the way home. When I’d gotten back last night, I brutalized Mom’s secret chocolate stash. It did nothing to help replenish my energy. Easing back around, I gritted my teeth and ignored the flare of pain. It could be worse. I could be dead right now.

Sitting in the seat during class sucked to the nth degree. My body ached from hitting the cold, hard ground last night. The only reprieve I had was that Blake wasn’t in bio, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I’d lain awake last night, replaying everything that had happened. Would Blake have let me get seriously hurt or die if I hadn’t been able to use the Source to take out the Arum? I didn’t have an answer, and that troubled me.

Walking out of bio, Matthew called out to me. He waited until the class was empty before speaking. “How are you feeling, Katy?”

“Good,” I said, surprised. “You?”

Matthew smiled tightly as he leaned against the corner of his desk. “You looked like you were in pain during class. Hopefully my lecture wasn’t that bad.”

I flushed. “No, it’s not your lecture. I slept wrong last night. Now I’m all achy.”

He looked away. “I don’t want to keep you, but how is…”

Now I understood why he’d really stopped me. I glanced at the open door. “Daemon’s okay. I mean, he’s as okay as he can be, I guess.”

Matthew closed his eyes briefly. “That boy is like a son to me—both he and Dee are. I don’t want to see him doing anything crazy.”

“He won’t,” I told him, wanting to reassure the man. And I also didn’t want Matthew knowing that Daemon was stalking Vaughn. Doubted that would go over well.

“I hope so.” Matthew looked at me, eyes bloodshot. “Some things are best left…unknown, you know? People search for answers and they don’t always like what they get. Sometimes the truth is worse than the lie.” He turned back to his desk, messing with a stack of papers. “I hope you sleep better, Katy.”

Realizing I’d been dismissed, I left the class weirded out to the max. Was Matthew drinking while at work? Because that was the strangest conversation I’d ever had with him. And it was the longest conversation alone with him.

At lunch, I joined my friends and tried to forget about last night. Watching Dee and Adam make out was a good distraction. During the rare moments her mouth wasn’t attached to his, she talked about this weekend and Christmas. Whenever she looked at me, though, there was a sadness in her eyes. A gulf had developed between us, and I missed her. I missed my friends so much.

When classes were over, I headed to my locker to grab my English book, since there was a paper due once school started back up. Just as I shoved it into my backpack, I heard my name.

I looked up, tensing when I saw Blake. “Hey…you weren’t in bio.”

“I came in late today,” he said, leaning against the locker beside me. “I’m not going to be able to do any practice tonight or during Christmas break. I’m visiting some family with my uncle.”

Sweet relief flooded my system, leaving me dizzy. After last night, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue training with Blake, despite my need to be able to defend myself. Now just wasn’t the time to talk about any of that. “That’s okay. I hope you have fun.” There was a distant, closed-off look in his eyes as he nodded. I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m going to get going. See you when—”

“Wait.” He stepped closer. “I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

I closed my locker door when I wanted to slam it shut. “What about it?”

“I know you’re pissed.”

“Yeah, I am.” I faced him. Could he really not understand why I was mad? “You risked my life last night. What if I didn’t use the Source? I’d be dead now.”

“I wouldn’t have let him hurt you.” Sincerity filled his words and eyes. “You were safe.”

“The bruises up and down the side of my body are telling me I got hurt.”

He blew out an exasperated breath. “I still don’t get why you’re not happier about this. The power you showed—it’s amazing.”

I shifted the bag off my bruised backside. “Look, can we talk about training when you get back?”

He looked like he wanted to argue, because those green flecks in his eyes deepened and churned, but he turned his cheek and let out a harsh breath. I wanted to be out of this school, to be home in my bed, and to be away from him. Away from this boy I’d once believed was normal, once believed wanted to help me because we were alike, and now I wasn’t sure if he really cared if I survived any of his training techniques at all.

…

Changing into a pair of loose sweats and a thermal when I got home, the first thing I did after that was take a nap, and I slept most of the evening away. Mom was gone when I got up, and I scrounged together a sandwich and then gathered all the books I’d gotten in the last month.

I stacked them beside my laptop and was in the process of getting my webcam to not zoom up my nose when I felt the familiar tingles like a warm breath on the back of my neck. I glanced at the clock. It wasn’t even ten o’clock yet.

Sighing, I got up and went to the front door, opening it before Daemon could knock. He stood there, his hand raised in midair. “I’m really beginning to dislike the fact that you know when I’m coming,” he said, frowning.

