Page 60 of The Vampire's Mate

The man inside jumped out of his skin when I stepped through the door. But when his eyes took in my handiwork, he chuckled. “Oh, dear.”

“Come on. It can’t bethatbad.”

The corner of his mouth quirked into a grin. “I’ve definitely fixed worse.” He stood from his seat and offered me his spot. “Breakup?”

I winced, the ache in my chest deepening. “Something like that.”

The barber laughed, then sprayed my neck with cold water from his spray bottle, making me flinch. “How much more length did you want takenoff?”

“As much as it takes to fix it withoutthose,” I said, indicating the clippers on the station in front of me.

“No buzzing,” he muttered. “Obviously.”

After that, he worked in silence. As shears cut away hair that pattered against the cape around my shoulders, I closed my eyes. It was the only thing that kept the burning at bay. Despite loving my long hair, I had to admit that I felt better when he was finished. Though the cold wind on my neck was something I could have gone without.

By the time I loaded up on groceries—by which I meant junk food that had no nutritional value whatsoever but certified mood lifters—and made my way back to the house, it was nearly dark. I busied myself by putting everything away, then I stood in the middle of the living room like a fool. I usually felt lost after running from my problems, but I’d never been stuck, alone, with nothing more than the consequences of my own actions to keep me company.

Logically, I knew that it would only take one phone call to fix everything, but I wasn’t ready for what that phone call would mean for my future. I still needed to work through the feelings thrashing around inside my head. The last couple of months had been a whirlwind. In a matter of weeks, I’d gone from thinking that whatever James and I had was completely casual to realizing it was something more, and then discovering that I was in love with the man. It felt like I’d been moving at a hundred miles an hour and slammed into a concrete wall. And now I was surveying the damage.

I knew I was in too deep. There was no way out for me now. I’d had my chance to run from it, and I’d chosen to stay.

Then I realized I didn’twantto run from it—and that scared me even more.

I perched on the edge of the couch, flipping my phone around in my hands. Sitting there by myself, I felt silly. All I had to dowas say those three stupid little words to James, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wasbondedto the man, for fuck’s sake. Even without the bond, I knew he felt the same about me. I didn’t need to worry that he wouldn’t say it in return. Still, my stomach churned at the thought.

Fed up with my own thoughts, I scrolled through the contacts in my phone and pressed one.

The line picked up after one ring. “What’s wrong?”

Damn it. I smiled fondly. I should have known better than to expect I’d get a word in before she started her interrogation. “Good to hear your voice, Mom.”

She cleared her throat, a sign that she was calling me on my bullshit. I could practically picture her standing in front of me, one hand on her hip, brow crooked. The last time I called her out of the blue, I told her I had a seventeen-year-old kid.

I sighed. “I’m seeing someone.”

“And did they hurt you?”

“What? No!”

“Are they horrible to you? Did they do something wrong?”

“No, Mom!”

“Then why do you sound like your puppy just died?” I heard her suck in sharply. “Did something happen to Carlos?”

“Carlos is fine.” I groaned. “I don’t…”

“Okay.” In the background, her TV show paused—the show she watched whenever my dad was out of the house because he couldn’t stand it. “What’s going on, Ryder?”

“Nothing,” I said again, with a shrug she couldn’t see. “It’s literally nothing. James is great. He’s been nothing but incredible to me since we met.”

“James? Yourboss,James?”

“Yeah, that’d be the one.” I chuckled. “Things are, uh, getting serious.”

“And that scares you.”

“Have you been talking to Hannah?” I let out a relieved sigh. At least I wouldn’t have to be the one to say it.

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