I Accidentally Hooked Up with a Vampire (Accidents Happen #2)

10. Call in the Girls

10

Call in the Girls

“ W hat the hell took you so long?” I swung the door open.

“Girl. I got here as soon as I could.” Lena stumbled into my door. “I didn’t even stop to get Jackie. She’s going to be pissed. You know she hates driving near the water.”

“Yeah, I’ll get her some sushi to shut her up.” I poked my head out of the door to make sure she hadn’t been followed and shut it. “Shit got real weird last night, and you’re the only person I think would even come close to believing me right now.”

“Okay, I’m all ears, but can this story come with some coffee?” She stretched her arms over her head and went to pet Maverick. “I had the longest night, and they didn’t even have coffee on the plane. How do they expect people to function like that?”

“Damn the coffee,” I fussed but headed straight to the counter to start the grinder because I honestly needed a healthy dose of caffeine my damn self. “You know Domino?”

“Yes, what about him?” She smacked her head. “Wait, how was the date? I can’t believe we didn’t get the details. Sorry, girl, it's been so busy.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know you’ve been on the move, and we both know how Jackie vanishes for days when she’s in her creative bag.” I leaned on the counter. “The date was okay. We had good food, a weird interaction with one of his friends, came back here, fucked, and oh, he offered me a job. But that’s not the point right now. That’s not why I asked you to come over.”

“I’m sorry. What could possibly be more important than all that? What friends? Where did you go to eat? How was the sex? What’s the job?” She abandoned her efforts to pet Maverick, who refused to come down from his tower. “Remember, I said details, not bullet points!”

“Lena, please, focus!” I snapped my fingers in her face.

“You’re telling me to focus, but you’re all over the place, dropping bombs in my lap like I’m supposed to ignore them.” Lena peered at me over her glasses. “Remember, I haven’t had coffee yet.”

“Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry.” I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose to help calm myself. “This is just some freaky shit, and honestly, I thought you would be the only one to believe me.”

“I’m listening.” She sat at the counter. “Freaky is the cornerstone of my world. Lay it on me!”

The grinder chimed to remind me of the beans I’d been preparing. I transferred the fresh grounds to the brewer, checked the water levels, and started the machine before answering her question.

“Okay, so it started after our date. The next morning, to be exact. I wanted to watch the security recordings because Maverick attacked him when he came in. Only when I watched them… Wait, it's better if I show you.”

I picked up my phone and opened the app where the videos were stored. After opening the recording of Maverick’s attack, I handed the phone to her. “Look!”

“What am I looking at?” She frowned as the video continued playing. “Hold up. Why is Maverick attacking the wall?”

“He’s not!” I pointed at the screen. “Look closer.”

“It looks like he’s floating in the air.” Lena squinted. “What the hell?”

“He wasn’t floating. He was attacking Domino, only you can’t see Domino there, can you?” I tapped the screen. “I’m not crazy. He’s not there!”

Lena’s eyes shifted between the phone screen and me. Her face turned red, as if she already knew what I was going to say. But I highly doubted she could ever figure it out, so I blurted it out.

“Lena, believe me. What I’m going to say sounds insane. I know it, but trust me, I’m not losing my mind.” I grabbed her by the shoulders because I was sure she would fall out. “Domino is a vampire.”

“Vampire.” Lena took a deep breath before putting my phone down on the counter.

“Yes.” I glanced at the bedroom door. “He’s a vampire, and he’s in my room.”

She put her hands on her hips and paced the floor. “You have a vampire in your room?”

“The man is cold as ice. Frozen solid and sleeping,” I explained. “The sun came up, and he went down.”

She pointed to my bedroom door. “In there?”

“Yes.” I sighed. “Lena, please trust me.”

“Whitney, I trust you.” Lena glanced at Maverick, who huffed and jumped on the couch. “If you say there is a vampire in there, then there is.”

“I called you because I thought you could… I don’t know. Help me figure out what to do.”

