Chapter 8 Sam #2
I waved a hand quickly between us. “Don’t worry about that.” I was committed to my original line of thought, not his cover story. “No, I meant before that.” I put the final bite of burger into my mouth and watched him as I chewed.
He was quiet for a while then the faintest of smiles lingered on his lips. “I barely remember.” A drawl that wasn’t usually present in his speech colored it and gave a hint at some of his memories. “I don’t remember a time I wasn’t a fighter.”
“Wars?” I didn’t want to say too much in case he might finally speak of his own accord. I didn’t want to interrupt him, to stop him. Even the chatter of the other customers seemed to fade, become muted background noise, as I focused solely on Kyle, willing him not to stop.
“So many wars,” he confirmed.
“World War One?” I sipped at his shake after I spoke, trying not to give away my intense desire to know.
He laughed, the sound sharp and unfamiliar.
Almost out of practice, like he didn’t do it very often.
“Civil.” He leaned forward. “I was turned by a rogue. It was a messy, bloody time in my life.” He stopped talking again and it was all I could do not to prompt him.
“I’ve fought on the wrong side, I think, just as often as I’ve fought on the right one, but I lived for the fight.
The strategy, the successes. I’ve learned a lot.
” Then he looked me in the eye. “And kept learning. Every battle, every war. New technology, better strategies.”
“Military man even now?” I kept my questions brief.
He looked the part. He always had.
He nodded in confirmation. “It’s what I do best.” And he didn’t even sound boastful. Just like he meant what he said, like he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
I could see that. “But so many wars…” It was like he’d lived lifetimes. Hell, the man sitting in front of me had lived lifetimes.
Actual hundreds of years. So much life.
So much fucking death.
He nodded. “A lot of war. And it seems like they don’t stop.” He shook his head, but he didn’t add to his thought, and silence fell between us again.
I pushed my empty plate away. Esmé would be wondering where I was.
“Let’s get you home.” Kyle stood, and as I fumbled in my purse for money for the food, he dropped more bills than necessary on the table.
Like a proper date.
I looked up at him, but he didn’t even glance in my direction as he strode toward the door.
He was waiting by the car by the time I reached it, by the passenger side this time, and I was kind of glad.
He smelled nice and sitting next to him was a pleasure I hadn’t really expected to experience again.
It was bittersweet, considering how close I was to the end and how different everything could have been. Life wasn’t fucking fair.
But maybe Naomi could help. I only had hope left, though, and sometimes hope hurt.
Kyle didn’t speak at all in the car, and I glanced at him every so often, watching the play of streetlights across his face.
He maintained his stare out the windshield, and it was on the tip of my tongue to ask what he was thinking, but that was too intimate for our situation.
He didn’t volunteer anything, and it wasn’t my place to probe after all the things he had told me.
It had almost felt like a connection, something I’d never expected with a vampire.
“Kyle?” I used his name like a question before I could stop myself. “Can you do me a favor?”
He glanced at me, his expression the usual neutral. He didn’t invite any more speech, but neither did he prohibit it. That was probably as good as his encouragement got, to be honest.
“Do you mind if we swing by my mom’s? I know she’d… she’d…” She’d love to meet him. Except I couldn’t say that. We were only pretending to date, and to indicate I thought otherwise made me delusional. “I know she’d get a kick out of you,” I finished.
I watched him, waiting for his reply, but I didn’t hold my breath. I mean, why would I? That would only result in a much quicker death than I’d been anticipating. Here lies Sam, who expired waiting for an answer from Kyle.
Not the greatest epitaph ever written, but maybe it beat the one about me being a thrall.
But he nodded.
And the surprise that stole my breath anyway gave way to a warm glow somewhere in the middle of my chest. Around heart position. I rubbed my hand over it.
You sure? I wanted to ask him so badly, but I didn’t dare. What if his head nodding turned into shaking? Instead, I didn’t speak again. I just shoved the car into gear and peeled out of the parking lot.
The only way he could disagree now was to throw himself from a moving vehicle.
When we pulled up outside Mom’s, I turned to him, about to give him a chance to change his mind, but he was already out of the door and making his way to my side of the car. This made no sense.
