Page 22 of I Hate Myself for Loving You
Very shiny, white ones.
Only vampires drink blood.
Of course they do, silly.
Creatures of the night+fangs+blood=vampires.
Jesus Christ in a mini skirt.
Lassiter Adams was a vampire.
Holy O negative.
Chapter Eight
Avery scooted out the sliding glass door like a gang of country bumpkins in Hooterville were hot on her heels, threatening to marry her off to Bodine Cleary—the biggest basement dweller in the land.
She tried to be as nonchalant as she could about it, but when she scratched at the door, Lassiter asked if she had to “make potties.” Avery would have yelled a resounding, “Hell, yes,” if she’d been in human form.
Her legs took the stretch of woods in harried urgency.
Memories from long ago rushed to her mind’s eye. They crowded out everything but what she’d just seen. Every conversation they’d ever had, every secret they’d shared she could remember in vivid detail.
How could he have not told her he was a vampire?
Which spawned the question, why hadn’t she told him she was a werewolf?
Because you just don’t walk up to your best friend and school girl crush and say,
“Oh and FYI, I’m a werewolf. Kinda like a dog, but not quite the same, you dig? You know, woof woof.”
Why hadn’t she smelled him and the difference between a human’s scent and a vampire’s?
Because your hormones were in overdrive?
What the hell did a vampire smell like anyway?
Ohmigod. It all made sense now. His pale skin, his sunglasses, his solitude. They both had their reasons for secreting away, spending little time with their own peers.
Their paranormal bond had drawn them together and neither one had ever been the wiser. Her worry that Lassiter would find out what she was had been for naught.
Each full moon when she’d fretted if they were due to meet, she’d worried he’d find out. Lassiter must have been as worried she’d find out about him.
Had his foster parents known? If vampires needed blood to survive, how had he managed to make it all those years on just Mrs. Fuller’s chicken fried steak?
But he’d had food in his refrigerator.
None of this was adding up and the more she thought about it, the more two plus two equaled something other than four.
Avery pushed her way through a thicket of trees, panting from her getaway.
She found the spot where she’d left her clothes and began to shift. A chill coursed down her spine when she shifted back to her human form.
Nothing could have prepared her for what she’d just seen. Nothing could have prepared her for the shock that Lassiter hadn’t shared the single biggest secret he had with her.
Avery wasn’t sure which upset her more, finding out at all or finding out without the benefit of Lassiter telling her.
Pulling on her clothes and leaning against the trunk of the tree, she sank to the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs. Her head was a mixed-up jumble of emotions. Lost in the memory of conversations they’d had that now had a whole new meaning. She felt confused and lost.