“Why would you think I can help you figure out what to do about a vampire?” She let out a shaky laugh and looked at Maverick again.

“You write about this shit.” I narrowed my eyes at her, only to notice how fidgety she was becoming. She started fluttering her eyes, which was something she only did when she lied. The girl could never play poker, because her eyes always told when she was trying to bluff.

“Meaning what?” She looked away from me. “Girl, it’s made up!”

“Clearly not, because there is a damn vampire in my bed!” I threw my hand on my hip and tapped my foot. “Okay, something’s up. Why are you blinking so much?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She pointed to the coffeemaker. “Is that ready yet?”

“Lena, you only blink like that when you’re hiding something.”

“Or maybe I blink a lot when my friend says she has a vampire in her room.” Her hands flew up, her curls bouncing wildly around her face, making her gesture seem even more dramatic. “I don’t know. It’s never happened before.”

“Right.” I moved closer to the door. “You want to see him? Maybe that will help you believe me.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” She stepped back. “I mean, I trust you, girl. If you say it’s a vampire, then it’s a vampire.”

“Well, I don’t know what to do. He’s not the only one.”

“Of course not.” She nodded slowly. “Because one vampire isn’t enough, right?”

“Two others showed up here last night,” I reported the incident as Maverick yawned with boredom. “He fought them off, but apparently, I’m in trouble now.”

“What, do you have special blood or something?” Lena laughed. “That’s always the trope.”

I said nothing.

“Did he really say that to you?” Suddenly, the nervous edge disappeared from her voice, and she looked afraid.

“You have to see him.” I yanked her arm, pulling her along with me, and raced towards the bedroom door.

I opened the door and pushed her inside, shutting it quickly behind me. The sun was out, and I didn’t want to risk it affecting him. Domino was exactly as I left him: fast asleep, under the cover, and looking dead as a damn doorknob.

“Holy shit.” Lena put her hand over her mouth. “He’s a vampire.”

“See!” I pointed. “I know this is fucked up, but now that you see him, I feel so much better.”

“I- Whit, this is bad.” Lena looked at me. “He shouldn’t be here.”

“You believe they’re real now, right?”

“Well, duh, bitch.” She ran her hands over her forehead, pushing the curls out of her face. “I’ve always known they were real. They just weren’t supposed to end up in my best friend’s bed.”

“Hold on” I pushed her back out of the room. I didn’t know if Domino could hear us, but it felt weird standing over the bed and talking about him like he wasn’t there. “What the hell do you mean? You always knew they were real?”

“Whit, I come from a magical family. Just because I didn’t practice doesn’t mean I don’t know about the shit.” She pushed Maverick aside on the couch and sat down. “Vampires are one of the first things they teach us about.”

“So why act like you didn’t know?”

“Because we're supposed to deny the shit. How do you think these secrets are kept? We deny, erase memories, and in extreme cases, commit people to psych wards.”

“You can erase my memory?” I pointed at my head. “Bibbity boppity make Whitney forget this shit?”

“Not me. I don't practice magic,” Lena snapped at me. “I told you that. But there are people who could make you forget any of this exists.”

“Okay, so we do that. Simple enough. Sign me up!”

“Yeah, except then you'll be walking out there unaware that there are vampires who know you have special blood and are out there hunting your silly ass down,” she shot down my idea.

“Shit, you're right.” I rolled my shoulders as she knocked down my option for a peaceful escape. “OK, so all this supernatural magical shit is real. Now what do I do?”

“The hell if I know. I told you, girl; I don't deal with any of this stuff,” Lena brushed me off.

“Maybe not, but you know a lot more than I do.” I narrowed my eyes at her, because she started that rapid blinking bullshit again.

“True, but I'm still not trying to get involved.” She looked out the window and fixed herself as if someone was watching. Unless they had a powerful pair of binoculars, they couldn’t see her.