What guy in his right mind agreed to meet his fake girlfriend’s mother after the first real fake date?
But maybe I shouldn’t question it. Would meeting Kyle make Mom happy? Hell to the yeah. So, I just needed to suck up my doubts and make Mom happy the one last time I could. I owed her that much, right? After all the years and Sean… And she’d lost Dad. I could bring her Kyle and she’d be happy.
For me.
She’d be happy for me, and I wanted that. I wanted Mom happy.
I rang the doorbell and stepped back next to Kyle, who wrapped his arm around me, and I leaned against him, my body conforming to his as if I’d never belonged anywhere else.
The light above the front door flickered on, and the locks on the inside clicked open. Then Mom appeared, her face already wreathed in smiles as she looked at me.
“Sam!” Every time she said my name, she sounded so happy that I couldn’t help but be happy too.
“Hey, Mom.” I was suddenly shy.
“Sam and…” Mom looked at Kyle expectantly, not shy at all.
“Kyle, ma’am.” His drawl was back, and I grinned just a little bit.
Mom opened the door wide and stepped back. “Well, don’t just stand there on my doorstep. Come in.”
I glanced at Kyle. Perhaps this was a favor too far, but he simply walked us forward, into the house I loved.
“We haven’t got long, Mom.” I had to get back to Esmé.
“Oh, I imagine not, a pair of young things out on the town. I remember those days.” She blushed a little as if she really was remembering those days before looking at Kyle again. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
Kyle shook his head. “No, thank you.”
“We’ve just come from dinner.” I probably didn’t need to clarify but Mom’s smile widened farther.
“Dinner.” She said the word on a breath like it was some sort of exotic event. “How truly lovely.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Yeah, it was pretty nice.”
And it had been. It had been the most perfect glimpse into what my life could have been like if I hadn’t thrown it all away when I’d thought I was doing the right thing by saving the life of another.
Kyle humored Mom for thirty minutes, and we sat together in her small living room, Kyle’s hand reassuringly on my knee, his gaze affectionate and smiley. It was like spending time with a different guy. A very tempting guy. I hoped I didn’t lose him when we left.
But I couldn’t guarantee he’d stay.
So, for this moment, I chose to let this be enough.
Eventually, I glanced at the clock. Esmé could be raising hell looking for me by now. It was time to go.
I half rose and Kyle followed, mimicking my movements.
“We should go, Mom.” I didn’t need to fake the note of apology in my voice.
She took my hands in hers and squeezed my fingers meaningfully. “Come back soon,” she said.
I hoped for soon.
Kyle leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “It’s been lovely to meet you.”
Mom simply nodded and opened the door for us, allowing Kyle out first. She took my arm gently. “He’s perfect,” she whispered, and I blinked back tears.
I drove Kyle back to his place in silence.
I barely even heard his breathing, but I understood most vampires only did that out of habit, anyway, so maybe he wasn’t bothering at all.
Perhaps I should have thanked him, but I didn’t want to interrupt his quiet, and I didn’t know if I could find all the words I needed.
I stole a look at him as I drew up to the curb outside his crappy apartment. It was like we were having a contest to race to the bottom with how squalid our living conditions were. I’d barely rolled to a stop before Kyle had his seatbelt off and door open, one leg already outside.
“Thanks,” he muttered then suddenly leaned back to press a fleeting kiss to my cheek.
But the door was closed again, and he was by his apartment before I could reply.
I shook my head. He made no sense. He’d spoken fairly openly earlier, and he’d been wonderful at Mom’s…
a model boyfriend. I couldn’t have asked for better.
No one could have made Mom happier. I thought we’d made progress…
Only now, he was as distant as ever, leaving me with one kiss to savor as he acted out his part of our deception.
I touched my cheek with my fingertips, as if I’d feel a mark his kiss had left behind.
I sighed as I pulled back out onto the street.
It was quiet back here. The kind of deceptive quiet that seemed peaceful but was only a finely balanced watchfulness.
Like anything could happen. I shuddered.
I was in a bad place all around, and I needed to find my way out from under Esmé and away from the Blackbloods.
I was no longer in a position to be picky about how I did that.