Page 63 of Thirsty
Lorenzo went still, but Charlie kissed him again, and this time Lorenzo kissed him back.
Chapter 18
Rachel was going to court on one of her cases, and she’d asked Lorenzo and Maggie to watch her practice her opening statement. Charlie happened to be over that night—okay, Lorenzo had invited him; he knew he needed to cool it with Charlie, but it was so hard to resist—and at some point in the last few weeks, Charlie had become almost as close with Rachel and Maggie as Lorenzo was, despite his being their actual roommate. So when Charlie heard about Rachel’s mock speech, he sat down to watch too.
She was a few lines into her second attempt when Isolde came home. As soon as Rachel saw her, she rolled her eyes and fumbled her words. “Start over,” Maggie said encouragingly.
Rachel cleared her throat and started her speech again, and it went well until the sound of running water came from the kitchen. Her eye twitched a little, but she continued.
She managed to hold it together until Isolde reappeared, holding a glass of water. She turned toward her room, but then paused.
Rachel snapped. “Can I help you?”
“I was watching your speech,” Isolde said.
“Okay,” Rachel said. “Well, I’m trying to focus.”
“Someone watching your speech unnerves you?” Isolde said levelly. “You do need practice.”
Charlie winced and Maggie started to cut in, but Rachel spoke over her. “No comments about sin or degeneracy tonight?”
“Lorenzo and Charlie are sleeping together,” Isolde said. “I thought you knew that.”
“Y’know what—” Rachel seethed.
“Okay, hey!” Charlie said loudly. “Why don’t we talk this out? Because this is...” He gestured widely, encompassing the whole room. “I mean it’s great, but it’s not healthy.”
“I have nothing to say,” Isolde said.
“Me neither,” Rachel added.
“Okay, but like—you want to keep living like this?” Charlie asked.
No one said anything. Tentatively, Charlie said, “Maybe, Rachel, you could try to be less hostile, and Isolde, you could try to be more understanding.”
“Of what?” Isolde demanded.
“Do you really not get why Rachel is uncomfortable when you talk about sex?” Charlie asked.
“I’m not uncomfortable!” Rachel objected. “She’sweird. Focused on...purity and...rightness and...sin. When no one’s—when it’s not even—” she huffed out angrily through her teeth, and then stared Isolde down. “It’s impolite,” she said, almost pointedly.
Isolde crossed her arms.
“Okaay,” Charlie said, indulgently, before turning back to Isolde. “Then—can you understand why Rachel might findit...impolite? You’ve been living here for a while, you must have picked up on some things.”
“Her problem is with me, and with my people,” Isolde said coldly. “Our very nature.”
Charlie threw a hand up at Rachel before she could speak. “I get why you might feel that way,” he told Isolde. “But you’re also the one who chose to rent a room here, among all the humans and vampires and poltergeists. I mean, you left home.”
Isolde said nothing, her gaze turned inward.
“You chose to come live among all of us, with all our...impurities,” Charlie continued. “I’m sure there must have been some of your people who thought that was impure. The choice you made.”
Isolde sat down next to him on the couch. She was silent for a moment, and then said, softly, “Yes.”
An oppressive stillness overtook the room as they all simultaneously realized that they had no idea what to say. Rachel was still standing in the middle of the living room with her scripted cards, looking lost. “Well,” Charlie said, glancing at Lorenzo. “That must’ve been...hard.”
Maggie shuffled closer to Isolde on the couch, reaching out with her hand but then withdrawing it. “It was my choice to take on human form,” Isolde said hollowly, staring at the floor. “Very few of us do. For most it would be unthinkable. This place is...” She paused, diplomatically, and then said: “...different from our Wood.
