Page 37 of Made For You
“Nothing. Just not sleeping.”
“You do carry quite a resemblance to a vampire. I’m not sure if it’s the pale skin, the dark circles, or the insatiable need for blood.”
“I don’t have an insa—” Olive opened the door and stuck her head inside the office.
“Get out!” I barked, and she immediately jerked back and slammed the door closed.
“See? Insatiable need for blood.”
“God, you’re a real asshole, you know that?” I told him as I pushed off from the window, shooing him away as I went back to my desk. My paranoia over the message was growing by the second.
“I do. Now, what’s got your panties in a twist, my friend?”
“Nothing,” I mumbled just as my phone chimed with a message from Aurora.
Wife:I wondered if I’d hear from you.
She wasn’t even in the same room, and I felt like my entire body lit up from the inside out. My palms grew sweaty, and my pulse quickened.
“Well, now. Please do share with the class what suddenly has you smiling like that.”
Was I smiling? I reached up to touch my face, and fuck if there wasn’t a toothy grin on my lips.
“Nothing,” I repeated as I closed the screen and placed the phone back on my desk.
“Oh. Okay.” He approached the desk, and before I could react, he swiped the phone right off the corner.
“Dean,” I snarled, but he ignored me completely. “How the fuck do you know my password?”
“Oh, come on. It’s your mother’s birthday. And you’ve had the same password since you were twelve and made it your locker combination.”
Sometimes, I really hated that we’d been friends for so long.
“Dean,” I warned again, but he didn’t listen. Not that I expected him to. Despite being my best friend, Dean looked and listened to himself and no one else.
Wordlessly, he stared at my phone, then placed it back on the desk. “You like her.”
“What’s not to like? She’s smart, pretty, and agreed to my ridiculous proposal.”
“True,” he said as he sat his large frame on my desk’s corner closest to me. The wheels of my chair squeaked as I rolled backward and away from the chance of the desk collapsing on top of me. “But I mean… youlike-like her.”
Denying it, I rolled my eyes. “Psh. You’re being ludicrous.”
“Maybe, but I’m not the one who has a thing for my fake wife.”
“Dean.”
“Talon. Get it together. It’s one thing to entertain the thought of fucking her, but man, you need to rein it in. Our world will destroy her. You know this.”
I did. I knew how destructive our circle could be. It wasn’t just the absenteeism, or the daily recreational use ofanything that could be snorted, injected, or smoked. It was the lies, the deceit, and the blackmail.
“I….” My words hung in the air. I never lied to Dean about anything. He was the one friend who knew every nasty truth. It was why he was so gung-ho about helping me gain control of the hotels and my trust fund left to me by my mother.
“It’s okay to like her. Hell, I’m pretty sure it’s almost impossiblenotto like her. But you just have to remember it’s all temporary. After six months, you’re going to have to let her go.”
I hated when he was right. And I had a feeling that losing Aurora was going to be right up there in devastation level with losing my mom. That was something I never wanted to experience again.
“Iknow!” Dean exclaimed as he finally moved his large body off my desk and positioned himself in the leather chair on the opposite side of it. “Sleep with her and get her out of your system.”
