Page 43 of Santa's Wish
My cheeks heated. "I overdid it that night. I'm sorry."
She laughed and handed me a paper plate. "You're forgiven. From what we could tell, you were having a terrible night."
"It got better." I told her about Santa's offer to drive me home. The dark-skinned androgynous-looking vampire I'd been talking to earlier took an interest in my story, though they didn't come any closer.
When Santa finally returned with dark circles under his eyes and a cup with the Blood Drive logo on the cardboard insulator, the other vampire approached us.
Before Santa could introduce us, the vampire grabbed his chin and lifted his eyelids one at a time. "You look like death warmed over. What happened?"
"Still not feeling the best," he said. "Boz, this is Dr. Bredlow, my physician. They forget we're not at work sometimes."
The doctor held their hand out to me. "Nice to meet you, Boz." Then they turned back to Santa and acted as though I didn't exist. "Blood Drive is open for the holidays, you know. You don't need to drink the synthetic stuff."
"Are you allergic?" I asked.
"No." He patted my shoulder and gave me his widest grin. Now that I'd seen his real smile, I recognized when they were fake, like this one.
"Synthetic blood sits wrong in our stomachs sometimes," the doctor said, turning their gaze on me again. I preferred when they ignored me, to be honest. They were intense.
"I'll be fine once I finish this." Santa took another swig from his cup.
The doctor nodded. "It was nice to meet you, Boz." They gave me a smile that looked far more genuine than Santa's, and then they floated to the next conversation, their every movement more graceful than my earlier dance steps.
"They're intense," I said.
Santa almost choked on another swallow of blood. "They are. They were very interested in meeting you when I mentioned you at work."
"I must have failed the test," I whispered, trying to tamp down my excitement. Santa talked about me at work, but it probably meant nothing.
"On the contrary, I think you passed." He winked. "They would still be here trying to win me away from you if they thought they could."
"Oh." I glanced in the direction they went and caught them staring at me. They waved. "Huh."
Santa's words were still twisting through my mind. I had no excuse but my social anxiety to explain how slowly my brain connected the dots. The doctor and Santa had been lovers, and now they were concerned about Santa's wellbeing.
"I didn't label our relationship when they asked, but I'll be sure to let them know we're boyfriends now." He raised his cup in salute in the doctor's direction before taking a sip. "See? You passed."
I glanced in their direction again. They raised their middle finger toward Santa while they talked to another vampire in a full-length gown that blended with the shadows in the darkest corner of the room.
Greed appeared at Santa's elbow. "Come downstairs to Key's apartment."
She made a big deal of sneaking us out to the stairway, but Key and Harley watched us leave. Greed wanted to show Santa what they'd done with the coffin prop he'd given them, but Santa held up both hands, raising his cup, when she motioned him toward the door at the far end of the apartment.
"I'm sure they've decorated their playroom well enough," he said. "I don't need to see it."
Greed grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Youcan't tell me this human has changed you in a few short weeks. What's going on with you?"
"Why does something have to be going on with me when I choose not to violate my friends' privacy?"
"There's no violation," Key said, pushing the door open and motioning Harley and Ithande inside. "We're here now."
Santa shook his head. "Look, I don't know what's wrong with me, all right? I should want to see it and talk about old times for hours. I just … don't."
"What do you want to do?" Ithande asked. "We have board games, and a video game console."
Santa's grin looked more like a grimace. "I think I want to take Boz home."
That was news to me. We'd just gotten here. I was still working on my first plate of appetizers.
