embarrassed. Then he grinned at me, like a cute little boy whose mommy had just yelled at him. "Sorry, Zo. I forget you have some major mojo going on."
"Yeah, sorry," Erik said. "I know I don't have anything to worry about with you and him." And he finished with a smirk at Heath.
Heath looked at me like he expected me to say something like well, actually you need to worryway too muhei~, Erik, because I still like Heath, but I didn't. I couldn't. No matter what was going on between Erik and me, Heath was part of my old world, and he fit better in my past than in my present or future. Heath being one hundred percent human meant he was one hundred percent more vulnerable to being seriously hurt if something attacked us.
"Okay, I'm out of here," Heath said into the awkward silence. He spun around and started to walk toward the door to the outside and was almost there when he paused and looked back at me. "But first I really do need to talk to you, Zo. Alone."
"I'm not going anywhere," Erik said.
"No one asked you to," Heath said. "Zo, would you come outside with me for a minute?"
"Hell no," Erik said, moving toward me possessively. "She's not going anywhere with you."
I was frowning up at Erik, about to tell him that he really wasn't the boss of me, when he did something that totally, utterly, and completely pissed me off. He actually grabbed my wrist and jerked me toward him, even though I hadn't taken one step to follow Heath.
An automatic reflex had me yanking my wrist from his grasp.
His blue eyes narrowed at me. At that instant he looked mad and mean, and seemed more a stranger than a boyfriend.
"You're not going anywhere with him," he repeated to me.
My temper spiked. I cannot stand being bullied. It was one of the reasons my mom's new husband and I never got along. At his core, the Step-loser was nothing more than a big bully. Suddenly I was seeing that same attitude reflected in Erik. I knew it would break my heart later, but just then my anger was burning too hot for any other emotion to cool my reaction. I didn't yell. I didn't scream and smack him like I really wanted to. Instead, all I did was shake my head and say in my coldest voice, "Erik, enough. Just because we're back together doesn't mean you can tell me what to do."
"How about does it mean you don't cheat on me again with your human boyfriend?" Erik snapped.
I gasped and took a step back from him like he'd slapped me. "Why the hell do you think you can talk to me like that?" My stomach clenched up so hard I thought I was going to be sick, but I ignored it, meeting Erik's angry glare with a steely stare of my own. "As your girlfriend, you've just pissed me off. As your High Priestess, you've just insulted me. And as someone with a working brain, you've made me wonder if you've lost every bit of your sense. What do you think I'm going to do in the minute or so I'd be alone with Heath standing outside in the parking lot during an ice storm? Lie down and let him do me right there on the cement? Is that really the kind of girl you think I am?"
Erik didn't say anything; he just kept glaring at me.
In the electric silence Heath's chuckle was supermocking. "Hey, Erik, let me give you a little advice about our Zo. She really, really, really doesn't like it when you try to tell her what to do. And that's how she's been since, uh, I dunno, third grade or so. I mean, even before she H kdo me Ngot the vamp mojo from her goddess, she hated to be bossed around." Heath held out his hand to me. "So would ya walk outside with me for just a sec so we can talk without an audience?"
"Yes, yes I would. I think I need some fresh air," I said. Ignoring Erik's pissed-off stare and Heath's offered hand, I stomped over to the metal grating that looked way more closed and secure than it was and with an annoyed shove pushed it aside and walked out into a very nasty winter evening. The blast of cold wet air felt good on my heated face, and I breathed deep, trying to calm