Page 10 of Blood Sport

I quirk a brow, wanting to ask what he meant by that, but decide not to push it. There are more pressing questions I want to ask him.

“What are you?” I ask lowly. “And answer me truthfully.”

Jaylen tilts his head to the side, his eyes boring into mine. “I think you already know.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “You’re a vampire, right?”

“If I told you I am, would you believe me?”

I want to say no because I’d rather not believe that his being a vampire is a reality. My reality. It would be easier to pretend that he has a blood kink and likes to drink people’s blood, but I know that’s not the truth. I know Jaylen well enough to know when he’s lying because his eyes twitch slightly to the right, unable to hold eye contact.

But right now, his eyes are locked on mine, not twitching in the slightest. Instead, they’re hard, and holding my gaze so intensely that I’m the one unable to look him in the eye.

Shit.

I blow out a short breath, shaking my head. “I want to say no, but I would be lying to myself.”

Jaylen stands a little straighter, his tongue darting out to lick his bottom lip, tugging the lip ring between his teeth. “Then I think you have yourself the answer, little angel.”

5

Evie

I shake my head, not wanting to believe that what Jaylen is saying is true. There is no way in fucking hell that this man is a vampire. This same kid who scraped his knees so badly on our driveway after tripping over while chasing my brother that my mom had to patch him up before driving him home. The same kid who used to tease me in elementary school for wearing my hair in two pigtails because he said I looked dorky, pegging me with the nickname Piggy.

There is no way that this same kid—rather, man—is a vampire.

And how did I go so many years not knowing?

I want to ask him when he called me little angel, but my mind is still stuck on the fact that he’s a fucking blood-sucking creature that needs blood to survive. The nickname is the least of my concerns.

“Having a hard time believing me?”

Jaylen’s raspy voice snaps me out of my thoughts. He is still standing in front of me with his hands in his pockets and his eyes moving across my face, acting so nonchalant about the whole thing.

Why is he not freaking out about me knowing his deepest, darkest secret? Because as far as I know, vampires aren’t known to humans. Well, in my case, I only found out less than an hour ago, but the point still stands.

So, why is he acting so… casual?

“Yes,” I say slowly. “Maybe. I don’t know.”

“I have more proof if you want me to show you,” he offers with a shrug, his eyes never leaving my face.

The image of his fangs digging into that girl's neck, blood pouring down the sharp edges onto his chest, is still vivid behind my eyes. I shake my head. “No, I think I’m good. But thanks, though. I know what I saw back at the club and surprisingly… I believe you.”

Jaylen quirks a brow, an amused smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You do? Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. You had me worried for a second there.”

I raise a brow at him. “What did you expect I would do? Run away screaming that you’re a vampire at the top of my lungs? I’m not an idiot, Jaylen. I know what would happen if I were to do that.”

His eyes narrow slightly, the blue in his irises darkening ever so slightly. “And what would happen to you?”

“You’d probably rip my throat out, or worse, the world would know about you and your… kind.” Although, I don’t think that he actually would hurt me.

His tongue darts out to lick his lower lip. The action has me enraptured. “Well, you’re right about one of those things. Vampires are still… in the closet, as we like to say.”

“We?” I say, raising a brow at him. “Do you have other vampire friends I don’t know about?”

Jaylen bites back an amused smile. “Maybe. But I do have my connections outside of Pullman. We prefer to have our real identities hidden from the public, presenting how we want in order to avoid detection. Let’s just say that it wouldn’t be good if society were to find out that we exist.”

---