Chapter 21 #2
“What do I do?” I ask when she sits down again. I eye the paper she hands me like it’s poisoned.
“You write down something we can act out. All the slips will go into a bowl, and we draw from that.” She turns to Zavier. “Keep it PG, you nasty boy.” He gives her an innocent look in return, but I see the devious sparkle in his eye.
Panic wraps around my lungs, and I hold my breath at how out of place I feel right now.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help,” she assures me. Her tongue sticks out slightly between her pouty lips—something I’ve noticed she does when she’s concentrating.
“Put down driving a car,” she whispers under her breath. “Uh … showering? Brushing your teeth? Just think of things that are easy to mime.”
“Mime?” My eyes widen in panic. There’s too much going on with this that I don’t understand.
“Act out. You can’t speak, so you have to use your body.”
I only have five slips of paper, so I use the ideas Ava gave me and on my own come up with walking a dog and putting on makeup. I’ve watched Ava do that enough that it should be easy to act out.
I realize this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought when all the ideas go into the same bowl and get mixed around. Based on the gleeful look Zavier sends our way, there’s no telling what the vampire has included.
“Don’t be nervous,” Ava whispers, giving my knee a pat. “It’s just a game.” Speaking to the rest of the group, she asks, “Rock, paper, scissors for who goes first?”
I’m not sure what that means, but Zavier jumps up with exuberance to participate. Ava stands and meets him in the middle of the living room, and they battle it out with random hand gestures until Zavier throws his hands in the air and cheers.
I take it that means he won.
Ava returns to her spot beside me while Zavier chooses a slip of paper from the bowl and acts out whatever is on it for his team. I have no idea what he’s doing with his hands.
“Making coffee!” Celine shouts out, and Zav shakes his head.
“Are you a barista?” Larry asks, the question laced with confusion.
Again, Zavier shakes his head and changes up what he’s doing. “Ooh!” Celine claps her hands. “Bartender!”
“Got it,” Zav shouts and takes his place back on the loveseat while smacking his palm loudly against hers.
Ava gets up and fishes through the bowl. She reads the paper and then acts like she’s putting something in her ears. Bobbing her head along to something we can’t hear, I try to figure out what she’s doing.
“Listening to music!” Linda shouts, pointing a finger at her daughter.
“Yes, that’s it!” Ava says excitedly.
And that’s how it goes, back and forth. I get by easy on my turns, pulling reading and painting nails. I have a feeling those are ones Ava might’ve supplied to make it easier on me. Despite my nerves, I find myself smiling and actually having fun.
A few rounds later, Zavier strolls up for another turn. He waves his hand in the bowl, but I track him sliding a piece of paper out of his sleeve and pretending to pull it. Nobody else notices the sleight of hand and I straighten, afraid of what he’s about to do.
“Larry and Linda, avert your eyes,” he warns. They look confused but hesitantly turn away.
Like a troublesome toddler, Zav smirks and forms a hole with one of his hands while straightening his pointer finger on the other. Pushing his finger into the hole in quick succession, I frown, not understanding what the hell he’s doing.
“Zav, I thought we said no lewd gestures,” Celine scolds.
“That’s not it!” he singsongs. “Ava, do you have a guess?”
“I don’t want to partake in your childish games,” she harumphs and crosses her arms.
“Since nobody wants to guess, I will tell you.” He leans forward conspiratorially and whispers. “It’s the fucking you two should be engaging in. I’m getting blue balls at this point.”
“Zavier!” Celine yells and he shrugs before sitting down for Larry’s turn.
Ava is a bright shade of red, and if I could blush, I’m sure I would be too. Envisioning sinking into her wet heat has me hardening on the couch, which is unacceptable with her parents in the same room.
God help me.
When the game is over, and my dick has deflated some, Linda insists on serving us all dessert that consists of homemade apple pie and vanilla ice cream.
Eventually, we all get ready for bed. Zavier and Celine are crashing on the pullout couch, and I’ll be taking the tiny trundle bed in Linda’s home office while Ava sleeps in her childhood bedroom.
I wait outside the bathroom for her to finish up.
Not because I need to use it, but because I want to see her before we go to bed.
When the door finally squeaks open, she startles when she spots me. I reach out and grab her elbow to steady her.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I wanted to say good night.”
“Oh.” A delightful pink warms her cheeks.
I like knowing I have some sort of effect on her, considering how she has me twisted in knots.
I’ve never felt the things I feel for her.
Attraction is new to me. For a long time, I felt my vampirism has been a curse, but having Ava as a mate is a gift. “Uh … good night.”
“Good night,” I repeat, eyes on her lips.
I’ve never kissed someone before Ava, and now I find myself thinking about her mouth all the time. The way she tastes, the little sounds she makes, the—
She cuts off my train of thought when she stands on her tiptoes and kisses my cheek.
“Sleep good,” she says softly, passing by me and stepping into her bedroom.
The door closes, and I remain until her scent fades.