Squeezing my hand, he asked, "You don't think that your ex turned her do you? Is he in town?"
"No. He'd go straight for me, he wouldn't play around with anyone else."
"So there are others here in town?"
"Maybe," I said, shrugging. "I haven't seen anyone else. Remember, you're safe with that ring."
"Safe from mind control," he said. "It won't keep them from biting me. I also can't outrun one."
"Keeping your mind safe is half the battle. Just remember everything that I've been telling you and you'll be fine."
He turned and looked at me. "It sounds like you think you'll be gone."
I shook my head. "I don't ever want to leave you," I said, meaning every word. "But I can't be with you every minute. You have to watch out because you know the truth. Most people won't even consider the possibility of vampires existing."
"They're missing out," he said. "I'm the lucky one."
Leaning my head against his shoulder, we sat watching the waves splash for a while in silence. Then Tanner's phone buzzed and he said, "I have to drive Charlie to his baseball camp. I'm really glad that I ran into you here."
"Me too. Are we still on for this afternoon?"
He smiled. "Of course."
I gave him a quick kiss and watched him walk away. I had a heavy feeling that we had just had our last time together. Tears welled up in my eyes and I tried unsuccessfully to blink them away. I didn't want to go back to Vince and I really didn't want to send him to Alexis, but I couldn't be with Tanner. It was always about getting Alexis so that we could be one step closer to ruling over vampires everywhere.
Falling in love with a human never ended well, I knew that long before I met him. Even though he wasn't going to round up the town with pitchforks and stakes, I was still going to end up heartbroken because of him.
After a while, I realized that I was hungry and I stood so that I could find some lunch. I thought of going to the deli to see if there was any truth to my story about Alexis starting to transform already.
On my way there, my phone went off and I knew from the music that I had a text from Vince. He wanted me back, which meant that I had been right when Tanner left. I wasn't going to see him again. I texted him back and told him that I'd meet him after dinner. I shut my phone off so that I wouldn't have to deal with him if he was pissed that I wouldn't be back earlier. I also didn't want to talk with Tanner because he would know that something was wrong if he heard my voice.