Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) (24 page)

Gavin continued looking around the kitchen—everywhere except at Valerie.

“So, Gavin, you’re going to UAA?” I asked.

He glanced at me briefly. “Yeah.”

“Ever gone to college before?”

“No.”

“How do you like it so far?”

“It’s okay.”

Wow, quite the conversationalist. During our tantalizing exchange, Valerie downed half her beverage.

“It’s too quiet in here. Let’s go to the living room.”

I shrugged. “Fine by me.”

“But first I need a refill.” Valerie looked at my glass. “What about you, slowpoke?”

I rolled my eyes. “Is this a competition?”

“If it were, you’d be losing.” She doused her drink with more rum and attempted to do the same to mine, but I moved away too quickly. Valerie narrowed her eyes. “Killjoy.”

“I’m perfectly capable of having fun with my full senses intact,” I said.

“Yeah, you’re soooo much fun. You really let loose.” Valerie rolled her eyes. “Come on,” she said.

Gavin made no move to follow us into the living room. Valerie whipped her head around when she noticed and didn’t so much ask as demand, “Gavin, you coming?”

He stared at her a moment, back still resting against the kitchen counter. I watched, thinking a confrontation would take place, but, in the end, he stepped forward and joined us in the living room.

“Now let’s see what else is on,” Valerie said, picking up the remote and flipping through channels.

For several minutes, the TV flicked from channel to channel. Valerie only gave each one a few seconds before she moved onto the next.

“Or we could hang out and talk,” I suggested, getting tired of the constant flipping. I grabbed the ottoman in front of an armchair, set it beside the couch, and sat down.

“I need background noise,” Valerie said.

I looked at Gavin, who sat quietly on the opposite end of the couch. He studied the rim of his glass. After all the flipping, Valerie ended up reselecting the station with music videos.

She tossed the remote onto the coffee table. It landed with a clunk.

“My art professor has the hugest crush on me,” she announced.

“I didn’t know you liked art,” I said.

Valerie glared at me as though I’d interrupted her. “Art appreciation, basic requirement,” she said with annoyance. Her chest puffed up. “Anyway, he’s appreciating this work of art, let me tell you.” A smug smile returned to her face.

I glanced sideways at Gavin.

“He doesn’t care,” Valerie said, flicking her wrist in the air. “Older men have always been attracted to me. It’s a fact. Too bad Gavin looks so baby faced. If only he could have aged a bit longer before going vampire.”

Right, how inconsiderate of him to get sick at seventeen rather than at twenty-five.

I looked at Gavin. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything.

“How’s your homework load?” I asked Valerie.

She squinted at me and took several sips of her drink before answering, “Who wants to talk about homework? God, Aurora, you really do need to learn to live a little.” She pressed her back into the couch and emptied her glass. “Oh, Gavin,” she said in a sing-song voice. “Can you make me another?”

“Sure,” he said, standing quickly and snatching Valerie’s glass before heading to the kitchen.

“There,” Valerie said, sliding her palms against each other as though wiping them clean. “I figured he was making you uncomfortable. Now we can talk.” She leaned into the armrest. “So our professor is showing us slides of Ancient Greek art. He clicks to the Venus de Milo, which is like a world famous statue of Aphrodite—goddess of love and beauty. Anyway, he’s going on about how the statue is the epitome of female beauty and I look at him and he’s staring at me. I mean staring! I didn’t notice at first because, you know, like everyone else I’m watching the slides, but then I got this sixth sense like he wasn’t talking about the sculpture anymore. He was talking about me.” When Valerie finished she raised her brows.

Guess it was my turn to speak.

“Wow,” I said. “If that’s true, that’s really inappropriate.”

Valerie released an exasperated sigh. “It’s romantic! He didn’t grope me on my way out of class or look down my shirt when I turned in my assignment. He compared me to Aphrodite! Can you at least acknowledge that the man paid me the greatest compliment on the planet?”

Or I could point out that he hadn’t actually paid her a compliment. He’d glanced at her while talking about a sculpture. He probably looked around regularly to make sure his students were paying attention.

“Are you sure he wasn’t just making sure you were listening?” I asked.

“I know what I saw,” Valerie said, lifting her head. “It’s nice to be appreciated. When we first started going out Gavin would surprise me with flowers. Now, nothing. He’s never been articulate, but at least he used to tell me I looked pretty.” Valerie stopped talking a moment to huff. “Pretty,” she repeated in disgust. She sat up straight. “Goddess. Professor Alexander called me a goddess.” Her face froze as she stared into space with a wistful smile on her lips. Valerie almost looked like a statue, maintaining the pose as long as she did.

I couldn’t imagine going out with her. Spending time with her was challenging enough.

How long did it take Gavin to pour a drink? Couldn’t blame him for drawing it out.

I looked over Valerie’s shoulder and saw him in the kitchen—not pouring a drink—but talking to Noel. She appeared to be in the process of making a sandwich. There was a loaf of bread, jar of mayonnaise, block of cheese, head of lettuce, and a tomato beside the cutting board.

