Page 60 of How a Vampire Falls

“Have a seat and it’ll make sense.”

She slid into the booth, and Ryker slid in across from her. When he tugged the partition shut, the view from inside was stillclear, unobstructed. But the sounds…the ambient noises, low conversations at the bar…

“Sound-absorbing,” she whispered.

“Yep.”

“We can talk about anything in here. Vampire hearing can’t eavesdrop.”

“I told you, blood bars are designed for us. This is another way we can be ourselves here.”

“Wow.” A public place where she could slip into a booth and never overhear conversations that were none of her business. A public place where, surrounded by vampires, her own conversation could still be private. “I’ve never even thought about the possibility of having a place like this.”

“That’s why I wanted you to experience it.”

“Can I ask you from in here…about Tai and Claire? Just say no if I’m overstepping.”

He glanced toward the bar, where Claire poured glasses for three women wearing skirt suits and heels. “Claire doesn’t have all the information, and Tai won’t tell her the truth, so…” He shrugged. “Impasse.”

“And you’re stuck in the middle.”

“I tried playing peacemaker once, and I almost lost them both. Claire threatened to withhold all beverages next time I came to Slake It Off. Tai hissed at me for days.”

“But what happened? Or can’t you tell me?”

He was quiet so long, Leslie opened her mouth to retract the question. Before she could, he said, “I’ve never wanted to tell someone everything before. Every last thought in my head, every story that’s ever happened to me or to anyone I care about. You… It’s like…” He shook his head, a furrow forming between his brows. “When I’m with you, it’s like I’ve never been so happy before, but…calmly happy.” He scrubbed his hand through his hair. “That sounded a lot less stupid in my head.”

Leslie leaned across the table and grasped his hands. A shiver of delight ran up her arms as his strong fingers curved around hers, as his thumb stroked the back of her hand. “Not stupid. Not at all. It’s perfect. I’m calmly happy with you too.”

His chuckle held a low, easy melody. “We’re such an edgy pair.”

“Well, this artsy country girl findsedgycompletely overrated.”

His grip tightened on her hands, and in a single moment, as if with a single thought, Ryker drew her toward himself as Leslie moved toward him. She propelled herself up and across the table and neatly onto his lap. Ryker’s arms encased her, lean and strong, and Leslie pressed her palms against his fitted Henley shirt, against the muscled planes of his chest. Their lips crashed together, and their kiss told the story of who they were to one another. Everything inside her seemed to surge with icy sparks. They drew apart, mindful of the public setting, and she turned her face into Ryker’s neck.

“Do you feel that?” she whispered.

“Feel what?”

“Us. Me and you. All we’ve had so far is weekend dates, calls, and texts. Oh, and a dramatic two-hour breakup. But it doesn’t matter that we’re so new together. I still feel…I feel us.”

He tilted his head back to study her. He framed her face in his hands, and his thumbs traced her cheekbones. His voice grew hushed. “What do we feel like?”

“Icicles dancing. And electric showers. And…and alive. We feel so alive, Ryker.”

He wrapped a lock of her hair around his finger, absently twining and untwining. It was his go-to whenever they were close—while they watched a movie on her couch, while they perched at the top of a tree and talked until the sun came up.

“Alive,” he said. “Yeah. I feel that with you too.”

He’d never suggested that he sometimes saw some future version of them in his mind—a thing that had now happened three times to Leslie. She wanted to ask if he’d ever glimpsed them this way, but something held her back.

Ryker continued to play with her hair in the unconscious yet earnest way that made her feel treasured. After a moment, he said, “It’s…um…probably too early to say everything in my head.”

“Together forever,” Leslie said.

His eyebrows shot up. His fingers tightened in her hair. “I haven’t wanted to move too fast and put you off.”

“So far, so good.”

---