“Where are we going?” Kit asked.
“How are you doing?” Quin said at the same time, then laughed awkwardly. “Uh, I thought it could be a surprise.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
“Oh. Right. How does the cinema sound? There’s one near here—an old town hall conversion. It’s small. Maybe fifty seats, max?”
Kit paused for so long that Quin broke out in a sweat. “Sounds good,” Kit said after far too many seconds.
“Great. I, uh, like your jeans, by the way,” Quin stammered out as he pulled out of the parking space. “White is a brave choice.”
“How so?” Kit said, turning towards the window.
Quin’s face went hot. He focused on the road as much as possible, even when he wanted to keep stealing glances at Kit. “You know. White stains easily.”
Kit let out a surprised gasp of a laugh. “How messy do you think I am with my food?”
“Not as messy as I am,” Quin said. “I’ll probably get popcorn kernels stuck in my beard.” He grimaced the second the words escaped his mouth. Way to make himself come across as an uncouth caveman.
“You can fish them out later to snack on when you get hungry.”
“Could also fit some nachos in there if I tried.”
“Disgusting,” Kit said with a smile.
“Just the plain nachos! Not with salsa and guac on them. That’d be a bit too far.”
“Still ew.” Kit drummed his fingers on his leg. He seemed to be building up to something, so Quin stayed quiet, letting him work it out in his mind. “So,” Kit said, “like I said before. This is my first date. I’m hoping I do everything right.”
Quin braked just a tad too hard at the next set of traffic lights. “Kit?—”
“I don’t want you to make a big deal of it,” Kit said, waving a dismissive hand. “Shaun advised me to share things about myself, so that’s all I’m doing.”
Quin was pleased to hear that Kit had been talking to his friends more. Kit had mentioned the vampire triad in passing on their beach walks, but conversation rarely lingered on them. “You went to see them a few months ago, right? Planning to visit them again soon?”
“Actually, I’ve been considering inviting them up here.” Kit’s head lay against the headrest, exposing the line of his elegant throat, Adam’s apple bobbing as he spoke. His T-shirt wasn’t low cut by any stretch of the word, but it still gave Quin a peek of his clavicle where it had dipped down on one side.
Quin redoubled his focus on the road. They were driving past acres of flat farmland as they made their way down the coast towards their destination, the sky above them never-ending. Even though there weren’t many other cars around, it didn’t pay to get into an accident because he’d been preoccupied with ogling his passenger.
“It’d be nice to meet your friends,” he said.
“You’re assuming I’d introduce you to them.”
“I am.”
“Cocky,” Kit accused.
“Confident,” Quin retorted. “How did you meet them anyway? I don’t think you ever told me.”
One of Kit’s fingers drifted to his mouth, and he bit down on the nail as he chewed over his response for a few long moments before speaking. “My creator also recreated Shaun and DJ. Shaun around twenty years ago, and DJ more recently. Lawrence compelled DJ to drain Rake, but Shaun recreated him in time.”
Quin had to concentrate hard on his driving to not take the next bend too sharply. “Shit. That’s dramatic.”
“Understatement.”
Quin swallowed. “So, none of you wanted to be vampires?”
“No. I suppose Rake was willing in that it saved his life, but he wasn’t in a state to consent. I told Shaun to do it.” Kit’s voice stayed steady, but strained as he continued. “Rake wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
