Page 43 of Just the Pool Boy at Vampire Mansion

“He thinks you want to kill me?” Theo snorted. “He’s such a fucking idiot.”

“Obviously I’m not going to⁠—”

“Pfft, I know that. He’s obsessed. Sorry. Again. For Bentley being a dick. For all this drama. Damn, why did you even answer my calls?”

“It’s okay, I guess. He didn’t really do anything.” Just broke in, sat by my bed, and picked out the pillow he’d use to kill me. Nothing really.

We fell silent and watched the young woman breathe. She seemed okay, apart from being soaked through and out cold. She didn’t look that much older than us, and was dressed casually—denim shorts, one sneaker gone missing somewhere, and a faded T-shirt with a cartoon sloth dangling off a branch under the words HANG IN THERE, which, considering she was currently passed out on a vampire’s couch, felt right. Even half drowned she had the look of somebody who’d been a whole lot of fun right up until the almost drowning part.

“What do we do?” Theo asked.

He’d stopped pacing altogether now, and stood next to me, arms crossed, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. For a second, I got a glimpse of the real man he was underneath all the swagger and publicity. And that man was scared.

“Watch her for a bit, keep her warm. If she doesn’t wake up soon, we’ll call a doctor.”

“You know a doc who won’t call the cops?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

He side-eyed me. “You’re full of surprises, Owen.”

“Yeah . . .” I smiled, hoping it would help reassure him.

The girl gasped. Her eyes flew open, her gaze darted between us, then she launched herself over the back of the couch in one surprisingly swift movement.

“That’s a reaction,” Theo said.

A small voice said, “Foul beasts, stay back!”

I glanced at Theo. He shrugged one shoulder, tucked his thumb into his jeans pocket, and pointed for me to go check she was alright.

I stepped around the side of the couch and saw her on the floor, knees tucked to her chest. “Just so we’re clear, he’s the foul beast. I’m Owen, the pool guy.” She looked up and I smiled. “Hey. You good?”

She blinked through wet bangs. “You’re all wet too.”

“Yeah, I fished you out of the pool.” I showed her my empty hands. “We’re not going to hurt you. But you need to stay warm. You’ve been through an ordeal. You should rest.”

“Who are you?” she sniffed.

“Owen,” I repeated.

“Oh right, yeah. Who is he?”

I crouched down to her level. “He’s Theo. He’s alright.”

She nodded, chewed on her lip, and asked, “Who am I?”

CHAPTER 11

Theo closed the pool-house blinds while I fetched some towels for the mystery woman to dry off. She took herself to the bathroom at the back of the pool house, leaving me and Theo alone in the main open-plan living area.

“What do we do with her?” I asked, towel-drying my own hair.

Theo tossed me a shirt from the spares he kept in small set of drawers beside the fold-down bed.

“She can stay here, I guess,” he said, leaning against the back of the couch. “Until her memory comes back.”

“That’s . . . kind.”