22. Drinking Contest with the Hot Guy
22
Drinking Contest with the Hot Guy
You
“Deal,” you say before Ziros can back out and lose your once-in-a-lifetime chance at spending the night on a luxurious superyacht.
Both he and the blond guy turn and look at you.
“So what’ll it be—” Blondie says, taking a step closer. “Are you playing against me, or is he?”
You gulp, glancing at Ziros. Hoping it’s okay when you say, “I think it’ll be best if I let you two finish your game.”
Ziros frowns.
Oops.
He seemed perfectly content to have a little drinking contest before, but something in his demeanor has definitely changed.
Is it the stakes? Does he not like the idea of Mr. Blondie the Hot Vampire getting you? Um. Maybe you shouldn’t be okay with that, either, but to be fair…he is hot.
And it’s hard to argue with that.
Besides.
It’s not like Ziros would lose, anyway. Right?
He seemed so confident just a minute ago.
“Excuse us for a sec,” Ziros says, grabbing you by the shoulder and steering you to a quiet corner of the wooden pool deck. When you’re alone, he whispers, “Listen, human. That guy isn’t just a normal jerk. He’s a vampire jerk.”
You gulp. So you were right.
But somehow hearing it out loud makes it seem all the more real.
“So?” you whisper back, glancing over at the blond where he waits at the table, surrounded by other partygoers who laugh and flirt with him. He’s definitely popular.
Maybe that’s the hot vampirism doing its thing.
Does he have mind control? Is that why you’re suddenly so okay with this?
You gulp. That’s a scary thought.
“ So? ” Ziros repeats with a scoff. “So, it’s dangerous . He could kill you. Or worse—make you his blood slave.” He exhales hard, folding his arms. “But don’t worry, human.”
There he goes calling you that in public again.
Hopefully no one else can hear.
“I won’t lose. I never lose. But you should still be careful. Guys like him are trouble.” He starts to turn away, then stops. “Just do me a favor? Don’t make bets like that when I’m not around.”
With that, he turns and walks back to the table as two more servers bring out another round of drinks.
He must be drunker than you’d realized. That’s why he’s suddenly so protective, when before he didn’t seem to care about you at all.
Hopefully this will be okay.
“Alright, Blondie,” he says, leaning back in his seat. “Let’s do this thing.”
Corrine
—Somewhere in the Dark Streets—
I’m late.
How does this always happen!?
One minute I’ve got three hours to get ready, and the next I’m already forty minutes late.
But that’s okay—being late is fashionable, right?
Maybe not an hour late, but I’m doing my best here.
And I know a shortcut.
I don’t normally go this way late at night because everything is super dark, but hey, I’ve got mace. And I can probably kick some butt if I need to.
…I hope.
Because man, it sure is creepy down this dark alley.
Did I even go the right direction?
I could have sworn I took the correct turn, but the alley just keeps getting darker and creepier the further down it I walk.
And I keep feeling like someone is watching me.
You
What ever happened to Corrine , you wonder with a sudden start, halfway through your latest drink. In front of you, Ziros and the blond vampire are still battling away, downing drinks like they’re immune. And they must be. Mostly .
You pull out your phone, typing in a fuzzy frenzy, but your friend isn’t answering her texts.
Just when you’re about ready to try calling her, the door flings open and—out she walks, her mane of frizzy curls flying behind her as she sprints up to hug you.
“Juneeeeeie!” she calls, flinging her arms around you before pulling back and realizing what you’re wearing. “Oh my Goddddd , girl. First, you look hot . Nice suit. But second, oh my God . Because the craziest thing just happened to me.”
You blink.
She’s got so much energy. How is it even possible to have this much energy? Even for her, she seems awfully excited.
“Uh, are you okay?” You ask as she lets go, finally glancing around as if realizing that everyone is staring at you two.
Even Ziros and the blond vampire have stopped drinking to see what’s going on.
“I’m fine,” she says, lowering her voice as she adds, “ Now .”
“What happened?” With a glance back at Ziros, you pull her over to the side—but not so near the side that you’re anywhere close to the clear glass railing where you can see way too far down into the city streets so far below.
