I arched my brows at him. “You want me to ask out my landlord who might be getting ready to evict my ass?”
Sebastian laughed. “It wouldn’t be as weird if you’re not her tenant.”
“This whole situation has strange stamped all over it,” I countered.
“How so?”
“I’m a vampire.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Sebastian teased with a laugh. “I’m a shifter. Nice to meet you.” He extended his hand as if we were meeting for the first time.
“Funny.”
“It kind of is. You’re good looking, she’s hot. What happens when two people are attracted to each other is that they sometimes hook up.”
I drummed my fingers on my thigh. “Not as much as you, my friend.”
“What can I say? All this testosterone makes me a dog.” He stirred the pot. “But when I find my mate, things will change. Wolves are the most loyal of all.” He grinned a Cheshire smile. “Until then, I’ll have my fun.”
“I bet you will.” I reopened my book, reading the same page for the third time. After I still hadn’t followed the words on the page, I gave in to the distraction. “Besides, she’s not interested.”
“You sure about that?” Sebastian’s eyes twinkled.
I’d seen that look on his face before, which meant he was up to something. “Whatever you’re thinking, planning, or plotting, the answer is no.”
“I’m not thinking of anything,” he protested.
His mock innocent expression didn’t fool me. “I don’t date for a reason.”
He dropped his head back and groaned. “Oh no, you’re not going to say Diana, are you? That was over a year-and-a-half ago. Practically ancient times.”
I groaned. “Well, she stole my life, broke my heart, and made me one of the undead. Stuff like that tends to damage a guy.”
“If you look at it that way.” Sebastian took off his apron and grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. He raised it. “Why not reframe it like she gave you immortality? You’re lucky not to worry about dying like the rest of us.”
“Which makes the idea of being with any mortal even less appealing. Why would I want to be with anyone knowing they’re going to be gone one day?”
“You’re friends with me. I won’t live forever.” He took a swig of beer.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
I put the book down as reading it was clearly an exercise in futility with Sebastian’s incessant dogging. “I don’t know, it just is. Maybe because we’re not in a romantic relationship.”
“You don’t think we’ve got a bromance going on here?” Sebastian teased.
“Abso-freaking-lutely not.”
Minutes later,Lucas returned to the house holding a Clash album. “I’m going to keep that place in business.”
He loved to collect albums, and when a new record store opened nearby, he found a new place to spend all his one-dollar bills. He played the album on the record player andLondon Callingfilled the room.
Nova entered the kitchen, her hair in a loose braid pulled to one side again and tendrils falling down around her face. “It smells delicious over here.”
“I’m making beef stew and biscuits,” Sebastian declared with pride. “You should join us for dinner.”
“That would be great,” she said. “Actually, I was coming over to ask something.” She glanced at the floor.
