“I want to talk about last night.” Vlad squeezed my hand. “Do you understand why I did what I did last night?”
“Is Tyrone your boyfriend now?” I said sarcastically.
“Relax, nothing happened. We drank a bottle of whiskey and watchedTwilight.”
I laughed. “You’re both leaving me for Robert Pattinson then. I understand.”
“Do you know why I bid on your boyfriend?” he asked again, sitting on Tiffany’s daybed and inviting me to do the same.
I refused and leaned against the coffin with my arms crossed over my chest awkwardly. The coffin slid backward and I somehow slipped and lost my footing. Vlad kept his face impassive while I floundered about.
“Tiffenie, the man is being blackmailed. You should’ve been trying to figure out why, not plotting to go on a tropical vacation and get his money back. If you refuse to protect yourself, I will step in. That’s what I did last night.”
I shrugged as if I didn’t give a damn. “Stop protecting me from other dudes, Vlad. I’m a vampire. I can protect my own damn self from creeps, and Tyrone isn’t one, anyway. Instead, try making me feel safe around youemotionally.” I’d caught Vlad watching a MasterClass saying something to that effect and it resonated.
Vlad blanched, probably because I’d just called him on something real.
“You’re right,” he said, standing up from the bed and walking toward me. “I can do better, Tiffenie. I love you.”
I arched a brow. He wasn’t going to get out of the doghouse with one throwaway “I love you.”
“I can’t watch you go on dates and snuggle with Santa Claus when I have been deprived of your company for twenty-five years. I miss you.” He sounded sincere, almost broken up about it.
But did I care, especially after his bachelor auction shenanigans?
He put his arms around me, pinning me against the coffin. My body responded to his nearness, as if it hadn’t gotten the memo that I was mad.
“I was just jealous.”
I could feel the tug of a smile in my cheeks. Why couldn’t I stay mad at him?
“I’ve missed you too,” I confessed. But I slipped from his arms and walked toward the door.
No one in the world knew me better than Vlad. We had lived through hundreds of years, through hopes, dreams, failures, and a lot of mediocre TV.Step by Step,Fuller House, all of theLaw and Orders, two world wars, and all of the other history that didn’t make it into the books.
He caught my hand before I could leave. “I don’t want to go another twenty-five years without you.”
Tears came to my eyes. I understood. “I don’t know what I want at the moment,” I said. “I need a little space to breathe.” I laughed shakily. “Not that I can breathe.”
“I spent ten thousand dollars to make sure you’re mine, Tiffenie.” All of his intensity was focused on me.
Spending ten grand so I didn’t get a special date with Santa was such a dumb grand gesture. It missed the mark, just like us.
“I do love you, Vlad, but that’s not the grand gesture I need. Youhaven’t changed anything in three hundred years, and I can’t live in the Dark Ages. You can’t just buy your woman.”
I gave him a kiss on the cheek and turned to leave for real.
He gripped me firmly, pulling me in for an embrace. “Iamchanging.”
I pushed him away gently. “I know you think so, but even if that’s true, I need to figure out whatIwant. I’m in two imperfect semirelationships and my therapist needs my help as much as I need hers.”
I walked downstairs in my No Fear shirt and joined Dr. R and Heaven. Dr. R was sitting on the couch lacing up her shoes.
“Dr. R,” I said, “did you sleep okay?”
She looked like she’d been run over by a truck and was wearing sunglasses in the house even though it was probably 11 p.m. “I slept through an entire day. I haven’t been this hungover since—this is so unprofessional.” She hung her head in shame.
I shrugged. “No big. Privilege can go both ways. I’ve got you.”