“I thought you loved it. It enables you to be such a great stalker.”

“I’ve already told you. I don’t stalkyou.” He followed me into the living room. “I use it to keep an eye on you.”

“There’s a difference?” I sat on the couch.

Daemon sat right beside me, his thigh pressing against mine. “There is a difference.”

“Sometimes your logic scares me.” I wished I’d changed into something else. He was just in jeans and a sweater, but he looked good. And my thermal had little strawberries on it. Embarrassing. “So what are you doing over here so early?”

Leaning back against the cushions, he was even closer than before, smelling of a crisp autumn morning. Why, oh why, did he have to always get so close? “Bill didn’t come by tonight?”

I tucked my hair back behind my ear, ignoring the mad rush of the desire to climb into his arms. “No. He had something to do with family.”

His eyes narrowed on the laptop. “What are you doing? Making another one of those videos?”

“I was planning to. I haven’t done one in a while, but then you showed up. Plan ruined.”

He grinned. “You still can film one. I promise I’ll behave.”

“Yeah, not going to happen.”

“Why not?” He raised his hand, and the book on the top of the pile shot toward him. “Hey, I have an idea. I could pretend to be him.”

“What?” I frowned as he showed me the blond guy on the cover. “Wait. You don’t mean—”

Daemon shimmered out, and in his place was the exact replica of the cover model, right down to the curly lock of blond hair, baby blue eyes, and brooding stare. Wow, such a pretty boy.“Hello there…”

“Oh my God.” I poked his golden cheek. Real. I laughed. “You can’t do that. People would freak.”

“But it would definitely get a lot of attention.” He winked. “It would be fun.”

“But this cover model”—I took the book from him and waved it around—“is a real person somewhere. He’d probably be curious how he ended up in my In My Mailbox video.”

His full lips pouted. “You do have a point.” The cover model faded out, and Daemon reappeared. “But don’t let that stop you. Go ahead and film. I’ll be like your assistant.”

Trying to determine if he was being serious or not, I stared at him. “I don’t know about this.”

“I’ll be completely quiet. I’ll just hold books for you.”

“I don’t think you have the ability to be completely quiet. Ever.”

“I promise,” he said, grinning.

This would probably end up disastrous, but the idea of him being in the video had me all giddy and amused. I adjusted the webcam so he was included in the picture and pressed record.

Taking a deep breath, I started to do my vlog. “Hi, this is Katy from Katy’s Krazy Obsession. Sorry for such a long absence. School and…”—my eyes darted to Daemon for a fraction of a second—“stuff have gotten in the way, but anyway, I have a guest. This is—”

“Daemon Black,” he answered for me. “I’m the guy she lays awake at night and fantasizes about.”

My cheeks flushed as I elbowed him back. “And that is sonot the truth. He’s my neighbor—”

“And the guy she’s completely obsessed with.”

I forced a weak smile. “He’s very egotistical and likes to hear his voice, but he’s promised to stay quiet. Right?”

He nodded and smiled angelically for the camera, but his eyes stirred with amusement. Yep, this was a bad idea. “I think reading is sexy.” Daemon smiled at himself.

My brows inched up my forehead. “Do you now?”

“Oh, yes, and you know what else I think is sexy?” He leaned forward so his entire face filled the picture and nodded his head toward me. “Bloggers like this. Hot.”

Rolling my eyes, I smacked his arm. “Get back,” I whispered.

Daemon sat back and triedto stay quiet for the next five minutes. He handed me each book, unable to refrain from making a comment and taking my whole recording hostage. Like, “This guy looks stupid,” or “What’s the obsession with fallen angels?” And my favorite was when he held the book in frontof my face and said, “This reaper dude sounds like my kind of guy. He gets to kill people for a living.”

At the end of the recording, I couldn’t even hide the stupid grin plastered on my face. “And that’s it for today. Thanks for watching!”

Daemon practically knocked me over to get in one last comment. “Don’t forget. There are cooler things out there than fallen angels and dead guys. Just saying.” He winked.

I pictured an entire legion of females swooning. Pushing him aside, I winced and clicked the off button on the webcam page. “You like seeing yourself being recorded.”

He shrugged. “That was fun. When do you do another?”

“Next week if I get more books.”

“More books.” His eyes went wide. “You have, like, ten books you just said you haven’t read.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t get more books.” I smiled at his incredulous expression. “I haven’t been able to read a lot lately, but I will, and then I won’t be out of anything new to read.”

