Page 13 of Bloody Temptations

“No shit? Really? How’d he even manage that? Getting back here after I turned was enough of a nightmare. I couldn’t imagine trying to travel the world as a vampire.”

“Sounds like there is a story in that one.” I look up just in time to catch Finn trying to fix his hair in the mirror behind the bar.

It’s a wasted effort though, the long blonde strands flop around his round face however they please. I want to tell him not to bother, it looks good the way it is, but I keep my mouth shut.

“Meh,” he waves me off. “Not an interesting one. Was just a steep learning curve.”

Something about what he says, or maybe the way he says it pricks something in my head but I’m not focused enough to figure out what it is. Plus I need to get my hustle on tonight, otherwise I really won’tbe getting any tips and then what am I going to do? Use supermarket shampoo? Unlikely.

“Too right.” I need to get rid of these drinks so I can pay attention to him properly. “I’ll be back when I can.” I nod to the tray of drinks, offering him a genuine smile.

“Yeah, no problems. I should probably go anyway. Lots to do tonight and all that.” He reluctantly slides off his stool, his lower lip tucked between his teeth, his white teeth chewing into the pink.

“I’ll see you soon, yeah?” I hide my disappointment by picking up the tray of drinks, pretending it’s heavier than it is to excuse my grimace.

Finn nods quickly, not meeting my eyes. He pats himself down to make sure he’s got his things, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Definitely. Will do.”

It’s an awkward goodbye, and I almost drop my tray watching him weave his way out of the club, but nothing could dull the happy buzz in my veins.

I knew tonight was going to be a good night.

7

Finn

“What are you lookingat on there, huh?” Kai asks, crossing his arms on the bartop he’s just finished shining up and leaning towards me. I’m pretty sure that there are a million other things he should be doing, but he seems to have stuck within a three foot radius of me ever since I got here an hour ago.

I guess it’s not that shocking, I’m one of the only beings here tonight. There’s a small group of women huddled in a booth towards the back. One of them is sobbing on the table while the others alternate between comforting her and plying her with drinks, which seems like a terrible idea. And another table of beings and humans in suits are celebrating something. Which just leaves little old me to keep Kai occupied at the bar. He certainly doesn’t seem interested in talking to the other guy he’s working with. Lifo, I’m pretty sure it is.

They don’t seem to get along, I’ve noticed. Not that I’m, like, stalking Kai or anything. But in the two other times I’ve been in since my first solo visit, it’s been hard to not notice things. It’s all perfectly innocent.

I drop my phone like I’m doing something very not innocent on it, rather than just reading aCrumblesthread, making Kai raise an eyebrow.

“Finn,” he coaxes. “Were you doing something naughty?”

His teasing voice drops a couple of octaves, making it sound deliciously flirty and I almost wish Iwasdoing something salacious. Instead my cheeks burn painfully and my ears feel like they are about to set fire to my hair.

“Uh—no! No! Never!” My suddenly dry mouth makes me stumble over my words, making it all sound a lot worse than it is.

Kai’s shoulders bounce with his attempt to smother his laugh. “Okay, now Ihaveto know what you were looking at.”

Groaning loudly, I unlock my phone and slide it across the bar to him. It’s not eventhat bad. I have just somehow made it worse with my complete inability to be a normal being around someone so criminally hot.

“What does AITA mean?” He asks eventually. There is still a hint of a smile in his voice, so I open my eyes just a bit to peek out at him.

“Am I the asshole?” I answer, and he nods, but he doesn’t look up, too engrossed in the story. It’s a classic, complete with four years worth of updates about some guy asking if he was the asshole for ‘stealing’ his neighbour's puppy. It was barking outside all day, every day. Eventually he’d had enough, so he’d jumped the fence and brought it home, before returning it just before the neighbour got home from work.

According to the first post, this went on for weeks until his neighbour came home early and thought their dog was missing. Turns out the puppy was actually escaping every day and didn’t know how to get back in. Cut to four years later, and the guy was sharing a very happy update that he and his neighbour were now married, with a second puppy and twins on the way.

My heart is in my throat as I watch him read the whole thing, eating up his growing smile.

“Thatis fucking adorable,” he says, tossing my phone back when he’s done. “What app’s that?”

“Uh,Crumbles.” I’m vaguely chuffed with his approval of the story, even though it’s not mine. It’s like approval by proxy for showing him.

“And people just share their life on there? That’s pretty cool.” Kai leans in a little closer and I can’t help but mirror the action, leaning forward on the bar so we’re only separated by inches.

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