Gavin flicked a strand of Noel’s hair. She laughed and went back to whatever she’d been cutting. Gavin joined her, pressing up against her shoulder. Noel bumped against him and he bumped back.

Those two certainly got chummy fast. Maybe Gavin realized a seductress, like a carnival ride, was only exciting for so long before it made the passenger sick.

I didn’t realize I’d been staring until Valerie locked onto my eyes and followed their direction into the kitchen.

Her body tensed.

“Gavin!” she yelled. “Get in here!”

The smile fell from Gavin’s face. He didn’t move.

Valerie stood up.

Noel whispered something into Gavin’s ear right before she grabbed a plate and strode down the hallway, leaving before Valerie closed in.

12

I kept my seat on the ottoman, listening to the tunes coming from the TV. From the corner of my eye, I saw Valerie toss up her arms in the kitchen and point in the direction where Noel disappeared.

Gavin’s lips remained firmly pressed in a tight frown. At one point I heard Valerie’s voice through the music when she yelled, “Don’t just stand there. Say something!”

But Gavin’s mouth didn’t open. Instead, he turned and stormed down the hallway. The front door slammed shut, sending a slight tremor through the walls.

Drama. Drama. Drama.

Valerie returned to the living room. She flopped into the middle of the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. “Good riddance,” she grumbled.

I raised a brow. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Paradise.” Valerie snorted. “There’s no such thing.”

“Well, at least we agree on something.”

Valerie flipped around to face me. “Did you see that?”

Valerie treating Gavin like her personal slave? Gavin flirting with Noel? Gavin storming out? Yeah, I had eyes.

I shook my head slightly not sure which of these Valerie wanted to focus on.

“I tell you, my art professor has the hots for me, and what does Gavin do? Nothing. Does he have anything to say about it? Nope.” Valerie twisted her wrist in the air. “I bet I could have told you my art teacher backed me up against his desk and fucked my brains out and Gavin still wouldn’t have said a god damn word.”

“Maybe he’s not the jealous type.”

Valerie narrowed her eyes. “Or maybe he’s the ‘doesn’t give a shit’ type.”

“Real keeper,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Valerie snorted. “I’ll say. Real find that one. He’s a flea is what he is. A real man would take a swing at my prof or threaten him at the very least. But not Gavin.” Valerie stared at the TV.

I cleared my throat. “So are you going to break up with him?”

Valerie turned away from the TV. “Yeah, right. Noel would love that. Like I’m going to hang around here watching those two pet and slobber over each other. Oh, they’re a perfect match all right, but that’s not happening. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Typical Valerie. The vixen would stay with a guy just to keep him away from another woman.

“That’s gotta suck, though,” I said. “Going out with a guy you’re not really into.”

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, like I don’t have practice.”

Fane? I wondered, or rather wished. The way Valerie talked about him at the Juneau airport convinced me she’d had real feelings for him. She’d flip her lid if she knew he’d shown up at the house. Far better that Dante found us together.

“I need another drink,” Valerie announced before standing. “Bastard didn’t even fix me my rum and Coke. Want another?”

“I haven’t even finished my first,” I said, lifting my glass.

“Well, drink up because I’m not leaving until you finish that one.”

While Valerie was in the kitchen, I poured half my drink into the nearest potted plant.

“That’s more like it,” Valerie said, looking at my glass when she returned. “Bottoms up,” she said before guzzling a good third of her drink.

A sudden thought occurred to me. “Are you going to be okay to drive?”

“Not a chance,” Valerie said. “And since you don’t drive I’ll have to stay the night.” She smirked.

Minx! It was one thing to have Valerie over for the occasional social visit, but I had most certainly not agreed to sleepovers. This was supposed to be my house, my haven. I didn’t want to wake up to Valerie. I wanted my toast, tea, and quiet time before heading off to school.

Valerie gave the cushion a bounce. “This couch will do fine.” Her lips twisted into a mischievous grin. “Unless you want to make Selene jealous and invite me into your bed.”

“Or I could call you a cab.”

“No way. I don’t have any cash.”

“Won’t your guardian worry?”

“I’ll tell her I’m spending the night with Gavin. Wouldn’t be the first time, and since it’s “work related” she can’t say a word.” Valerie smirked.

I stared at Valerie trying to think of a way to get her out of the house. She kept smiling, sure she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Just this once,” I said. “But you need to move your car so Noel can get out in the morning.”

Valerie grinned. “Whatever you say, Aurora, but don’t blame me if I accidentally hit her car, being as I’m impaired.”

“Forget it,” I said. “I’ll move it.” I stuck out my hand. “Give me your keys.”

“So now you drive?” Valerie asked dubiously.

“Your keys,” I repeated.

“They’re in my purse on the kitchen counter.” She resumed drinking making it clear she wouldn’t fetch them for me. Ungrateful wench. She was more like Medusa than Aphrodite.