Seth
And he didn’t want to, did he? Not even close.
He could keep pretending they were just dating, that flirtation and attraction were slowly building into something more.
But the truth was that there was nothing slow about the way he was falling hard for this vampire.
This man who was barely more than a boy.
A boy who’d been so lonely and so scared and who had so much love he was aching to give.
Riley deserved to know it didn’t take time and effort to love him. It wasn’t difficult at all. He wasn’t a monster or a burden. He was…
“What do you think about a book club?”
Violet took a contemplative sip of her coffee before answering. “Here?”
“Yeah. Once a month, maybe.”
“What kind of books?”
Seth shrugged. He wasn’t much of a reader, honestly. That was more Riley’s thing. Seth was just going to be the evil genius using Riley’s hobbies against him to force him to socialize. But that seemed like too much of a mouthful to admit at the moment. “Not sure.”
Violet gave him one of her discerning looks. “I want veto power.”
“You’ll come?” Seth asked with surprise. He hadn’t taken her for the book club type. He knew she read—she must, if she wrote so much—but she didn’t seem like a joiner.
“If it’s not too lame.”
Seth absently greeted one of his semiregulars, a quiet guy somewhere in his early twenties who usually came in a few times a week. He had sleepy brown eyes and wore anime shirts and kept his tightly coiled black curls cropped short.
“You think other people will come?” Seth asked Violet under his breath. “I want Riley—I mean, I want us both to socialize a little.”
“I can get you Luke,” Violet told him, her tone the same as if she were telling him she could procure him a particularly rare cut of meat. “He’s my uncle, you know.”
Seth did not know. He gaped at her. “What?”
But Violet was already moving on. “And Mr. Evans. He teaches PE and coaches, like, football or something stupid at the high school. I have dirt on him.”
“You have dirt?” Seth asked, unable to help the shrill edge to his voice. “Should—should I be concerned?”
“Not for me,” Violet said ominously. She arched her brows. “You know who I mean, right? Big, gruff, has a beard.”
Seth’s lumberjack regular, she meant. He was gruff. Seth wouldn’t necessarily classify him as rude, but he definitely wasn’t chatty, and he’d never officially introduced himself.
“Okay, yeah, I know who you mean. Who else?” Seth asked eagerly. Against his better judgment, he was kind of getting into it now. Who wouldn’t be fascinated by the mysterious connections of this teenager?
Violet turned sharply to their customer. “Hey. You.” The guy froze in the act of quietly perusing the pastries, his sleepy brown eyes going wide and alert. Violet scanned him up and down. “Wanna join our book club?”
Seth had apparently forgotten to go over some of the basics during training—mainly that no one should be addressing any customers as Hey You.
But the guy didn’t act offended, although he stayed frozen for another long moment before answering, “Um…okay?”
“Perfect.” Violet gave him a sharp nod. “We’ll put up a sign on the board. Look for it or I’ll find you where you live.”
“Oh my God,” Seth muttered. He hastily put three of the giant cookies the guy had been eyeing into a bag. “On the house. I promise it’ll be fun.”
Violet’s shell-shocked victim took the bag and left without another word. Seth probably should have asked for his name, if only to find out to whom he needed to address his apology letter.
He sighed heavily, casting a sidelong look at his new protégé. “You didn’t have to resort to blackmail with that one?”
His sarcasm was completely lost on Violet. Or maybe she just didn’t care. She only shrugged, downing the rest of her coffee in one gulp. “He’s too new. Only moved here a couple months before you.”
Seth thought of other newcomers in town, the man in the suit coming to mind. “Hey, what do you know about this research institute?” he asked. “Any news there?”
“No. But they’ve made their way into my fanfiction.” A savage light entered Violet’s eyes. “Hannibal has them over for dinner.”
The rest of the day passed as quickly as it could with a certain vampire’s noticeable absence. Luke and Colby showed up later in the morning, and Violet immediately pounced on Luke.
Seth was quickly learning that once she set her sights on recruiting for something, she was merciless.
Luke had seemed hesitant about the book club until Violet had told him she’d get her mom to babysit Colby, and then he was all for it.
