“No,” Cole said. “I’m sorry she spoke to you like that. I’ll talk to her. She—you’re—”
Instead of words, Cole reached out and took Brennan’s hand. Brennan was flooded with relief. Somewhere during the conversation, they’d started swaying toward each other like magnets.
“Well, I care about you,” Cole finally admitted. “I know the vampire things are weird and new to you, to us both. But we can figure it out together, yeah?”
“That sounds good,” Brennan managed. It felt like a massive understatement whenfigure it out togetherwas much more thangood.“What—how can I be better?”
Cole rolled his eyes, but there was something so affectionate about it that Brennan warmed instead of getting defensive.
“You don’t have to be so careful around me.”
“I just don’t want to mess this up,” Brennan said, and it came out too honest.
The thing was, Cole deserved for someone to be careful with him. Cole was so special, and he didn’t even realize it. Cole was smiling up at him, soft and sappy, and Brennan couldn’t believe that this was his life. That it could be this easy. That Cole could like him, and Brennan could like Cole, and that could be enough.
“Oh, thank god, Cole! There you are!”
Brennan jerked away from Cole to see the blue-haired librarian darkening the doorway to the storage room, hands on her hips.
“We’re dying in there, what are you doing?” she asked.
Cole tugged at his suit jacket and his cheeks went red. She was raising a brow, somewhere between amused and judgmental, like she had an idea of what Cole might be doing with Brennan alone in a storage closet.
“I—” Cole started, pushing a hand through his hair. “Brennan was helping me carry out some boxes. I’ll be right in. One minute?”
The girl huffed. “Hurry, though. You know I can’t stand crying freshmen.” She disappeared from the doorway with a last meaningful look at Cole.
And they were alone again, but Cole wasn’t smiling anymore, mouth twisted in a frown.
“I really should go. I don’t mean to blow you off—”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re working, I should be leaving.”
They crept toward the exit, Brennan holding open the door for them as they settled in the frame.
“Are you free later tonight?” Cole asked. “I still need to convert you to the magic of music on vinyl. I just—Idowant to talk to you.”
And that made Brennan giddy enough to tease, leaning in under the orange glow of the streetlights from outside. “Aw, you wannatalkto me? You might give a boy ideas.”
Cole beamed. “Maybe I want you to get ideas.”
“I might have a few already.”
“Save them,” Cole said. He rolled forward on his toes, rising an inch. “So, you’ll come?”
“I’ll be there.”
A Pamphlet
So You Want to Date a Human: A Vampire’s Guide to Interspecies Relationships and Sex
BY NELLIE ADAMS
Communication Is Key
Vampire or human, the most important part of any relationship is communication, and that takes work from both parties. Talk to your partner, and think about important questions, such as:
What do you want to put into this relationship?
