"You don't have to tell me," he said. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I'm sure that telling me you're a…what you are…was hard enough."
He was so sweet, I just wanted to kiss him. I wanted to throw myself on top of him and….
Smiling, he reached for my hair and began pulling sand out. The thing with the sand around there was that it was big chunks rocks instead of the fine, soft sand found in most other places. "You don't have to tell me anything."
"Why don't you ask me questions and I'll answer them, rather than me telling you some long boring story."
He brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. "I guarantee you the story wouldn't be boring to me. When were you turned?"
"About twenty years ago," I said, hating myself for the lie. Normally I lied as easily as I walked.
"How were you turned?" he asked, looking at me with care and concern.
"My family was traveling down south and I got separated from them. Then a gross redneck offered to help me find them, but he turned out to be a vampire. He said that he thought I was beautiful and he wanted to take me as his life partner. It was either that or he said he would kill me."
Tanner's eyes widened and he pulled me close, stroking my back. "You poor, poor thing. How long were you with him?"
I sighed, wishing I could tell him the truth. "I just got away from him not too long ago. He was busy fixing the furnace with duct tape when I made the decision to run, even if it meant that he was going to hunt me down and kill me. I didn't want to be his toy any longer."
He looked at me with tears in his eyes. "I can't believe all that you've been through. Is that why you moved to Delphic Cove? To hide from him?"
I nodded. "I didn't think he would look for me there."
"What about that vampire who was just in the woods?"
"That was just some random vampire."
"You don't think he was sent to spy on you, do you?"
I froze. Tanner had no clue how close to the truth he actually was.
His eyes widened. "You do," he whispered, shaking his head. "Well at least that vampire found you here and not in Delphic Cove. It'll make it harder for him to find you."
I nodded, not wanting to tell him any more lies.
He wrapped an arm around me and we sat in silence for a while, just watching the waves and the seagulls.