Page 19 of Blood Gift

I couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes kept grazing me, like he was just as stunned to see me as I was to see him.

“Can I at least ask you to join me?” I pointed to the table by the window where Holden waited.

Even with sunglasses covering half his face, I knew he was staring at us. And judging by the way his jaw was set, he wasn’t happy. There was a surprise.

“It looks like you already have company.”

“Oh, Holden? He’s just… my brother,” I stammered, hating myself the second it was out of my mouth.

My brother?

What was wrong with me? I was just so happy that this man existed, that I hadn’t made him up, I would’ve said anything to get him to sit with me for a little while.

“Ah. In that case, sure. I would love to.” His smile was wide, bright, perfect. Dazzling.

My insides turned to jelly at the sight of it. What was happening to me? Turning into a pile of mush because of a man’s smile. I was too old for that nonsense.

Besides, he was human. My heart sank a little.

I didn’t know what I expected—there was no aura around him when I first noticed him, either, nothing to indicate the presence of magical blood. Even so, a human was less dangerous than a sorcerer, so it was better for him to be ordinary.

“Who’s this?” Holden asked when we reached the table.

I glared at him when the stranger couldn’t see. “I invited him over when I spilled my drink on him. Promise you won’t play the protective big brother, please.”

Don’t ruin this for me. Shut up, shut up.

He only raised an eyebrow and nodded slightly, making me breathe a shaky sigh of relief.

“Holden,” he said, holding out his hand to shake.

“Gentry,” the stranger replied, shaking his hand before sitting across from me.

I couldn’t stop staring at his eyes. Just the way I had dreamed them, along with a strong jaw and square chin and that beautiful, disarming smile. I drank him in, fascinated. He existed.

And he drank me in, too, which was even more fascinating. Why did he look at me that way?

“So, Gentry. What do you do for a living that you can afford to visit a coffee shop in the middle of a weekday morning?” Holden leaned back in his chair, arms folded.

I wanted to slap him. My hand twitched.

But Gentry didn’t seem to mind. “I’m in town visiting my mother. She’s… well, she’s only got a few weeks left. Days, perhaps.”

“I’m so sorry,” I murmured as I kicked Holden under the table.

Gentry nodded slowly, looking down at his cup. “Of course, I’m looking for a new job at the moment, too.”

Holden kicked me back—not as hard as I’d kicked him, naturally.

“Doing what?” he asked.

“I’m not sure.” Gentry shrugged. “I’m at what you would call a crossroads. I drove from California and am living in my childhood apartment, if you can imagine that.”

“It sounds fascinating,” I said, cutting into whatever Holden was about to say. “I mean, driving cross country like that. I’ve always been interested in that sort of trip.”

I glanced at Holden, daring him to say anything to the contrary. He only shook his head. It wasn’t a lie, either, but he wouldn’t know that. It was easy to forget he hadn’t been with me for very long.

“What about you?” Gentry turned the tables on Holden.

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