Page 48 of The Vampire's Mate

“Shut up,” they slurred, turning their face into the couch to hide their beautiful blush.

“I thought you’d fallen asleep.”

Their empty glass spun around in their hands. “Not quite. Just wondering what my next move is. I don’t know anyone here. I barely know how to find the grocery store on my own.”

“Do you want to go back to Houston?”

“I thought I would. But I don’t. I like it here. I didn’t realize what was outside of Houston until I left.” They closed their eyes, sighed, then shook their head. “Enough about me. I want to know more about you.”

“You mean there’s stuff you didn’t find on Google?”

“Shut up,” they giggled.

“Something in my background check didn’t add up?” I gasped dramatically, clutching a hand to my chest. “You didn’t find that video from my thirtieth birthday, did you? Raleigh assured me he destroyed all evidence of that.”

Despite the theatrics, there actuallywasa mortifyingvideo from that night—and I knew all too well that Raleigh didn’t keep his promise and destroy it. The bastard.

“Stop making me laugh! I have to pee!”

“If you need help going potty, Shi Baby, all you need to do is ask.”

“Fuck you!” They shoved their glass into my chest and rose from the couch. I watched until they were safely behind the bathroom door, then I went to the kitchen.

There was no chance in hell they were getting more alcohol—I knew when to cut someone off. I had more than a buzz going myself, and one of us needed to be coherent. I dumped their glassin the sink, draining the rest of my own cocktail. I grabbed two cold bottles of water from the fridge and returned to my seat. I was thinking about knocking on the door to check on them when they stumbled back into the room and collapsed next to me. “I don’t want that,” they slurred, shoving the bottle away.

“Drink it, or I’ll put you to bed.”

They snatched the bottle, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, “Someone should.”

“I want half that bottle gone before I answeranypersonal questions out of that pretty mouth of yours.”

Shi settled into their corner of the couch, eyes on the trashy reality show playing silently while they sipped at the water. They clearly needed it more than they realized because they didn’t say a word, the water slowly disappearing. They must have been reading the captions because they suddenly snorted. “How can you watch this shit? It has to be fake.”

“I don’t think anyone could make this stuff up if they tried,” I told them. Then I shrugged. “Hannah likes it. I guess there’s something cathartic about letting your brain rot for a few hours.”

“Hannah’s your daughter?”

“Yeah, she got me into these crummy shows when she started spending weekends here.”

I thought Shi would ask more about her, but they fell silent instead, content to watch the show on mute. “This one has to be delusional,” they finally remarked.

I looked up from the bottle in my hands to the screen to see who they were talking about. “Oh, a thousand percent. But it’s like a train wreck: I can’t stop watching.”

Shi moved out of the corner of my eye. They were holding up their water. “Does this earn me any questions?”

After deeming their offer acceptable, I nodded. “One.”

“Did you like me catching you last night?” they giggled.

“You aredefinitelystill not sober enough,” I laughed, heat creeping under my collar.

Another precious laugh. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

Though I wanted to entertain the conversation just to hear that sound, it wasn’t the time. “You’re drunk.”

“I was curious sober too.”

“All right, time for you to get to bed.” I patted their knee and moved to stand, only for them to grab my hand. Shi’s water bottle fell to the couch between us, and their eyes locked on to our entwined fingers. Heat flickered through my veins, as if their gaze drew a path of fire up my arm. I should have pulled back—I knew I should have—but something prevented me from doing so.

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