“I'm sorry, but at this point, you're involved. You held your party at a venue run by vampires. I then fucked one of those vampires. The vampires know about me, which means they know about you. And if they're digging into my past, maybe they're digging into yours. And soon enough, they're going to find out about your witchy bloodline.”

“Damn it, I don't want to be the sacrifice or magical best friend in this shit.” Lena paused. “Wait, you’re the one who booked the venue! Don’t put that shit on me.”

“Okay, you weren’t supposed to pick up on that. But it doesn’t matter, my witchy friend. I suggest you help me find a way to deal with all of this.”

“We need Jackie.” Lena nodded.

“Why?”

“Because we're a trio, and if I gotta deal with this fuck shit, so does she.” She reached into the pocket of the plaid vest she wore over a tight black shirt.

“Girl, that's just petty.” I laughed. “But do it.”

“It is.” She pulled out her phone, dialed Jackie's number, then waited for our friend to answer. “You need to get your ass to Whitney’s house now. How fast can you get here? There's a problem with the crazy man.”

Lena hung up the line.

“She’s on her way.”

“She's going to kick your ass.” I laughed as the coffee maker chimed.

“Good thing I got so much of it. Maybe it won't hurt as much.” Lena stood and smacked her ass. “Now make my coffee wench!”

It took Jackie exactly thirty-seven minutes to get to my place, which meant she’d broken more than a few traffic laws to make it to me.

Jackie pounded on the door, and as soon as I opened it, she came storming inside. “Where’s the asshole?”

“See, I told you she would come ready to fight,” I yelled at Lena, who sipped her coffee.

“Shit, we might need a fighter.” Lena put her cup down. “Hey, Jackie, good to see you.”

“What’s going on?” Jackie adjusted the bonnet on her head. “You bitches got me out the house looking a fool. It better be worth it.”

“You want to tell her or should I?” I looked around Jackie at Lena.

“It’s your twisted love life!” Lena laughed. “You do the honors.”

“Bitches.” Jackie smacked her hands together in our faces. “I barely brushed my teeth and I’m still wearing a bonnet. What the hell is going on?”

“Quick rundown, Domino’s a vampire with enemies who want to drain my blood, and he’s in my bed, currently in a frozen sleep state,” I spit out the most ridiculous explanation I could fathom.

I expected her to threaten our lives for playing a joke on her and head out the door with a promise of another sushi boat. But she didn’t. Jackie turned to look at Lena with a serious expression on her face. She then spoke with an air of disgust she’d reserved for the scummiest of men. “Vampire?”

“Yep.” Lena sighed. “He’s in the bedroom.”

“How?” Jackie balled her fist at her side.

“I wish I knew.” Lena sighed. “These things happen.”

“They aren’t supposed to happen to her, Lena!” Jackie scowled.

“Hold up. Why are you not freaking out?” I looked between the two of them. “You both knew about this?”

Jackie held her hand up to silence me then stomped over to the bedroom door. With no fear, she walked into the room.

“Vampire, huh? Only one way to be sure.” She walked over to the window and pulled the curtain back just enough to let a small beam of sunlight enter. The light hit Domino’s forehead, and his skin instantly sizzled.

“What are you doing?” I ran over and shielded Domino’s face with the cover. “Close it!”

“Yep, he’s a vampire.” She dropped the curtain and headed back out of the room.

I pulled the cover back to see the minor injury had already healed. Once I was sure he wouldn’t burst into flames, I followed Jackie back out of the bedroom, but she had already left the apartment.

“Where did she go?” I asked Lena, who had returned to her coffee.

“Oh, she’ll be back.” She pointed at the door. “Just wait.”

“Right.” I sighed. “Are you going to explain any of this?”

“Yeah, yeah. After my coffee.” Lena looked at her phone. “I probably need to have them reschedule my next few weeks. This is going to be a problem.”

Twenty minutes later, the door swung open, and Jackie stood there with a black duffel bag in one hand and a damn stake in the other.