“I’m not fidgeting,” I argued. Okay, maybe I was a little bit.
I was a fucking king. I ate her out on a conference room desk just earlier today. I commanded the undead and my fated mate’s orgasms. But meeting her friends in any official capacity kind of intimidated me.
I didn’t really care if they liked me. My entire career was built upon not caring what people thought. But I did care about Drew. We were doing well. I was completely stunned when she reached out with our mind link today. She was finally starting to open up—and if what happened in the conference room was any indication of the direction our relationship was heading, I absosuckinglutely didn’t want to fuck it up. She wanted more. More of everything.
“There’s no need to be nervous. Yaz is a flirt, and Ryan is a nerd. They’re like family to me.”
I was curious about seeing Ryan after what happened at the DVM. Was Drew nervous? It was somewhat a rite of passage to be a vampire and have a close call with a loved one. I hated that Graham put her in that position, though.
“Yes,” she answered my thoughts. I hadn’t even realized I was projecting them. I mentally did a fist bump at how in sync we were. “I’m nervous about seeing Ryan. I hate that I almost killed him. But I’m too selfish to let him go. We’re just going to have to have an honest conversation about what I am so that we are safe in the future. Maybe no more one on one lunch dates for the next year, at least until I know for sure that I can handle my cravings.”
“I can help you,” I rushed out. I loved having any excuse for time with Drew. “I can teach you coping skills. You’re already significantly ahead of everyone else, but maybe with a few lessons, you can feel more comfortable around him.”
“That would be great,” Drew replied before bending down to grab something out of the oven. Seeing her ass in the air made me want to rip off her sundress and fuck her on the kitchen counter. “Also. We aren’t telling Yaz, right? She’s bad at keeping secrets, and quite honestly, I don’t want her to be afraid of me. She hates all things scary. We once went to a haunted house, and she pissed herself.”
Gross.
“I heard that,” Drew said out loud.
“Yes, we can keep it a secret from Yaz. The fewer people who know, the better.”
“Good. I told Ryan pretty early on to keep it to himself.”
There was a loud knock at the door, and I could hear muffled voices on the other side. Drew squealed and ran to the door. When she opened it, Yaz joined in with her own happy shrieks. I think I was starting to get used to all the squealing.
Ryan, Yaz, and Drew talked over each other excitedly, laughing and hugging. I stood there awkwardly watching them until Drew bounced over to me and exclaimed, “This is Diego! I’m so excited for you to finally meet him.”
I could feel the happiness radiating off her, and my heart melted a little bit. I smiled down at her, kissing her on the top of the head before looking back toward her friends. I extended my hand for Ryan to shake and then gave Yaz a small hug, which she completed with air kisses.
“I’m so happy to meet you both. Drew has told me so much about you.”
“Oh darling, the pleasure is all ours. We haven’t seen Drew this happy in a long time. Plus, I was getting worried about her Tinder addiction. It’s nice to know she’s getting some consistent dick now.”
“She’s so grumpy when she’s not getting boned,” Ryan agreed.
I stored that information away and chuckled.
I’m starting to regret this. Drew’s mind link came in loud and clear; it was like we were truly transitioning into using it with ease.
Yaz continued, “Now, please tell me that you made dinner. We love our Drew, but she really can’t cook to save her life,” Yaz said in the light airy tone I had come to expect from her.
“I can too cook,” Drew defended herself as she swatted Yaz with a dish towel.
“Sorry, love. I’m with Yaz,” Ryan said, wrinkling his nose and pulling his lips into a grimace.
“Well, I did make dinner, and you two will be eating your fucking words for dessert.” Drew took the five steps