“You haven’t had time because of himand that’s ridiculous.” He looked away, jaw working. “Reading is something you love. So is blogging, and you’ve completely dumped those things.”

“I have not!”

“You’re such a little liar,” he shot back. “I’ve checked out your blog. You’ve done five posts in the last month.”

My jaw hit the floor. “You’ve been stalking my blog, too?”

“Like I said before, I’m not stalking. I’m just keeping an eyeon you.”

“And like I said before, your reasoning is faulty.” I bent forward, closing my laptop. “You know what I’ve been doing. It pretty much soaks up my time—”

“What the hell?” he exploded, grabbing the back of my thermal and tugging it up.

“Hey.” I twisted around, ignoring the fresh spike of pain. “What are you doing? Hands off, mofo.”

He looked up, eyes glowing with a hint of desperation and vengeance. “Tell me why your back looks like you fell out of a two-story window.”

Oh, crap.Standing, I headed toward the kitchen to get some space. Daemon was right behind me as I grabbed a Coke out of the fridge. “I…I fell in training with Blake. It’s not a big deal, though.” Sounded believable, and the truth would send him into a murderous rage that right now no one wanted. And Daemon didn’t need something else to stress over. “I told you I slept wrong, because I figured you’d make fun of me.”

“Yeah, I would’ve made fun of you…a little bit, but Jesus, Kat, you sure you didn’t break something?”

Not really. “I’m fine.”

Concern etched into the lines of his face as he followed me around the table, eyes unflinching. “You’ve been hurting yourself a lot lately.”

“Not really.”

“You’re not clumsy, Kitten. So how does this keep happening?” He advanced forward, moving like a predator about to pounce. Suddenly I wasn’t sure what was worse: him moving at the speed of light or with slow, calculated steps that sent a shiver down my spine.

“I tripped in the woods the night I first found out about you,” I reminded him.

“Nice try.” He shook his head. “You were running full-out in the middle of pitch-black woods. Even I’d…” He winked. “Well, maybe not me, but normalpeople would trip then. I’m just too awesome.”

“Well…” God he was full of himself.

“It looks like it hurts.”

“It does a little.”

“Then let me fix it.” He reached out, fingers blurring.

“Wait.” I backed up. “Should you be doing that?”

“Healing you can’t hurt. Not at this point.” He tried to touch me again, but I knocked his hand away. “I’m just trying to help!”

I’d cornered myself. “I don’t need you to help me.”

The muscle in his jaw started working as he turned his head. It appeared as if he’d given up, but then his arm went around my hips and a second later he was sitting on the couch in the living room, and I was in his lap.

Stunned, I stared at him. “That’s not fair!”

“I wouldn’t have had to do it if you would just stop being so freaking stubborn and let me help you.” Daemon held me still, ignoring my protests as he slipped his hand under my thermal, flatting it against my lower back. I jerked at the zing his touch produced. “I can make you feel better. It’s ridiculous that you won’t let me.”

“We have stuff to do, people to stalk, Daemon. Just let me up.” I wiggled, trying to get free, and groaned in pain. I don’t know why I didn’t want him to heal me; we’d already proven I didn’t develop a trace from being near him anymore. But he already had too many people counting on him.

“No,” he said. Heat flared against my back, pleasant and heady, threatening to consume me whole. His lips turned up at one corner when he heard my soft intake of breath. “I can’t be around you when I know you’re in pain, okay?”

My mouth opened, but I didn’t say anything. Daemon looked away, focusing on a blank spot on the wall. “Does it really bother you, me hurting?” I asked.

“I don’t feel it, if that’s what you’re asking.” He paused, exhaling softly. “Just knowing you’re hurt is enough for it to bother me.”

I lowered my gaze and stopped struggling. Only one hand was on me, but I could feel it in every cell. When Blake had said to think of something that felt like lightning heat, I’d thought of Daemon’s touch—the way he kissed. That was what I felt when I tapped into the Source and destroyed the Arum.

The whole healing thing had a lulling effect. It was like lying out in the sun or snuggling under cozy blankets. Lack of sleep and his touch lapped at me in steady, comforting waves. Relaxing in his loose embrace, I placed my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. His touch—the healing warmth sunk deep into my skin, through bruised muscle and bone.

After some time, I realized nothing ached, but he was still holding me. Then Daemon stood, cradling me in his arms. I stirred. “What are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed.”

My body flushed at those words. “I can walk.”

“I can get you there faster.” And he did. One second we were in the living room, surrounded by the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree, and then the next we were in my bedroom. “See?”

