“More than enough.”
That’s something that happened if you were alive when the internet first became a thing. Bennie had lived through it all, and he’d developed a keen sense for things that were gonna take off and things that were gonna be a bust.
“Must be nice.” Finn turned to me, a grin on his face, pointing at the dark green wall. “Is that one of those millennial-green walls?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“It’s an internet thing. Doesn’t really matter because I, too, like it. Oh, and you have books!” He let go of my fingers and headedover to one of the bookshelves, perusing the selection displayed. I felt the loss of skin contact deep in my chest.
“We actually have a whole library set up on the second floor,” I explained, pointing at the ceiling before stepping up next to him until our shoulders brushed against one another. His scent was less acidic now. Calmer.
“Nice,” he said, swaying against me a little, but he didn’t even turn his head my way, his attention focused on the books in front of him.
Fine, if it helped, he could explore our fucking house all he wanted.
Just not the fridge.
Because I really did not have any idea how to explain the bagged blood away.
“Do you want to see it?” I asked, in one last attempt at inconspicuously guiding him away from the kitchen.
“Want to see what?” he asked, blinking as he turned his head to me.
“The library.”
“Oh, sure.” He shrugged. “Do you want to show me the rest of the house first?”
No.
I shrugged. “There’s not much to see. We uh, don’t cook often, so the kitchen looks pretty barren.”
Understatement of the year.
Still, I walked him to our dining room area and opened the sliding doors into the kitchen, waving at everything, then turning back around without actually entering.
Finn let out a laugh.
“What did you do? Did you hire an interior designer to set up the kitchen and then never use it?”
Of course he had to step into the kitchen, his eyes shining with amusement as he took everything in.
“Pretty much.”
That was exactly what’d happened.
“Oof. And here I thought you were some kind of health nut.” He came back to me and patted my stomach. “There’s no way you’re not working hard for that body, even if you insist you’re not working out to maintain it. I thought for sure you were into clean eating or whatever.”
I laughed. “I’m not.”
Hell, I regularly fed on addicts. I definitely wouldn’t call their blood clean.
“Damn. One day, you’ll have to let me in on your secret,” Finn said, tipping onto his toes to plant a quick kiss on my mouth.
“Later,” I mumbled against his lips, chasing after them. I didn’t want to let go. Didn’t want to have to think about what would happen if I told him.
I sighed, pulling him against me, burying my nose in the nape of his neck and inhaling deeply. His scent was so calming. Sohim.
His pulse was strong and even, the copper notes almost tangible to me.
