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7

For The Best

AT THE HOUSE PHILLIPrented, I spent over forty-five minutes showering to get the goblin off me. Covered as I was, I didn’t think about how weird it was for me to readily agreed to shower at an older man’s house without a second’s pause. And when I came out dressed in the clothes Phillip forbad me from wearing out to the club, hair a wet mess, finally feeling clean, it suddenly hit me.

I was just naked a room away from my sexy faux Biology teacher.

Holy shit.

My phone was out on the living room coffee table, cleaned off thanks to the other vampire hunter. Phillip’s greeting smile stole my gaze for a moment before my eyes promptly returned to my cell phone, where Nigel’s texts were left unanswered. Licking my lips, I walked several steps over to it and collected my phone as nonchalantly as I could.

“Nigel?”

Stricken, I froze. “How—”

“He sent another text asking if you were okay. I was cleaning it off. Couldn’t help but notice the other two.”

“That’s an invasion of privacy,” I grumbled, then smiled brightly. “See! I told you he’d reach out.”

An emotion I couldn’t recognize ignited Phillip’s light eyes. “Are you going to respond?”

“You suggesting I shouldn’t?”

He smoothed back his hair with a large hand and rubbed his neck with the other hand. His eyes flicked from me to the phone. “It’s your life. I just don’t like the idea of seeing you hurt.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” I sassed before realizing how immature I sounded. “Sorry. Look, I need to find out why he ghosted me the way he did. Nigel doesn’t do things like that for no reason, and I’m confident he had a good reason.”

Openly shocked, the Austrian’s eyes closed and his jaw tensed. “I overstepped earlier. I’m sorry. What I said to you was cruel and inconsiderate. You don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

Genuinely flabbergasted by his apology, I stared at him with my mouth open. “Did you just actually say sorry with feeling, Phil? I’m impressed. I didn’t think you knew the meaning of the word.”

His mouth tilted in self-derision. “It’s not often I feel inclined to apologize to anyone, no.” Then the other Hunter’s striking blue eyes rose to meet mine. “With you, I feel like anything less and I’ll regret never saying anything at all.”

His voice was a deep husk and entreating. “I meant what I said earlier. You intrigue me. You never fail to impress me with the things you say and do.”

I couldn’t help but feel a little flattered. The Austrian struck me as the type of person who kept his guard up at all times, and the flirtatious mask he wore was how he avoided attachment.

It made sense.

I’d used something similar—my humor. It protected my heart from breaking for the longest time. And before Nigel and Kate, I was the same as the other vampire hunter; afraid to be attached to anyone when my life meant they’d be in danger.

Maybe Phillip and I had more in common than I realized.

“If you mean what you say, I’m willing to forgive you. I only ask one thing.”

Phillip’s eyes sparkled in the lamp light. “Should I be afraid?”

“Only if you’re a jaded Austrian posing as a teacher.”

“Lucky we don’t have any of those here,” he countered with a husky chuckle, and something coiled in my belly with the sound. “Your wish is my command, my Queen.”

“Oh, you could definitely call me that anytime you want,” I said, laughing. “Just...I know you have reasons for the way you feel because of the things you’ve seen, but I have the fresh eyes of someone young. Maybe on occasion try to see what I see and we’ll be golden. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, and we’ll need to be on the same wavelength.”

I took a few steps and sat down next to him, surprising the vampire hunter enough to get a reaction from his body. “I’ll do the same. I decided after what Grams said earlier to trust you. She seems to genuinely believe in you, and I know that sort of thing isn’t easy for her. She’s a bit jaded.”

Phillip’s laughter was rich and thick, and it made me smile against my will. “I won’t tell her you said so. She’s vicious when she’s pissed off, even at this age.” His smile grew boyish. “Or should I say, especially at this age, the wily old fox.”