I was half transfixed by him as he placed me on the bed, moving the covers back without touching them. Such a handy ability when the hands were full.

Daemon tugged the comforter up, hesitating as he stared down at me. “Do you feel better?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, unable to look away. With him standing over me, his eyes such a stark contrast with the darkness, he looked like something straight out of my dreams…or the books I read.

His throat worked slowly. “Can I…?” There was a pause and my heart stuttered. “Can I just hold you? That’s all…that’s all I want.”

A knot formed in my throat and my chest tightened, cutting off my voice. I didn’t want him to leave, so I nodded.

Relief flickered across his stoic face, softening the hard lines, and then he walked around to hisside, kicked off his shoes, and slid into bed beside me. He moved closer, extending an arm, and I went, curling against his body, my head nestled in the space between his shoulder and chest.

“I kind of like being your body pillow,” he admitted, a smile in his voice. “Even if you drool on me.”

“I do notdrool.” I smiled, placing my hand over his heart. “What about tailing Vaughn?”

“That can wait until tomorrow.” He tilted his head to the side, his lips moving against my hair as he spoke. “Get some rest, Kitten. I’ll be gone before morning.”

Under my hand, the steady beat of his heart matched my own, slightly accelerated. Was it the healing or just being this close? I didn’t know. But before I knew it, I’d drifted into the deepest, calmest sleep I’d had in weeks.

Chapter 26

The irate sound of “KATY ANN SWARTZ!” being yelled, followed by a husky male laugh was what roused me from the satisfying haze of deep sleep. My eyes fluttered open, and I tried to remember the last time Mom had used my full name. Oh yeah, it had been years ago, when I’d tried to pet a baby opossum that had gotten on our balcony somehow.

Mom stood in my bedroom doorway, dressed in her robe, her mouth hanging open. Will stood behind her, one a strange, satisfied smile on his face.

“What?” I mumbled. My hard pillow moved. Glancing down, I felt my cheeks burn hot. Daemon was still in my bed. And I was half lying on him. One of his hands was wrapped around mine, pinning it against his chest . OhmyGodno…

Mortified on an epic level, I pulled my hand free. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

“It’s not?” Mom folded her arms.

“They’re just kids,” Will said, grinning. “At least they’re fully clothed.”

“Not helping,” she shot back.

I started to sit up, but Daemon’s arm tightened around my waist as he rolled into me, nuzzling my neck. Wanting to die a thousand deaths, I pushed at him. He didn’t budge.

His eyes opened into thin slits. “Mmm, what’s your problem?” I stared meaningfully at the doorway. Frowning, he turned his head and froze. “Oh, wow, awkward.” He cleared his throat as he removed his arm from my waist. “Good morning, Ms. Swartz.”

Mom smiled tightly. “Good morning, Daemon. I think it’s time for you to go home.”

Daemon left as fast as humanly possible after that. Mom went downstairs without saying a word. Knowing I was in trouble, I passed Will in the hallway. He was barefoot. Apparently, I wasn’t the only female in the house to have had a guy in my bed.

I found her shoving the coffee pot into the maker. “Mom, it’s not what you think. I promise.”

She turned around, planting her hands on her hips. “You had a boy in your bedroom, in your bed. What am I supposed to think?”

“Looks like you had a sleepover, too.” I fixed the pot so it wasn’t half out of the maker.

“I’m the adult here. I can have whomever I want in my bed, young lady.”

Will laughed form the doorway. “I have to disagree with that. I’m hoping I’m the only one in your bed.”

“Ew,” I groaned, going to the fridge to get juice.

Mom’s eyes narrowed on her boyfriend. “Is this what you’re doing when I’m working nights, Katy?”

I sighed. “No, Mom, I swear it’s not. We were…studying, and we fell asleep.”

“You were studying in your bedroom?” She smoothed some of the mussed hair back from her face. “I’ve never had to set rules with you before, but I see there need to be some established.”

“Mom,” I groaned, glancing at Will. “Come on…”

“There will be no boys in your bedroom. Ever.” She pulled the creamer out. “There will be no boys staying the night in any part of this house.”

Sitting down, I sipped my OJ. “Can you stop referring to boys in the plural? Geez.”

She poured herself a cup of coffee. “Blake is here all the time. And then there is Daemon. So, yes, it’s boys in the plural sense.”

I bristled. “Neither of them is my boyfriend.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better about one of them being in yourbed?” She took a drink of her coffee and then scrunched up her nose in distaste. “Honey, I’ve never had to worry about you doing anything stupid.”

