bed, watching me. I glanced over my shoulder shooting him a dirty look. He turned and faced the wall as I finished changing.
“So, where are we going?” I asked. I caught him glance back at me as I pulled on my jeans.
“My place,” he said, clearing his throat. I shot him an unsure look. “The vampires don’t know where I live and haven’t been invited in,” he said proudly.
“Grayson, everyone in three counties has been invited to your house. We might as well just wear neon signs around our necks saying bite me.”
He laughed, looking embarrassed but his smile faded and I knew he was worried that I’d already been bitten.
“You got a better plan?” he asked, raising his eyebrow. I shook my head no. I had no idea what to do. Honestly, I had no idea what I was feeling. Elijah had gotten under my skin. Drinking my blood aside, he killed two of his own to save me. I was only alive because he wanted me to be. And yet, we all knew that once bitten, the outcome was always grim. He would kill me or turn me. What I couldn’t figure out was, why hadn’t he yet?
“Let’s go.” I bent over to retrieve my gun that Elijah had thrown across the room and made my way to the kitchen. I opened a box of the wooden bullets and carefully loaded it, throwing the remainder of the rounds in my purse. Grayson turned off the lights and we headed out of the apartment toward his place.
The weather had eased up and it was only drizzling lightly, but the sky was still a gloomy gray. The heat from the UV light reacted with the mutation in their blood causing intense, excruciating pain. It was the one defense nature had given us and really the only reason most of us were still alive.
I was shivering and damp by the time we reached his apartment door. He ran into the bathroom and grabbed me a towel to dry off with.
“Thanks,” I said as I toweled off my arms and ran it through my hair. He disappeared into his room and came back with an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts. I grabbed the clothes and inspected them. “You are kidding right?” I said holding up the pair of female shorts that were not mine. His cheeks reddened as he grabbed the shorts from my hand and went back into his room. He returned a few minutes later.
“Better?” he asked, giving me a pair of basketball shorts. I nodded my head and went to the bathroom to change. When I returned, Grayson was in the living room trying to wake his roommate who had passed out on the couch. He rolled over and vomit spewed from his mouth all over Grayson’s feet. I covered my mouth trying to catch myself from becoming sick. This arrangement was not going to work. I wandered back to Grayson’s bedroom and sat on the edge of his bed while he helped his roommate to the bathroom. There was a picture laid face down on his nightstand. I picked it up and sat it on its end. It was Grayson and me at the junior prom. I smiled at the memory. Life was much less complicated back then.
Grayson appeared in his doorway, wearing only his boxers, lightly knocking to get my attention. He smiled when he saw what I was looking at. He walked over and touched the frame with his finger.
“Good times,” He murmured. “I’m gonna run through the shower.” He leaned down to kiss me softly on top of my head. I nodded and he disappeared through the door. What was I doing here? Being around Grayson was stirring up emotions inside of me that I didn’t even know I still had. I was only putting him in danger. I couldn’t put him through this. I heard the water turn on in the shower and I quickly changed back into my damp clothes and slid out of the window down his fire escape.
I rushed, cutting across some back yards to my place. Grayson would notice I was gone any minute and I needed to be as far away from here as possible. It was the only way to keep him safe. Elijah wanted me alive for some reason, but I was unsure how long that would extend to Grayson.
I opened my door and threw my purse on the table, heading for my bedroom to