“Anything for a night with grown-ups.” He had given Seth a hopeful look. “Am I allowed to bring beer?”
Seth had shrugged. “As long as I’m not selling it, it’s cool under event rules. I may need to get a permit, but I’ll check.”
A little booze probably wasn’t the worst idea anyway. They were going to be a motley crew, and a little social lubricant never hurt.
As Seth closed down his bakery, the first twinges of real excitement ran through him. He was getting into this idea, not just for Riley, but for himself.
Seth was a social creature by nature, and with all his focus on Riley, he’d been letting his well run a bit dry.
Interactions with his customers were great, but they weren’t enough on their own.
And, to be honest, it had been so long since he’d had to work for this kind of community that the challenge was a bit of a thrill.
He wasn’t guaranteed friends and companions here due to a lifetime spent in the same town—he had to earn them.
And that was nothing if not a worthwhile endeavor.
By the time he got home, Seth was still riding high off the anticipation, even though he hadn’t heard from Riley yet. Maybe his new vampire boyfriend was still sulking at being made to leave this morning.
Seth eyed his running shoes, waiting so hopefully by his front door. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to get a little run in. He was getting woefully out of the habit, and the longer he delayed, the harder it would be to get back into it.
The sky was gray, and the air was cold, but there was no sign of rain, so Seth suited up in as many layers as he could tolerate, stuck his wireless headphones in his ears, and went out the door.
On the other side of his house from his one neighbor, there was what looked to be a game trail leading into the woods. Seth had no idea where it ended—it was possible it was going to dead-end and leave him short a decent run—but now seemed as good a time as any to find out.
He’d been trudging along for about ten minutes, trying not to be disheartened by how heavy his breathing had already gotten, when he felt it. A…presence, maybe. The sense that someone was watching him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.
Seth had a good idea who it might be.
“I know you’re out there,” he called softly.
Nothing.
When Riley didn’t answer his taunt, Seth stopped, stepping to the side of the trail to catch his breath while he waited for whatever kind of game this was to reveal itself. He took out his phone from his pocket to pause his music.
Seth frowned down at the screen. That was odd. There was a text from Riley, one he’d missed while jogging.
Delayed. I’ll be over in the morning. Promise.
Seth hadn’t realized Riley was such a stoic texter. He’d expected more exclamation marks, maybe a few emojis thrown in here and there. Definitely multiple hearts per text, at the very least. But then, Riley hadn’t had a lot of practice communicating with anyone, had he?
But that wasn’t the odd part. Seth’s frown deepened as he reread Riley’s message.
Because if Riley was stuck with his moms, who or what had Seth just called out to?
Seth peered through the trees around him, not sure what he was even looking for. Were there mountain lions here? Bears? Should he have looked up wild animal safety before going off on his own in the woods?
But he didn’t find any clues from looking. Every now and again, a shadow in the dense foliage had his heart skipping a beat, but in the end, there was nothing. No one.
Maybe Seth was imagining things. Maybe he’d gotten so used to being watched by Riley that he was making up the sensation in Riley’s absence.
Still, if Seth turned around right now, that would be a good, twenty-minute run right there. He could call it a day without being too ashamed of his athleticism. Maybe once he got back to his street, he’d head down the road a little bit, get some steps in while civilization still surrounded him.
Maybe it was silly to be so spooked by nothing, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious, right?
Seth didn’t restart his music. Instead, he popped his headphones out of his ears and put them in his pocket, leaving him free to catch the sounds of the forest. He wanted all his senses on alert, just in case. He turned and started back the way he’d come.
The lack of music meant Seth caught the sound immediately when a twig snapped behind him.
Seth whirled around, but before he could see what had made the noise, there was thick fabric covering his face, blocking his mouth and nose.
He panicked, trying to thrash out and dislodge the cloth—he couldn’t breathe—but strong arms had already wrapped around him, trapping his arms by his side.
Seth was aware of harsh breathing coming from somewhere. A chemical scent that burned his throat and his eyes as he hyperventilated into whatever was covering his face. His stomach roiled. His hands went numb.
And then, nothing at all.