“Well, either way, you could have sent someone who didn’t have such a stick up his ass. I can’t be held responsible if he ends up dead.”
“Is he in danger?” Tristen’s tone grew serious.
“Not from vampires,” I muttered, grabbing my toiletry bag. The inside of my mouth felt like I’d swallowed a dead rat.
“Alright, well, play nice, have fun, and… Jack?”
“What?” I grunted.
“Use protection.”
I hung up on him.
The halls were dead. The music had been turned off. A quick glance at the commons on my way to the bathroom showed the leftovers of last night’s party. More than a few folks were passed out around the common rooms, many in different stages of undress.
I tiptoed through the commons, not wanting to deal with cranky vampires early in the day. The bathroom wasn’t as deserted as the hallways, though it wasn’t much better. A few students stood in front of the sink, looking half-dead and cleaning off bite marks.
The sound of someone retching made me grimace.
Quietly and quickly, I cleaned my face, brushed my teeth, and did my business. When I got back to my room, Tate was there. He was in the middle of pulling a shirt over his head, leaving me an unobstructed view of his chest. Silver balls decorated either nipple, contrasting against his dark skin.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” I commented, sitting my bag down on my bed.
Tate cocked a head at me in question.
“Your piercings. They’re silver, right?” I inclined my head. “Silver? Werewolves? They don’t exactly mesh.”
Tate smirked, stepping close enough that I could breathe him in. “What can I say? I like the bite of them.”
I smiled and shook my head at his flirting. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I was going to grab something greasy and then head to the library. Want to come?”
The way Tate jumped from flirty to general friendliness was too confusing on an empty stomach. The mention of my stomach made it growl. A nice greasy burger sounded like exactly what I needed right now.
“Yes, please. Give me all the grease,” I groaned, making Tate grin.
“Keep making sounds like that, and I’ll be ready to eat something else.”
“Jesus,” I laughed, my face burning. “You don’t quit, do you?”
“What can I say?” Tate shrugged his shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets as we walked out the door. “I’m a charmer.”
“Something like that,” I grumbled, letting him lead me through the commons and down the walkway toward the cafeteria.
Only Tate and I broke up the otherwise barren quad. Normally, I was fine with walking in silence and yet, for some reason with Tate, I needed something to fill the tension that I felt between us.
“How long have you been a human servant?”
“About five years.” Tate’s arm brushed mine with each step.
“That’s surprising, I figured it was longer.”
Tate pulled his lip ring between his teeth. “Well, my family, my pack wasn’t exactly thrilled that I bonded to a vampire.”
“Yeah, that whole vampires versus werewolves thing.”
“Right.” He paused and opened the cafeteria door for me. “When I got with Kyren, there was a big fuss about it. Mostly because I was supposed to be the next Alpha.”
