Page 52 of An Acquired Taste

I make a face. “I know. I’m getting old.”

“No, that’s not it,” she says, shaking me gently by the shoulders. “You seem… I don’t know. More confident. Your skin is glowing, and your hair looks amazing… This new job must be treating you well, huh?”

My elation about seeing her shrivels back into anxiety. I take a deep breath. “Well, yeah, actually. About that… I, um…”

“Wait, wait.” Maisy grabs my hand and half drags me into the apartment. “Let me show you around first!”

I follow her, grateful for a reason to stall.

The inside of the apartment is nice, like the outside. A neat little two-bedroom with a decent-sized kitchen and a cozy living room area. It even has air conditioning. I make approving noises as she shows me the tour. Honestly, it’s way better than the places I’ve lived over the years of struggle with Declan; she’s not going to be battling cockroaches like I was at her age. There’s plenty of room for me to stay here once my contract is up, too.

Maisy chatters as she shows me around. “It came pre-furnished, but I haven’t had a chance to decorate yet, so don’t judge!” She brings me to the guest room last. “This room is like, extra boring. But you’re probably the main person who’s gonna be staying here, so maybe you can decorate it? Some of those vampire posters you were never allowed to have at home?”

I laugh guiltily. “Yeah…”

“Oh,oh, speaking of! Ihaveto ask. Have you been reading that valentine blog?”

I didn’t think I could possibly get more nervous, but now my stomach is launching into a full gymnastics routine. “Blog?”

“Confessions of an Anonymous Valentine?” She seems to mistake my frozen panic for ignorance, because she says, “Oh my God, youhaveto read it, it’ssoyour thing. Remember how we used to pore through the gossip mags for all that stuff? And all the vampire books you’d hide under your bed so Mom and Dad wouldn’t confiscate them?” She giggles, digging her phone out of her purse, still oblivious to my horrified silence. “It went viral a couple of days ago, and—”

“Itwhat?” I grab the phone out of her hand before she can pull it up and stare at my blog page. Oh, God, she’s right. I don’t have my email for this account linked to my phone, only my laptop, and I haven’t checked it since before the Celeste ball. “Holy shit.” I press my hand to my mouth, trying to fight back panic.

“It’s wild, isn’t it?” Maisy asks, still grinning. “I’ve read it all. Like, at least three times. It’s addicting. I can’t believe she hasn’t updated in a week! And she still hasn’t revealed the truth about the previous valentine who went missing!”

Oh, no.Oh, noooo.If I thought it was going to be hard fessing up before, I can’t imagine how I can possibly tell her the truth now. She’s read the gory details—how it turns me on being bitten, things I had never imagined telling anyone I know personally…

“But, no, okay, sorry for interrupting,” Maisy says, waving her hands. “I’ve hardly been able to reach you lately! There’s so much I want to talk about that I’m just, like, word vomiting. But your job! You were about to tell me about your job!”

I stutter. “Well… uh… now that you mention it…”

I’m interrupted by the doorbell ringing. We look at each other.

“Oh,” Maisy says. “Right. He’s a little early, but I was gonna surprise you.”

I stare at her. “Surprise me?” My stomach rumbles with the reminder that I’ve barely eaten without Ellen to look after me today. “Please say you mean with a food delivery?”

“Nope! Though we should order a pizza!” She’s all smiles as she skips over to the door. “But for now… your surprise!”

She opens the door.

For some reason, I turn expecting to see Sebastian. I think that maybe Maisy managed to figure out the truth without me, and this is all one big prank and I won’t have to explain at all.

Then Declan walks into the apartment.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

While I stand frozen, Maisy wraps Declan in a hug. He gives her an awkward one-armed embrace, looking over my sister’s shoulder at me. When our eyes meet, cold panic floods my chest.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I don’t mean to say it out loud, but the words slip out anyway.

“I knew you’ve been out of town with work, and I didn’t want you to feel like you had to choose between spending time with me and Dec, so I reached out to him. And he suggested making it a surprise, so…” my sister starts. Then she turns, sees my face, and pauses. “Is everything okay?”

I stare at Declan, waiting for him to answer. My sister’s reasoning explains why he was invited, but not why he showed up.

At least he has the good grace to look embarrassed. He shuffles, flushing. “I wanted to see you, but I didn’t think you’d agree to meet me if you knew.”

“Wait.” Maisy looks back and forth between us, horror dawning on her face. “What’s going on? Did I fuck up, Amelia?”

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