Page 41 of A Taste of Bliss

Finally my brain starts working enough to register Jordan is on me, feeding off my neck.

“Get off me,” I mumble, pushing at him. My vision is going blurry.

My body feels like I was run over by a car.

Car…

Jordan’s car spinning out of control flashes through my mind in pictures. Just individual frames of the crash.

I wasn’t run over but… Ouch.

“Getoffme,” I say, more forcefully. I wrench my neck free, which sends yet another dizzying wave of pain through my body.

“I just need a little more, then I can heal you,” Jordan says, reaching for me.

“Don’t touch me.”

“Bliss, you need to feed. You’re injured.”

“Get out. We’re done,” I mutter to him.

His eyes go blank. I’ve never understood how he can do that. One minute he’s looking at me like I’m his world. And the next, it’s like all the shine has dried up and two dark, soulless eyes stare back at me. But none of those times are quite as frightening as right now, though I can’t put my finger on why.

“Fine, die for all I care.” He’s up off my bed, one foot out the door, waiting for me to take it back.

“I mean it, Jordan. I’m breaking up with you. We’re done.”

He slams my door shut.

I fish out my phone from my purse before I can pass out. I’m dizzy from my injuries and now the blood loss. I rack my brain for who to call. My eyes land on a text from Taser. It’s a video he sent me with an adorable puppy because he’d heard I’d had a bad day at work.

I call him.

“Taser?” I ask when he answers.

“Hey Bliss, what’s up? Do you need Amelia? She’s kinda busy flirting away with some guys she met at the bar. Oh and you won’t believe what happened after the show?—”

“Taser.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll go get Amelia.”

“No, no, don’t tell her I called, please. I, um, I need some help actually.”

“With what?”

I leave out a lot of the details but explain the crash. “I need someone to, um, well, you know…” I leave it hanging there, hoping he’s catching on to what I’m asking.

“I’ll be right there, Bliss.”

Twenty minutes later Taser slips into my bedroom. “You didn’t tell Amelia, right?”

He shakes his head. “Nope.” He pauses at the foot of my bed. “So where is Jordan?”

“We broke up.”

He nods solemnly. “I thought that might have been the case.”

I don’t know how to start casual sex. I don’t know what to do with myself. Taser sits next to me on the bed, and we decide to put on a movie so it’s a bit less weird. Finally, he turns to me and leans in, kissing me. It’s weird at first because I’m so used to Jordan, but I quickly find that I like kissing Taser so much more. It’s still not mind-blowing or anything, but it’s pleasant and I realize in that moment that kissing Jordan has always feltwrong.