You shiver, remembering your last experience this high up a skyscraper.
“I got mugged ,” Corrine says. And she sounds way too excited about it.
“What?” You snap back to look at her. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“Oh, no. I’m fine.” She lets out a dreamy sigh. “All thanks to the mysterious hot guy who saved me. Oh, June! You should have been there.” She clasps her hands to her face dramatically, still starry-eyed.
Is she serious?
“You’re…excited that you got mugged?”
“No! Of course not.” She waves away your concern. “But they didn’t get anything. One second the scary creep had a knife to my throat, the next— bam ! This guy appears with actual fire streaming from his hands. And he punched the mugger out!” As she talks, she gestures wildly with her fists as if she’s beating someone up.
“With… fire ?” You repeat, still struggling to process this turn of events.
If it weren’t for Ziros and his wind skills, and also meeting the big scary blue guy, you’d probably not believe her right now. And also the sketchy disappearing bookstore and the magical cuff linking you to Ziros.
After all that, how much more far-fetched could a guy with fire coming out of his hands be?
“Wow,” you say, giving her a closer look. “You sure you’re okay?”
Her smile fades. “Junie! You don’t believe me?”
“No, I do. But that sounds terrifying.”
“It would have been, if it weren’t for Mysterious Hottie.” She sighs dramatically, hugging her arms around herself, and you aren’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned that she seems to be so carefree about it. “I didn’t get his name, but I hope I run into him again sometime soon.”
Is she lovestruck?
Either way, you’re glad she seems to be safe.
“Anyway,” she says, “Enough about me. I’m so glad you were able to make it! How’s the food?” She glances behind you to a table filled with artfully plated snacks. “Come on, let’s go get plates! And then we can hit the pool.”
You want to follow, but you glance back at Ziros. He and the blond vampire are still facing-off, and it’s subtle, but both of them seem to be slouching in their seats, leaning on the table a bit more like they’re actually feeling the alcohol now.
“You go ahead,” you say to Corrine. Nodding toward Ziros a little sheepishly, you say, “I actually brought someone. And I think I should check on him.”
“Wait.” She follows you over. “You didn’t tell me you had such a hot date!”
“He’s not her date,” the blond guy says, standing smoothly from his chair and slinging an arm around your waist.
You can practically feel the sparks sizzling as Ziros glares at him.
Blondie grins smugly. “He’s just her bodyguard.”
Has he perhaps figured out that Ziros is not actually your bodyguard? Either way, he seems to be enjoying doing whatever he can to get under Ziros’ skin.
You carefully slip out of Blondie’s grasp.
Corrine watches this entire exchange with raised eyebrows.
“ Bodyguard? ” she whispers, and you just shake your head, making a face that you hope she’ll interpret as, please don’t question it.
She shoots you back a look you can only guess means, girl, you are so telling me all the juicy details later .
Pulling you aside, she hisses, “ Please tell me he has a brother .”
“Actually, I do.”
You jump, and Ziros laughs, sliding his arm around your waist. His bare skin is hot against yours as he pulls you to his side, glaring at the blond vampire before he can reach you again.
Poor Blondie.
It’s his party and he isn’t bad looking at all, but somehow his uninvited guest is getting all the attention.
And you don’t even know the host’s real name.
He glares at Ziros.
“Aright,” he says coldly, making you shiver. “ Final round . I’m getting bored, so let’s spice it up. If you can survive this, you can have the yacht for the night.”
“ Survive ?” You repeat, grimacing between him and Ziros.
That can’t be good.
Maybe you should call this whole thing off—
But Ziros just laughs, sitting lazily back down at the table. “Fine. Bring it , pretty boy.”
The servers carry out two more bottles, and Ziros picks up his fresh glass with a grin
“ Finally ,” he says approvingly, taking a swig. “You’ve got out the good stuff.”
You watch with concern as Ziros and the blond vampire continue to drink amounts no human could. This definitely is not responsible consumption of alcohol, but neither of them seem particularly affected.
Until—
The blond guy stands…and stumbles, sliding to his knees on the ground. He gags, looking suddenly very ill. Like he’s going to throw up.
Oh, man. Poor dude.
