“Oh, ahh… thanks.” He gave me another smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Still, he took the tea and headed into his apartment, waving at me to follow him inside.
I looked around carefully, trying to appear like I was seeing his place for the first time. It was still tiny, his furniture a mix of thrifted items, their styles clashing a bit, but it didn’t matter. I’d come to know it as Finn’s, and that made it special.
The smell alone made my chest ache with want and need. Desire and hunger.
“I like it,” I said, spinning around.
Finn laughed. “I won’t win a medal for best interior design, that’s for sure, but it’s mine.” He took a sip of tea, and I watched with pride as his smile widened and his eyes flashed, the surprised delight a genuine reaction. “That one tastes great. What is the flavor called?”
Fuck.
“Inner Peace.”
Finn flinched as if I’d slapped him. “Inner… Peace?” he asked, his voice rising, face clouding.
“Yeah.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
That’d been careless.
“It’s my favorite,” I tried to explain, keeping my voice cheery and relaxed. “I thought you might enjoy it too.”
He took a deep breath, then carefully placed the paper cup on his coffee table. “Sorry, it’s just… a weird coincidence. But yeah, it’s good.” For a moment, he eyed the cup critically, then sighed, took it, and took another sip. “It’s actually really good.”
After a third sip, his shoulders dropped a bit, the tension around his eyes easing.
“You want me to take off my shoes?” I asked, pointedly looking at his socked feet. He never wore shoes around the apartment, so chances were he didn’t want me to wear them either.
“Please. Especially if we’re going to chill on the couch.” He pulled up his legs and tucked them under his butt.
I placed my coffee cup on the kitchenette counter and quickly stripped off my shoes and jacket, then headed over to the couch. It was a little threadbare, but comfortable enough when I sat down.
“Soo… what do you want to watch?” I asked, nodding at the smallish flatscreen mounted to the wall above his desk.
Finn shrugged. “No idea. I’m good with almost anything—except for romantic comedies. At least if you don’t want me to give constant sarcastic commentary.”
I chuckled. “I’m the same with action flicks. Oh, and you can’t watch hospital shows with me. I never finished med school, but those are still painful for me to watch.”
Finn’s eyes widened. “You were in med school?”
I nodded. “Yeah. But I had to drop out.”
“You had to? Why?”
Because I accidentally got in the middle of a shootout between a human drug ring and a vampire clan and got caught in the crossfire. Then one of the vampires felt bad for me and turned me. The bloodlust was really bad at first, so I missed a lot of classes. Oh, and now I can’t really go out during the day, so attending is kinda hard.
I didn’t say any of that, but the words were on the tip of my tongue, threatening to come tumbling out.
“I got injured,” I said vaguely, shrugging my shoulders. “Got permanent damage, so now finishing med school is out of reach.”
Apparently, keeping things vague worked. And clearly the mate bond or whatever didn’t consider my calling vampirism permanent damage a lie. The things you learned.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry.” Finn reached out, placing his hand on top of mine. “Wow, your hand is really cold.”
I gave a half shrug and grinned at him. “It’s pretty cold outside, and my fingers were out in the open.”
Wrapped around hot paper cups, I thought, but if Finn noticed the illogical aspect of my statement, he didn’t comment on it.
