I leaned in until our lips brushed together. He moved to kiss me again, but I pulled back, teasing him with my lips.
With a hand on his chest to hold him back, I whispered, “I like the real thing much better.”
Chapter 30
Eight months later
“Oh my God,could you two be any more embarrassing?”
Ben and I snickered from our place behind Hannah and Erin, arms loaded with plastic bins and moving boxes. We’d just finished reminiscing about when we were Hannah’s age; Ben in college, and me raising hell in Salem and the surrounding cities.
“I hate to tell you this, hon,” Erin said, wrapping her arm around Hannah’s shoulders, “But you asked for two dads. That means double the embarrassment.”
“Don’t forget your uncles are coming next week!” I added—which earned a groan heard ‘round the world, from both HannahandErin.
I shared a look with Ben behind the stacks of Hannah’s belongings. The year had been a journey. Erin and I had mended our relationship, each arriving at a point where we semi-understood the other’s actions and decisions from eighteen years ago. We’d been able to put the past where it belonged, and she’d given Hannah and I the space we needed to work out ourrelationship—the way that was best for us. Which, it turned out, was spending every weekend camped out on my couch watching episodes of90 Day Fiancéand its many spinoffs while stuffing our faces with copious amounts of junk food. I can neither confirm nor deny that Carlos also benefited from that arrangement.
I’d been trying for months to get Raleigh and Angel to get out to Salem to see how I’d settled in and to meet James. They were finally making the journey out, their newborn baby girl in tow. I was excited for Hannah to get to know her baby cousin.
Hannah graduated with honors—no surprise there. She had multiple scholarships, and Ivy League colleges across the country were beating down the door with offers. Everyone secretly hoped she’d stick close to home, but no one voiced it; the girl had too much potential, and we didn’t want to hold her back. You’d think, after the hellish events of last year, that her first priority would be to getoutof Massachusetts. Imagine our surprise when she chose to attend Harvard, which was less than an hour away.
Being a first-year student, Hannah was required to live on campus. Kian chose to follow, finding an apartment near campus that Hannah would move into after her first year. It turned out he’d lived with his brother, and once Luke went MIA following Dani’s death, Kian hadn’t wanted to stay anymore. Even after all of Luke’s vampire hunting paraphernalia was cleared out, the place just had an eerie air to it. I didn’t blame him for wanting out.
“Hannah, is your room in Narnia?” I asked, nearly colliding with Erin’s back as she stopped in front of me. My arms ached.
Finally, my daughter stopped and unlocked a door. Her parents—all three of us—stood back while she squealed loud enough to break the sound barrier and introduced herself to her roommate. While both Ben and Erin eyed the campus withnostalgia, I could honestly say that I didn’t feel like I’d missed anything.
I didn’t regret my decision not to go to college. I didn’t regretanythingI’d done up to that point. Yeah, life sucked sometimes, and the past year harbored some of my lowest moments. As I set down the armful of boxes and saw my daughter hugging her new roommate, though, I knew I wouldn’t change a thing.
If someone had told me a year ago that I’d move back to my hometown, raise a kid, and settle down with avampire, I would’ve been concerned for their mental health.
“… And these are my dads.”
Only when Ben elbowed me in the ribcage did I register what Hannah had said. I met her eyes but before I could say anything, she added, “Don’t make it weird.”
“So, wait,” her roommate interjected, gesturing to me and Ben. “Are they…?”
Erin, Ben and I all spoke at the same time. “No!”
“We could be,” I said, grinning devilishly.
Ben shook his head. “I don’t think James is inclined to share.”
He sidled up to my side and threw his arm around my shoulders, and I wrapped mine around his waist.
He squirmed in my grip. “Stop it! I’m ticklish!”
“Ugh! The three of you can leave now!”
Ignoring Hannah’s roommate, who was now stifling her laughter, Erin stepped in for a hug. Ben followed suit, and I hung back, patiently waiting for my turn. It was Hannah who came to me, stepping into my arms as I pushed off the wall.
I still got a little teary-eyed whenever Hannah hugged me. I could hardly believe that in one short year, I’d gone from a bachelor living it up in Vegas to a dad in the suburbs living with his boyfriend. Hisvampireboyfriend.
I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
“Thank you for everything, Ryder,” she mumbled into my chest before pulling back.
I thought back to the first hug we’d shared outside The Devil’s Hopyard. Looking back on it now, I could see how scared we both were. We’d pulled away with tears in our eyes, unsure what the future held. This time, there was nothing but hope in Hannah’s blue eyes. Even under the crappy dorm lights, they sparkled.