Apparently even vampires have their limits. Maybe Ziros only managed to stay standing because he had practice surviving in that draining void all these years.
He’s strong, and not just in terms of magical alcohol tolerance. You glance at his chiseled abs and toned arms, a blush heating your face.
“ Alright ,” the blond guy chokes out with a glare at Ziros as two other guests help him back to his feet. “ Fine . You won this time.”
He glances at you as he regains himself.
“I’m a man of my word, so you’ll get your prize. But if you ever want to be mine—” He hiccups, still looking rather queasy for a moment before regaining himself. His eyes flash red. “Well, suffice to say, I can make the experience most enjoyable for both of us.”
When you were only just seconds away from hurling is probably not the best time to proposition someone, but kudos to him for shooting his shot?
Ziros glares, stepping protectively in front of you.
“Come on, ladies,” the blond says as three women surround him. “There’s no better cure for a hangover than fresh blood.”
Fresh blood? Wow. So he really is a vampire.
Wait.
Does that mean everybody here knows?!
You glance at Corrine to see if she caught that, but she’s busy filling up her already-towering snack plate with more food at the table a few yards away.
Suddenly you feel like the last person on the planet who didn’t know this was a thing. You’d always thought vampires were just fiction.
And—how did Corrine even get an invite to a swanky party like this, anyway?
“ Finally ,” Ziros mutters, leaning on the table with a groan as the blond vampire disappears back inside. “I thought he’d never leave.”
And there’s a slightly dazed look on his face.
Maybe the alcohol is getting to him more than he wants to let on.
You can still hardly believe it. He won!
You actually get to spend the night alone with him on a superyacht!?
“Come on!” Corrine calls from a few feet away as she sets her snack plate down on an empty little table. She strips off her shirt to reveal a red bikini beneath. “You’re gonna swim with me, right? The pool’s waiting!”
You glance back at Ziros, torn between wanting to make sure he’s okay and not wanting to disappoint your friend.
Before you can choose either, Jeeves the butler—if that’s actually his name—appears.
“One moment,” he says, holding out his business card politely with both white-gloved hands. “Please, take this. I will arrange your stay on the yacht.”
Wow . It still feels surreal.
And also suddenly real.
“We did it!” You exclaim as soon as he leaves, holding out the card for Ziros. “Well, you did it! I’m so excited—I can’t believe it!”
Ziros just leans back against the table, hands behind his head like he never had a doubt in the world.
“You ought to have more faith in me, human ,” he says with a grin, and his gaze lingers on your little gold bikini as he looks at you.
Or, more accurately, lingers on your curves beneath that little gold bikini.
You blush, wondering what he might be thinking.
Suddenly it hits you exactly what you’ve won. It’s not just a night on a luxury yacht. It’s a night with a hot guy on a luxury yacht. A hot guy who seems to like what he sees when he looks at you.
“Come on!” Corrine calls from the pool, already standing waist-deep in the shallow end between several other partygoers as they sip their drinks. “Whatcha waiting for!? The water’s great!”
You’re riding high on Ziros’ win, feeling confident in your little metallic gold bikini. So confident and hot that you want to show off a little.
“Hold my sunglasses,” you say, handing them over to Ziros as you strut across the deck, giving your hair a little toss as you line your toes up with the edge of the deep end and prepare to dive.
… before drunkenly remembering that you do not actually know how to dive .
Too late.
You manage a sort of half-flop, and you hit the water with a stinging whump .
But that’s not the worst part.
No.
You surface for air, coughing quietly as you try to hide the fact your bellyflop-dive-whatever that was didn’t go as planned.
Aaaaaand.
Crap.
Something feels different. Something feels…like it is missing.
Oh.
My.
God.
Your top is gone. Completely gone.
And to make matters worse, this pool is a lot deeper than you realized. You thought you’d be able to touch the bottom—not that you should have tried to dive into a pool that shallow, but you never did have swim lessons as a child, and don’t really know what you’re doing.
You cough again, simultaneously trying to keep your head above water while also trying not to look panicked as you frantically cover yourself. Trying not to draw any extra attention to your, uh, situation .
And…there’s your top, sinking down, down, down a few feet away.