“Ridley? Can you hear me?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, Mom, I can hear you.”
“How did it go at Sebastian’s?”
“Fine.”
“Did he ask you back again? To sit for him, I mean?”
“Um, we didn’t real y talk about it, but I’m sure I’l end up going back over there.”
“Good. I’d hate for you to mess up an opportunity like that.”
His face stil inches from mine, Bo grinned. My knees turned to mush and I smiled in return. Oh, how I loved him!
“I won’t mess it up, Mom.”
“Alright. I’m going to bed.”
“G’night.”
“Night.”
I listened as she walked through Izzy’s room toward the door that led out into the hal . A little pang of sadness stabbed at my heart when I heard her pause. I imagined that she was looking around the room, painful y remembering her other daughter for the mil ionth time. Final y, she moved on, her footsteps fading as she made her way down the hal to her own bedroom.
That needle of reality punctured the bal oon of passion Bo and I had occupied, leaving me feeling morose and deflated. I was stil staring at the other bathroom door when Bo raised his fingers to my forehead. He rubbed them soothingly across the deep frown I could feel crouching between my brows.
“Don’t worry. We’l figure this out,” he whispered, as if he could somehow sense what was plaguing me. In his eyes was love and assurance.
“She can’t lose another daughter.”
“I know.”
“But obviously my being here is out of the question, at least for a while.”
“Maybe you could ‘house sit’ for Sebastian. Skip school the next couple of days and see how the weekend goes. It will get easier. I promise.”
I tried to smile, but I knew that it was a weak attempt.
Truthful y, his idea did seem like a stroke of genius and I did appreciate it, but I think we both knew my enthusiasm was sub-par at the moment.
Bo drew me gently into his arms and held me—held me until the bathroom was ful of steam, held me until the tremors I hadn’t even been aware of had stopped, held me until some smal amount of peace had made its way back into my heart.
When it seemed a respectable amount of time had passed, he released me and stepped back to turn off the shower.
“Why don’t you pack a bag and we’l take it over to Sebastian’s tonight. We can come back for your car later, after you cal your mom and tel her that you’l be staying at Sebastian’s. Sound good?”
I nodded and we exited the bathroom. Bo sat on the bed while I rifled through my closet.
My head was clear enough of the dark cloud of thirst to al ow the thousands of worries that beleaguered me to swarm my mind al at once. As I packed my things, it seemed one concern kept floating to the top, much more often than the others.
“Bo, can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” he said without a second’s hesitation.
“I assume we’l be staying at Sebastian’s together, right?”
I busied myself with folding jeans into my bag, but I knew my cheeks were probably bright red. If a vampire could blush, that is. That’s something I’d have to investigate later.
“Of course. I’m not leaving your side.”
I fought off the urge to go throw myself into his arms for that comment. I knew I needed to keep a safe distance when addressing this subject.
“You know I love you, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you make me feel…wel …I real y want…”
“I know,” Bo supplied, saving me from further embarrassment.
“I don’t want you to think that I don’t want- but we can’t—”
“Ridley,” Bo said as he slid off the bed and crossed the room to me. When I didn’t raise my head, he put a finger beneath my chin and lifted. “We should wait. You have other things to worry about. Don’t give it a second thought.”
His eyes said so much as they absorbed me into their depths. He knew that I was concerned about our physical relationship getting out of hand and he understood. I should’ve known he would, but it was a relief to me nonetheless.
Bo brushed his lips across mine, causing my body to react instantly. I’m sure he could smel my heated blood.
He smiled widely, almost as if he’d done it on purpose. “I never said it would be easy, though.”
That devil.
CHAPTER FOUR
I laughed nervously, excitedly. “No, it won’t be easy.”
I felt a little more comfortable after that tension-breaking laugh. I finished packing my bag and closed the window, and then we both crept to the door to listen closely for signs of Mom stirring around. When the sounds of her soft snoring drifted through the house to our ears, Bo and I made our hasty and silent exit through the front door, locking it safely behind us. I didn’t want anybody sneaking in on Mom, after al .
As we crossed the yard, Bo slipped the strap of my bag off my shoulder and I saw his lips twitch with the barest hint of a grin.
“I’l carry the bag and give you a head start. First one to the house wins,” he taunted.
“Wins what?”
“You don’t need to worry about that since you’re not gonna win.”
“Is that right?”
Before he could even answer, I took off like a shot, opening up to the power I could feel simmering just beneath the surface in my altered body.
I darted across yards and streets, dodging trees and dogs as easily as if it was broad daylight. I leapt over fences and flew around swimming pools as graceful y as if I had wings. I moved between shadows as if I’d suddenly become part of them. In a way, I guess I had. I was a creature of the night now. Darkness was my new comfort zone.
As I ran swiftly and effortlessly down the long street that led to Sebastian’s, I reveled in the feel of the wind whipping my hair and kissing my cheeks. In that moment, I’d never felt more free, never felt more carefree. I was barely even aware of the squeal of delight that erupted from my bursting chest until a tiny sound teased my ears. It was an answering chuckle, one that I recognized. It was Bo and he was gaining on me.
I pushed my legs as hard as I could, but it was no use. Bo was fast!
I felt the brush of something against my cheek. Somehow, Bo managed to give me a feather-light kiss as he whizzed past me. It was as if I was hardly moving.
When I reached the front steps at Sebastian’s, Bo was standing on the stoop, leaning up against the house beside the front door, arms and ankles crossed.