Page 22 of This Blood That Binds Us
As I rubbed my arm, couples danced around me, and the occasional drunk threw a plastic ball into the liquid of sloshing red cups. Everyone was grouped together, as if they all knew each other.
We finally stopped in front of a large staircase in the hallway. It was pretty standard, same hardwood for the steps and thin white wooden guard rails.
“Now this...this is the staircase. Personally, my favorite part of the house.” He pushed his hair out of his eyes and motioned to the ceiling with a smile.
A chuckle escaped my lips. “The stairs are your favorite part?” I ignored the prying eyes and tried not to block the flow of people moving around from room to room.
“Uh. Yeah. It’s dark and has all these little swirls. It’s so sick. It’s oak—okay, that’s a lie. I don’t know what the different types of woods are. I’m just trying to be cool.” He giggled to himself and stumbled backward.
I smiled. “Well, I appreciate your honesty.”
Aaron’s eyes locked with mine. “I’d never lie to you. No way. You’d never speak to me again! I’m gonna tell you everything! Seriously, ask me anything.”
“So, you’re telling me that you haven’t lied to me yet? Everything you’ve told me is the truth?”
“Yes! Yes! All of it. All of it.” His eyes were droopy as he moved his hands over his face.
“So, you weren’t lying when you said you hadn’t told your brothers about me?”
Realistically, that was my biggest fear. Aaron seemed honest enough and kind. But I knew nothing about his brothers. They might not be so happy if they knew Aaron had willingly told me who and what he was.
His demeanor changed, and he hung his head but kept his eyes on mine. “Oh, no. They would kill me if they knew. I don’t wanna talk about them. This is all Zach and Luke’s fault. It sucks, but I’m trying to be okay. I’m doing it. Look at me. Don’t I look great? Don’t I look happy?” Aaron paused before chugging the rest of his beer.
In the lighting, I could finally get a good look at his eyes. They were soft and warm. In his current state, he couldn’t hide the hint of sadness pooling in his irises and the crinkle in his forehead as he spoke.
“You look drunk.” I smiled. “Come on, I want to see the rest of the tour.”
The night wasn’t going like I’d hoped, but despite the strangeness of my circumstances, I was actually having fun.
“You do? Here, I’ll show you the pool!” Aaron’s pitch spiked, like a kid at Christmas.
I laughed at his silliness and followed him through the groups of people. As we got closer to the pool, the crowd was more dense and, surprisingly, more drunk. The sweaty bodies started closing in, making my heart beat faster. Aaron was unphased as he pushed through people, politely telling them to move.
We stopped in front of a large pool that was glowing with different lights. The rock waterfall hid behind the crowd on the deck.
“Aaron, this place is huge. I’ve never seen a frat house look like this.” I casually left out I had never been to a frat house.
“Oh, yeah, there’s a lot of money invested in this place.” He got up closer, and we faced the pool’s neon lights. “I heard the founder is the one who is sinking money into it.”
“The founder...aren’t all frats in this campus really old? This is an old town.”
“Yeah! Go, go, go!” Aaron cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled across the pool. We watched as a group of men holding Presley up in the air carried him to the edge of the pool, then threw him in.
“Aaronnnn.” I waved my hand in Aaron’s face.
“Oh, what were we talking about again?”
“We were talking about the person who pays for all this.”
“Oh, yesssss. That guy. I heard he’s rich...Hey, do you think all vampires turn out to be rich like the movies? God, I hope so.” A large smile stretched across his face. “Wow, we need to come up with a new word for vampire. Ireallyhate the word.”
As my brain processed everything around me, Aaron made a beeline for the main house. “Come on, I want to introduce you to the girls!”
“What? The girls ...” I planned to plant my feet and not follow, but I didn’t want to be left alone with all the people around. He led us through a large glass door into a living room that was fit with a large lounge couch. It looked to be the common room where most people hung out.
On the leather couch sat a group of girls who were talking with a few guys standing and sitting close. A blanket of anxiousness fell over me as we neared it.
“Everyone, attention—attention. This is Kimberly. Kimberly, this is everyone else.” Aaron fell back onto the couch.
