Page 25

“Precisely,” Ren said. “You really killed it last night, you know? It was nice not to have to spend all night looking over your shoulder.”

“I bartended my way through college—some things you just never forget, I guess. Besides, it was all so second nature that by the end I was even having fun.”

‘That’s good to hear; it’ll be even busier tonight. Saturday is our last night of the week, so it's always a mess.” She stopped us to wait at a red light, cutting a look at me sidelong. “You’re really a Nightwalkers fan?”

“Massive,” I said with a little laugh. “Had a poster in my bedroom of the team and everything when I was a kid.”

“Ever seen a game in person?”

“Not in a long time,” I admitted. “I bought season’s tickets before I lost my job, but I’ve been selling my seats for the extra cash all year.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “Real shame. We’ll have to fix that.”

I looked up at her, the lights from the movie theatre across the street illuminating her profile.

It wasn’t normal night down here in the Lower City, given that you couldn’t see the moon or the stars. It was more like total and complete darkness, broken up by vignettes of carefully styled businesses—mostly owned by vampires—lit up to draw the eye.

But in this moment?

With her dark eyelashes kissing her cheek with every blink, soft pink lips parted on the ghost of one of those lopsided smirks that tugged at my heart, it was like my world had shrunk down to the circular dome of Ren’s umbrella.

I could’ve sworn the stars were twinkling overhead.

“Are you asking me on a date?’ I asked in a rush, my voice high and overeager.

Come on, Vi! Keep it together!

The audible walk signal shrieked to life, but Ren didn’t make a move to continue our walk as the traffic began to move behind her.

“So what if I am? Going to say no?”

“No.”

“No, you wouldn’t want to go, or no, you’d say yes?” she asked, her hand tightening around her umbrella handle as she tilted her head.

“I’d say yes.”

Only a crazy person would say no, to be fair. And I was a lot of things, but no matter how bad it got, I was still pretty sure I had my sanity.

“Great,” the vampire said, smirk returning in full force. “It’s a date. I’ll send you some options for which games would work.”

“That’d be great. Don’t make me wait long.”

“As if,” she said, the moment stretching between us. If her hands weren’t full, I wondered if she would’ve leaned in for a kiss.

Maybe I should?—

Icy water splashed onto the sidewalk as a passing car hit a puddle, soaking our shoes and up Ren’s back, popping the tension in the air like bubble gum.

I laughed, shifting the coffees into one hand so I could try to cover my mouth to mute the noise, betrayed entirely by the way my shoulders shook, a snort escaping my fingers. “Sorry! It’s just?—”

“Oh,” Ren said with a playfully evil grin as water dripped from her hair where it curled around her ears. She stomped down on a puddle to spray me with more cold water. “You think it’sfunny.”

I squealed, trying to dodge the frigid attack, ducking out from under the umbrella to jog across the street as carefully as I could with a full tray of coffee while the walk signal ticked down, my laughter following. The vampire pursued me, and we spent the rest of our short commute attempting to splash each other with puddles between giggles.

By the time we half-slipped down the wet stairs to the door of the club, we were both drenched. Ren’s carefully applied kohl eyeliner smudged and dripping toward her cheeks, making me wonder what our goofing around had done to my own makeup in the process.

I opened the door with my cold stiffened fingers, my body relaxing as a gust of warmth poured into me from the heaters inside. I used my body to hold it open, waiting for Ren to enter. “After you.”