I stood and handed her the sugar she forgot. “I’m not doing anything stupid. Nothing is happening with either of them. We’re just friends.”

She ignored the last statement. “I can’t be here a lot, and I have to trust you. Please tell me that you’re being…safe.”

“Oh my God, Mom, I’m not having sex.”

Her look told me she wasn’t entirely convinced. “Just make sure you’ll be careful. You don’t want to be a young mother.”

“Oh, dear God,” I whispered, hiding my face behind my hands.

“And I am concerned,” she continued. “First it was Daemon, then you seemed to have started seeing Blake, but now…”

“I’m not seeing either of them,” I said for what felt like the hundredth time.

“You two did look very close.” Will propped a hip against the sink, watching us. “You and Daemon.”

“This really isn’t any of your business,” I said, angry that he was here for such a private and excruciatingly embarrassing conversation.

“Katy,” Mom snapped.

Will laughed it off. “No. It’s okay, Kell. She’s right. This isn’t my business. But there does seem to be some history between you two.”

For a moment, his smile reminded me of someone. Fake. Plastic. Nancy Husher. I shuddered. God, I was paranoid. “We’re just friends.”

“Friends who hold hands while sleeping?”

I glanced at my mom, but she was busy studying the inside of her chipped cup. Feeling overly exposed, I folded my arms around me. “I’m sorry, Mom, for upsetting you. It won’t happen again.”

“I hope not.” She washed out her coffee cup, wearing a slight frown. “The last thing I want right now is a grandchild.”

Done with this conversation, I squeezed past Will and went into the living room. Gah, my mom thought I was making babies. Even I was disturbed by that thought.

Grabbing my backpack off the floor, I dragged it to the couch. When I looked up, I saw Mom and Will in the hallway. He was whispering something to her, and she laughed softly. Before I could look away, he kissed her…but oureyes locked.

…

Hours later, Will was still in the house—my house. Not his. Was this how my Saturdays would be when Mom was off? Watching the two of them working on crossword puzzles in between making out? I wanted to claw my eyes out.

The way he stared at me made my skin feel like a thousand dirty roaches were crawling under it. It had to be my paranoia, but I couldn’t shake the ugh factor.

I checked my blog real quickly and found that I had over twenty comments on my IMM. Curious for the sudden comment love, I scrolled through them. Some of them gushed over the books I had. Others gushed over the boy who’d been sitting beside me.

Dammit. He’d hijacked my blog.

Putting in earbuds, I listened to some tunes while reading my English assignment. Mom appeared sometime later, and I tugged out the buds, hoping we weren’t going to have another sex conversation. Especially when I knew Will was right in the kitchen, making himself at home.

“Honey, Dee is here to see you.” Then she walked over and flipped my textbook shut. “And before you say you’re busy or have plans with a boy, you need to get up and go talk to her.”

I took the last bite of my cold Pop-Tart and frowned. “Oookay…”

She pushed back her side-swept bangs. “You can’t spend every waking second studying and hanging out with Blake or whomever.”

Or whomever?Like I had this long list of boys. I sighed as I stood. Before I left the room, I caught her staring at the Christmas tree, and I wondered what she was thinking.

Dee was waiting outside, a vision in white. It took me a few seconds to realize the white sweater she wore had blended into the background. It was snowing heavily, so much so I could barely see the tree line a few yards away.

“Hey,” I said lamely.

She blinked and her eyes immediately darted from my face. “Hey,” she responded with forced enthusiasm. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”

I leaned against the door. “Well, I just started my English paper. Wanted to kind of get that out of the way.”

“Oh.” Her pink lips turned down. “Well, it’s going to have to wait. We’re going to watch a movie.”

I stepped back. With everything that was going on and all the lies, being around Dee was hard. “Maybe some other time, because I’m really busy. How about next weekend?” I didn’t wait for an answer. I started to shut the door.

Dee did the super-speed crap and pushed the door back open. She looked like an angry little pixie. “That was extremely rude, Katy.”

I flushed. I couldn’t deny that and still, it obviously hadn’t driven her away. “I’m sorry. I’m just so swamped with schoolwork.”

“I understand that.” She pushed the door farther open. “But you’re going to the movies with Adam and me.”

“Dee—”

“You’re not backing out of it.” Her eyes met mine, and I saw the hurt in them. I swallowed, looking away. “I know you and Daemon are…well, whatever’s going on between you two, and you’re doing whatever with Blake and I’ve been spending a lot of time with Adam, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

She rocked back on her heels, clasping her hands under her chin. “Just put your shoes on, Katy, and go to the movies with me. Please. I miss you. Please.”

