“You are such a loser!” I shouted at him as Ileaped out of his car,slamming the door behind me. I hadn’t even waited for him to stop. He finished parking and hurried to catch me.
“Oh,come on, it wasn’t that bad!” He exclaimed.
I stopped and turned quickly. I was fuming. “Wasn’t that bad? I spent the last three days getting glares from your entire family as you argued with them over how to break our blood bond. I was mortified! Desi, why did you take me there?”
He blinkedas if suddenlyrealizing what he had put me through. “That’s not what we were arguing about. They know we can’t break it, nor do I want to.” He gave me a pointed look. I rolled my eyes and threw my hands up.
“That’s not the point. It was embarrassing.”
“I had to show them you. That you’re why I can’t be with Aleida.”
“Can’t?Desi,you can be with whomever the fuck you want. I don’t give a shit.” I bared my fangs for a moment and then whipped back around. I started back toward our apartment.
“Don’t say shit like that.” He protested and reached for my arm. He grabbed it,but I pulled it out of his grasp. He managed to get hold of it again,and I turned. I glared at him with blazing eyes.
“If you don’t think I’ll rip my arm out of my fucking socket to get away from you,you’re mistaken. Let go of me. You. Fucking. Loser.” I said those last words slowly and with as much menace as I could muster. He flinched as if each word stung. He dropped my arm and slumped.
“I’m sorry. You know I don’t care what they think.”
“Then why did you insist I go with you?” I continued walking to the building. I pulled my keys out and unlocked the door. He followed me in and up the stairs to the apartment we now shared. He had insisted I move in with him after his fellow Seven Sin member attempted to have me killed. I tried to slam the door in his face,but he caught it, stepped inside,and slammed it for me.
“Because I want them to like you!” He threw his hands up. Silence suddenly filled the room as I turned and stared at him. He looked down and shoved his hands in his pockets.
“What?” I asked, my voice hardly a level above a whisper.
“I mean, it doesn’t change things between us if they don’t, but eventually,when we get married and stuff,I want them to accept you as part of the family.”
Marriage? And stuff? What did that even mean?
I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. He sighed and looked like he was going to ignore it,but it came again. He went to the door quickly and ripped it open.
“What?” He snapped at my neighbor across the hall, Amy. She had once been human, but when she turned twenty-seven,she took the plunge, literally. She threw herself down the stairs, breaking her neck. The next time we saw her,she had turned into a Bloodshed.
“A package came for you guys. The guy asked me to keep it until you got back. Here.” She shoved it at him,and he closed the door quickly. He turned, examining the small box.
I took his momentary distraction to turn and go to our bedroom.
I couldn’t handle talking aboutmarriage and stuff.
Needing to get the memories of our trip off of me,I changed quickly. It was nearly morning,and I was exhausted. I removed my jeans and hoodie and slipped on a tank top and short pajama shorts. I sighed with relief as I removed my bra. I glanced at the bed. It was so inviting. I needed a good day’s sleep.
Desi came into the room, shoving something in his pocket. I was going to ask,but he saw me,and his face morphed from stress to lust in an instant. I rolled my eyes as he scrambled to get out of his travel clothes. I noticed he was very hard in his boxers.
“Are you coming to bed?” I asked, despite already knowing the answer. I changed my tone and asked, “What was in the box?”
“Nothing. Just something I ordered online for the apartment,” he lied. I knew that face all too well. He set the box down and hurried to join me in bed. I raised the covers to let him in.
“I won’t take you there ever again if you don’t want. I’m sorry I put you through that,” he said.
“You’re not getting any brownie points now. What’s done is done. I hope you accomplished what you wanted with the trip,” I said, my words clipped.
He tried to pull me into his arms,but I elbowed him away. “I’m not in the mood.” Those words still continued to echo in my brain.
Marriage and stuff.
“Oh,come on. I just want to hold you. Nothing devious.” He tried to protest. I turned my back to him and forced myself to try to sleep. With a large sigh, I heard him click the lights off and lay down himself.
“You know, I don’t care about your lineage. I love you,” he said from behind me.
