Page 63 of Soren

Jay nodded, smiling brightly at her. “I’m very charming.”

Christ. Soren pushed Jay toward his table by the window. “Go. Sit. I’ll order. Can’t have you going to your interview without ever having tasted coffee.”

Alicia frowned at him. “You do know what you drink can’t be considered real coffee, right?”

See? Bitchy. Soren was becoming fond of this human barista. “Where’s Cammie?” he asked snidely.

Alicia shrugged a shoulder. “Oh, she was fired. That’s why we’re hiring.”

Soren tipped extra. This really was a great place for coffee.

He and Jay enjoyed their “not real” coffees together, Jay making appropriateoohs andaahs over his drink. Soren found that, when he wasn’t using Jay as a comparison for everything he himself was lacking, he was able to actually enjoy the other vampire’s company. Soren could see the appeal in all that adorable openness. And there was strength there—that was for sure—more than Soren had given him credit for. How else could Jay have survived that hellhole and still come out chock-full of sweetness?

Alicia stopped by their table a few times, dropping off free treats and filling Jay in on his potential future coworkers.

It was all…nice.

Was this what it would be like? To stay in one place long-term? To have more than one person Soren could call a friend?

It was an almost an hour before Soren spotted his human exiting the gym. It was a familiar enough sight at this point: a tank-topped Gabe, his muscles lightly shining with sweat. This time, though, Gabe didn’t head to his car—he made a beeline for the coffeeshop, where Soren had told him they’d be waiting. Soren turned to the door to watch his human enter.

He liked to ogle; so what?

Gabe walked in, a slight swagger to his walk. He was the picture of golden-boy confidence. Soren delighted in watching his human in public for this very reason. The rest of the world got to see this confident front, but only Soren got to see the real deal. The insecurities, the anxieties, the emotional depths. It turned out knowing someone else’s flaws was a gift, in its own way.

Soren opened his mouth to greet him but was frozen in place when his human bent over, planting a firm, slightly dirty kiss on Soren’s lips. “Hi, brat.”

Soren was…stunned. Sure, they’d danced together in that club, and Gabe didn’t shy away from affection in front of Jay. But this was Gabe’s town. People hereknewhim. They were down the street from his work, for Christ’s sake.

Gabe frowned down at him, noting Soren’s stillness. “Am I not allowed to do that?” he asked.

Really, he shouldn’t be. If Hendrick was still lurking in town and saw that display, they could be inviting a world of trouble. But Soren was having a hard time caring about that. Especially when he saw Alicia staring at them out of the corner of her eye, a shocked smirk on her face.

A feeling of immense satisfaction washed over Soren.That’s right, he thought smugly.This one’s mine. My human. My mate.

He relaxed into his seat, giving Gabe a haughty look. “You’re allowed, I suppose.”

Gabe rolled his eyes, sitting in the chair next to him and greeting Jay with a smile. He threw a casual arm around Soren’s shoulder. Soren wasn’t preening at all at this public display of affection.

He absolutely wasn’t.

He cleared his throat, trying to will away the blush he could feel on his cheeks by force of will. “I heard Cammie got fired.”

“Who?” Gabe asked absently, toying with the hair on the back of Soren’s neck.

Soren tried not to shiver. He was determined to be petty. “Cammie,” he said again. “That blonde barista.”

Gabe frowned in thought. “Was she— Am I supposed to know her?” He stole a sip of Soren’s drink, wincing at the taste.

Boring human.

Soren felt like he might burst from an overabundance of affection for the idiot.

“No,” he said, grinning widely. “You’re not.”

The next morning, Soren was dealing with a very different version of Gabe. He wasn’t exactly sure what had happened during his human’s shift at the hospital—Jay had accompanied him again while Soren searched the town for Hendrick—but the swagger in his human’s step was gone, and he wasn’t saying much.

A sullen, “I’m fine,” was the only response Soren had received when he’d asked about it.

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