Page 26 of Just the Pool Boy at Vampire Mansion

“I dunno, I was having fun until that last part.”

He got to his feet. “By rooting around in my deepest fears? Nice.” On the last word, he flashed some fang and held out his hand. “Let’s go visit the neighbors.”

“What?” I stared at his hand and didn’t move.

He dropped his hand. “You wanna Nancy Drew this shit, let’s go.”

“Nancy who?”

“Owen. You and I are going to solve Jay’s murder.”

“Uhm, no thank you. I have to be in bed by one a.m.”

“Go wild. You might like it.”

“Yeah, I uh . . .No, I don’t think going wild is for me.”

“Hey.” He stepped around the table, plucked my beer out of my hand, took a swig from my bottle, then backed up, swaying his hips. “Whoever it was made you boring? That guy? Fuck him.”

“What?” My little laugh came out strained. “No, nobody hurt me. I’m just like this.”

“Baby, no you’re not,” he purred. “I see you, Mr. I Like Rules. I think something got you running scared, and I know all about that. So let’s do this. Let’s find out who killed Jay, and maybe it’ll clean off some of that self-loathing stain you’re carrying around with you, huh?”

Self-loathing? My thoughts ground to a halt. He’d just called out my fears. We’d met twice, and he’d read me like a book. Damn.

Theo Witherborne was a lot more observant than I’d given him credit for. Or I was terrible at keeping my emotions off my face. A little of both, probably.

He set my beer down and offered his hand again.

Why did this feel heavier than just taking a walk next door? Why did it feel as though taking his hand would seal my fate? And why, again, did I want to go all in, knowing it wasn’t going to end well? Why did I dance too close to the flame every time?

I took his hand.

I danced too close to the flame because I liked the burn.

He pulled me to my feet, and I almost stumbled into him. He grabbed both my arms, bracing me

“Good.” Theo grinned. “You ready?”

“Not really, no.”

“Life is short, Owen. You gotta live a little.”

Which was easy for him to say, when he’d potentially live forever. All I could do was hope that whatever he was getting me into didn’t leave me face down in the neighbors’ pool too.

CHAPTER 7

The last time I’d followed Theo Witherborne into the bushes, he’d led me to a body. And now here I was again, willfully going along with him. I could tell myself I was investigating Jay’s murder, and I was, but a closer look at my motives would reveal a whole array of other reasons. Such as liking the thrill, and liking Theo. Apparently, I never learned.

This time, we headed toward the sprawling yard at the back of the house. Coconut Grove, outside of the Witherborne Mansion, was a tightly packed development of elite homes. The Witherbornes had clung to their land like a weighted blanket, perhaps using it as a buffer from the outside world.

I walked alongside Theo, deeper into the garden’s unlit areas. In the distance, Miami twinkled. Far enough away to look pretty and untouchable. A plane rumbled, crickets chirped, but otherwise our footsteps were the loudest thing around us.

“The Briar lands extend around the back of ours,” Theo was saying. “They bought plots but never built on them, Mother said.”

Clearly the Briars liked their outside space too.

There was no obvious path through the Witherbornes’ rear garden, just a selection of bushes and palms, grasses, and the occasional decorative pile of rocks. The grounds were looked after, but not for show, not so far back from the house. I looked behind us at the mansion shrinking in the orange-hued darkness. It got pretty isolated so far back from civilization.