How could I say no? I turned slightly, spying my mom standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The look on her face pleaded with me, too. I was caught between the two, and neither knew that I was trying to stay away from Dee for her own good.

“Please,” Dee whispered.

I remembered Daemon telling me I was being a shitty friend. I wasn’t trying to be, and Dee didn’t deserve that. I nodded. “Let me grab my hoodie and shoes.”

She jumped forward and gave me a quick, tight hug. “I’ll be waiting right here.”

Just in case I tried to sneak out of it, I supposed. Passing my mom a look, I grabbed my hoodie off the back of the recliner and slipped into a pair of knee-high, fake-sheepskin boots. Pocketing money in my jeans, I headed out into the brisk December afternoon.

Snow covered the ground, making it slick under my boots. Dee skipped beside me and then took off, throwing herself into Adam’s arms. Giggling, she kissed the top of his blond head and then wiggled free.

I hung back, my hands shoved into my hoodie. “Hey, Adam.”

He looked surprised to see me. “Hey, you’re actually coming with us?”

I nodded.

“Awesome.” He glanced at Dee. “What about…?”

Dee dashed around the front of Adam’s SUV, shooting her boyfriend a look.

I slid into the backseat. “Did you invite…someone else?”

Buckling herself in, she twisted around to face me. “Ah, yeah, but it’s cool. You’ll see.”

Adam turned around in the driveway, and I felt the warmth tingling along my neck. Unable to stop myself, I twisted in the seat, eager to see him.

Daemon stood on the porch, dressed in only jeans, even though it was too cold for that. A towel was flung over his shoulder. Impossible, but I’d swear our gazes sought the other’s out. I watched until the house disappeared from view, positive that he’d waited until he could no longer see the car.

…

Color me annoyed when I realized whoDee had invited. Ash Thompson was waiting at the movie theater. She gave me her typical bitch look and walked in ahead of us, somehow managing to sway her hips in skintight jeans and four-inch heels across the ice-covered pavement.

I would’ve broken my neck.

Lucky me, I ended up sitting between Ash and Dee. I sunk in my seat, ignoring Ash as we waited for the lights to go down and the movie to start.

“Whose idea was it to pick a zombie flick?” Ash demanded, cradling a bucket of popcorn bigger than her head. “Was it Katy? They kind of share the same appearance.”

“Ha ha,” I muttered, eyeing her popcorn. Bet there wasn’t much between her ears for a zombie to survive on.

On my other side, Dee and Adam had cleaned out the candy counter. She dipped a chocolate bar in her cheese sauce, and I gagged behind my hand. “That is so gross.”

“Don’t knock it,” she said, taking a huge bit. “It’s the best of both worlds. Chocolate and cheese, which is why the letter Cis my favorite in the alphabet.”

“You know,” Ash said, wrinkling her nose, “I’m actually going to have to agree with living dead girl here. That is disgusting.”

I frowned. “Do I look that bad or something?”

Ash said, “Yes,” at the same time Dee said, “No.” I folded my arms and kicked my feet onto the empty seat in front of me. “Whatever,” I muttered.

“So,” Adam said, drawing the word out, “things going well between you and Blake?”

Sinking down farther in my seat, I bit back a string of curses. “Yeah, things are dandy.”

Ash snorted.

“Well, you’ve been spending a lot of time with him.” Dee watched me as she dipped another bar of chocolate. “Things must be going great.”

“Look, I’m just going to be honest here.” Ash flicked a buttery kernel in her mouth. “You had Daemon– Daemon. And I know how good that is. Trust me.”

A surge of jealousy rose so quickly, I wanted to slam the popcorn down her throat. “I’m sure he is.”

She snickered. “Anyway, I have no idea why you’d give him up for Blake. He’s cute and all, but he can’t be as good as—”

“Ew!” Dee’s face scrunched up. “Can we not talk about how good he is at anything that will force me into therapy later? Thank you.”

Ash chuckled as she shook her bucket of popcorn. “I’m just saying—”

“I don’t care what you’re saying.” I grabbed a handful of her popcorn partly to see her eyes narrow. “I don’t want to talk about Daemon. And Blake and I aren’t dating.”

“Friends with benefits?” Adam asked.

I groaned. How did today end up being all about my non-existent sex life? “There are no benefits at all.”