Page 56 of Sharing Shadow Secrets
The fangs finally came in.
It’s accompanied by a photo of him in the full costume. “Holy shit,” I breathe, staring at it. Morgan claps her hand, and I toss the phone to her.
“Have you stalked him? Do you know if he’s single?” she asks, still staring at the photo.
“I haven’t stalked him,” I say, now surprised I haven’t, but Brandon’s kinda been all I’ve been thinking about in that way.
“I’m going to stalk him now,” she says, standing from the chair. “I’ll need my laptop for this.”
Gwen returns with a bottle of whiskey in one hand, and a tray with three rocks glasses on it, each with an ice cube. “My roster is empty, and I would like to get drunk. Who’s drinking with me?”
She looks bummed.
“I’ll have a drink with you in solidarity,” I say.
“I need the fuel for my research,” Morgan says.
“Who broke off with who?” I ask Gwen.
“He said he unexpectedly met somebody who he really hit it off with and see’s endgame potential with them …” Gwen trails off, pouring each of us healthy amounts of whiskey. “But I really liked him.”
“We haven’t had a swipe night in like … six months?” Morgan asks.
“You two can swipe. I’m good.”
I have Brandon.Well, whenever I get more business, I’ll have him.
“You got a vampire and a billionaire; you’re great,” Gwen chides.
“What do you mean I have a vampire?”
“You are smiling and drooling every time he texts you.”
“He’s easy to banter with …” I defend, now considering if there’s more there.
38
“How’s that girl you met at the wedding reception?” Patrick asks, spotting me during this squat set at the gym in my building. “You haven’t talked about her in a while.”
“Building her business,” I grunt, exhausted. “This is why I work out in the morning. I’m too tired at the end of the day.”
“Not all of us can be morning people, and you can do one more.”
I squat, and on the way up my legs hit a wall. Patrick has to assist me to bring the bar back up to the rack.
“Till fatigue. Great work. Now back to Taylor. You were so excited about her, and now it’s crickets.”
“She has a goal she wants to accomplish before dating someone seriously. So, we’ll regroup once she’s ready.”
Patrick nods. “Rachel and I are thinking about going to High Five’s Halloween party. Now that she’s renting out her place, would it be cool if we stayed at the lake house?”
“You can stay there anytime, you know that.”
“I still have to ask.”
“Please stay there. How’s living together going?”
“Great. Well, she is a clean freak and constantly annoyed by where I put things and how I do things, but otherwise it’s amazing.”
