Peter watched Theo put the bag in the back of the car then got in.Before Peter himself got behind the wheel, the wind shifted, and he picked up something decidedly vampiric.
Peter stepped back from the door and looked around, straining to pick up any out-of-place sounds, searching for movement in the shadows.
“What is it?”Theo said from inside the car.
Peter didn’t answer right away.He kept looking, his body relaxed but ready to move.He wasn’t sure this was Bernard, but if the other vampire chose the parking lot of a grocery store to ambush them, that was fine with Peter.
Sadly, nothing but wind moved the leaves on the summer green trees.A rat darted out of a gutter to make a dash for a discarded piece of bread, but that was the only living thing attacking anything.Resigned, Peter slid behind the wheel.
“What is it?”Theo asked, eyes wide.
“In all likelihood, just me overreacting.”
Yet Peter knew he wasn’t, and he was looking forward to meeting Bernard again.Soon.
12
Theo
Oncetheygotbackto Peter’s house, despite being blackout tired, Theo had lain awake, tossing and turning all through the preciously short night, despite the fact that Peter’s guest room was the dictionary definition of cushy.The windows were large and new, keeping out the street noise.Framed art prints decorated the cream wallpaper.Something Theo could only describe as a reading chair sat tucked into a corner of the room, windows on either side to let in the light.Even the lock worked as advertised, and Theo had been damn sure to flip it closed before falling into the soft pillows and pulling the covers up to his chin.
But it wasn’t the fear of Peter sneaking in and draining Theo within an inch of consciousness that had kept him awake.Theo’s mind had kept what happened at the Boudoir on replay, rousing emotions that forced him to turn whenever he tried to examine them too closely.
When sunrise shimmered behind the toffee-colored curtains, he turned once more, thinking,I wanted to enjoy working at Celeste’s, but I never thought I’d run into a client like Peter.Now I’m fantasizing about him.I should’ve learned from Bernard.This could go so fucking wrong, and if it does, I’ll be the one suffering.
He managed to doze off for a few more hours before his alarm went off.Should I go to the library?I don’t want to.What if Bernard was waiting for me?What if he’s still there?Theo groaned, rubbed his eyes, and turned onto his back.I need to work on my assignments though.It’s only about two months until the semester starts.
First and foremost, he needed a shower.He hadn’t been able to wash the memory of Peter off his skin last night—something he’d known was stupid, something he’d been able and willing to excuse with being too exhausted.
Theo looked at the reading chair.Was he faking last night at the parking lot?Trying to get me more scared?
Theo had been.He’d flipped the lock on his door and stared out into the darkness, but he’d seen nothing.Then he’d turned to look at Peter, who’d stood there, his broad back facing Theo, his icy blond hair moving in the breeze.
Theo had realized he liked boys when he was allowed to watch TV shows featuring Greek demigods and their exploits as a kid.It had been the nice shoulders and the hair for Theo, not to mention the way those demigods always did the right thing and protected their companions.For a good portion of his childhood, Theo had dreamed about being Iolaus.
Peter had looked the part of a protective god, and he hadn’t even done anything, he’d just stood there.But he was sexy looking.Like a wall of fierce vampire.Fuck, what am I even thinking?I’ve been here before, and I paid a high fucking price for letting Bernard…for Bernard.
Theo looked up at the ceiling, focusing on the crown molding as a humorless chuckle bubbled out of him.“What’s that definition of insanity again?The one where you expect different results from the same mistakes?”
Theo rubbed his face.Get your head out of your ass.Act like a fucking grown-up.Move on, move forward.
For today, he was going to start with a shower, possibly a cold one.
Washed and freshly dressed, Theo unlocked the door and walked out to a perfectly quiet house.Most of the floors were wood, with the odd carpet here and there.There were tiles in the foyer, bathrooms, and kitchen, but other than that, Peter’s house seemed designed to allow footsteps to echo.Yet Theo heard only his own as he took a few steps down the hallway outside his room.Peter had said something about needing to get up early, so Theo assumed the vampire was out suing people, or whatever it was a vampiric lawyer did.
This guest room, just like Peter’s bedroom, was on the third floor.On his way to the stairs, Theo looked at where Peter had said his room was.The door stood open, and Theo saw a blue rug at an angle to the floorboards, a chest of drawers, and another bookshelf.He didn’t want to snoop beyond that.No, scratch that.I really want to snoop.Later.I have to make sure he’s not some Bluebeard character who keeps corpses in his walk-in closet first.
Once Theo had made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, he looked around for the coffee maker and found a French press by the large ceramic kitchen sink, disassembled for cleaning.Theo picked up what was probably the bottom part of it and looked at the other pieces.Before he could figure out how to put the thing back into working order, a door elsewhere in the house shut with enough noise to make Theo freeze.Footsteps advanced from the foyer.
Instead of a violent intruder, a nicely dressed Peter walked into the kitchen.The vampire’s shirt and pants were once more on the darker side, two shades of gray that somehow matched, and the way they were cut was exceedingly proper and properly distracting.Theo hated everything about it, especially how distracting it was after barely getting any sleep.
“Good morning, Theo,” the vampire said.“I hope you slept well.”
Theo relaxed marginally.“Dude, I thought you said you’d be at work.”
Peter leaned against his kitchen island and crossed his arms in front of his chest.With what he was wearing today, that move made the fabric stretch in all the right places, and Theo found it difficult to keep his eyes on Peter’s icy blue ones and not examine the lines of his shoulders.Peter was annoyingly good at casually leaning against things.
“I’m working from home today.And I was just considering taking a Photoshop break.But since you’re up, how about I make you coffee instead.”
