“Thanks,” I grumble.
“Yeah, well, you could say I know my way around a car.” I hear the slight humor in his voice and I scoff, walking off. “Bailey.”
I turn around to face him, placing my hands on my hips.
“Roll your eyes at me again and see what happens.”
He climbs into his black sports car and I stand there dumbfounded for a few moments before the loud blaring noise of my horn goes off. I see Lily reaching over into the driver’s seat and shake my head as I climb in.
“You’re so fucked.” She laughs.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She just laughs harder as I drive us to the party.
CHAPTER 5
Wes
Sometimes I’m notsure why I became friends with Jameson. He’s a cool guy, and I like helping around his family’s property and working with the horses. He calls it equine therapy, but I don’t like to think of it as therapy because then I feel like it takes some of the enjoyment out of it for me.
I do it because I want to, not because something is wrong with me.
However, I’m questioning this friendship because this is the second get together in a short amount of time. And then we still have his wedding coming up. I offered to officiate, though I’m somewhat regretting that now.
The only thing I’m not regretting is how much I’m getting to see Bailey and watching how she interacts with others. Every time I’m involved she scowls at me or has some sort of snarky comment or remark to say. Both of which I enjoy more than I should.
But it’s also interesting to watch how she is with her friendsand even with strangers. There’s something about her, a darkness behind her eyes. She doesn’t smile a lot and I don’t know much about her as a person but I can tell she hides from most everyone, even those closest to her.
I recognize it because I’m the same way.
I would never tell her that, and I’m sure she would rather chop my balls off than hear we have something in common. Except maybe our preferences in the bedroom. Those seem to be a perfect match, if our one night together is any indication. I’d love to see if a second time would be just as good or even better.
“You going to join everyone else, Wes?” a soft voice asks, and I look down to see Jameson’s mom, Emily, smiling up at me. She’s the only person around here that knows even a fraction of my story.
I don’t have my own parents to talk to about anything, not that I would anyway, but Emily’s presence is so peaceful and calming that she managed to get me to share a couple of things. Though, it felt like I was talking to the horses more than to her, but even then she never seemed to pity me. She didn’t say a word, just listened.
“I’m just observing,” I tell her honestly, leaning against the wall as I nurse my now lukewarm beer. The people around me often feel like too much. I find myself more comfortable observing and hidden in the background. Interacting too much can drain me, but sitting back and watching gives me breathing room.
“I see that. You could talk to her instead of standing here staring like a creep?”
I scoff. “I’m not staring like a creep.”
“I raised a stubborn boy already, you know.”
“I’m just trying to stay out of the way.”
“You don’t need to. As much as you’d like that wall to suck you in, it’s not going to. Try to enjoy yourself.” Emily walks over to Jameson, squeezing his arm before walking over to Sutton who pulls her in for a hug.
I watch Bailey’s face as she observes these two women who clearly have a close bond smile as they say something to each other. Bailey looks uncomfortable, shifting on her feet and looking around as though she’s trying to avoid watching them. Her gaze lands on mine, and just like it always does, her eyes narrow.
She mouths,“What?”
I just shake my head, bringing the rim of the bottle to my lips for a drink while she keeps glaring at me. It’s enough to have me pushing off the wall and walking toward her, and I see the questioning look on her face as I do. The other people she was standing with, including Lily and Sutton, don’t seem to notice her start to inch away as I get closer.
“You like something you see? Because you keep staring.” My voice is low so others can’t hear me.
“Just wondering what you’re even doing here; vampires usually can’t come out during daylight.”
