Page 67 of A Taste of Bliss

Taser, Dericia, and I all headed out after I’d taken a quick shower, trying to remove all traces of my fucking awful decision to feed off Taser. Reese immediately noticed the weird vibes but didn’t say anything. She just took Taser to a different food truck and grabbed some breakfast burritos, probably picking up on my need for space from him.

The festival grounds and surrounding area is pretty lively for early morning, festival and band crews alike getting to work on stage setup and everything else that we have to do. On the way over to the food trucks, I expected to overhear groups talking about the dead woman in the garden. I expected to see the grounds crawling with fae police, but things just seem… normal?

Taser glances over at me and hands me half his burrito. I look at him questioningly. He just shrugs. “You look like you could use this,” is all he says. He looks back to his food and eats his half in silence.

I’ve fucked up so bad, and now things are even weirder between us, but he’s still as generous as ever.

“Thanks,” I say, even though he’s no longer paying attention to me.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Amelia finally asks.

I frown at her and look down at my outfit. It’s not the cutest, true. Plain jeans, a pastel pink Goddess’ Trance long-sleeved T-shirt that Amelia specially ordered for me, and Wrath’s hoodie.

“I’ll change into something fancier later,” I say, still confused.

“That’s not what she means,” Reese says, pointing at my sleeve. “It’s black.”

“Oh!” I let out a soft laugh.

“I didn’t think you owned anything black,” Tubbs says, reaching over and lifting up the hood so he can see the design on the back. “What band is this?”

I shrug. “I dunno.”

“Moonstruck?” Tubbs reads. “Never heard of them.”

“You were wearing it last night too,” Reese points out. She and Amelia exchange rueful glances. “Where’d you get it?”

“It’s a little big for you,” Taser adds, picking up on what they’re getting at. “Really big for you, actually.”

I pull on the strings of the sweatshirt, wishing I could pull the hood up over my head and cinch in the drawstring tight enough to hide my entire face from my friends.

“I don’t like it,” Grim says from behind me.

I glance up, seeing him standing there looking down at me. I swivel in my seat as much as I can manage on the picnic bench. His grin is making him look even more sexy and handsome than I remember from last night. My stomach does a little flip and I can’t help but grin back at him.

“And why not?” I ask, pushing a bit of hair behind my ear.

He sits down on the bench in the space between me and Blake, straddling it so he can face me. He leans in close. “Because it doesn’t smell like me, and really if you’re wearing men’s clothes, they should smell like me.”

A blush races up to my face and I duck my head down, playing with the frayed edge of the left sleeve. Grim chuckles andscoots even closer. “I was hoping I might catch you before the shows start. How are you, after last night?” He looks around at the rest of the band. I think the question is directed at all of us.

“Still can’t believe it,” I say.

“Did you get any details from the police?” Tubbs asks.

Grim shakes his head. “No. They’re keeping things under wraps for now.”

“No one seems to know anything happened.” I grip my latte almost hard enough to dent the cardboard.

“They might be trying to make sure people stay calm until they know more. I have some connections to the investigators. Don’t worry, Bliss. They’re good people; they’ll get justice for her.”

I nod and release my stranglehold on the innocent coffee cup.

“I also wanted to see if maybe we could go grab some food or coffee.” He glances at my burrito and latte. “Or we could just explore.”

I’m a bit surprised that he seems to be asking me out on a little date. I hear a coughing noise and look over to Reese. She’s looking at me and pointedly glancing at Taser, who is now even moodier and looking obviously anywhere but at Grim. I look back at Grim, smiling at him, but my stomach does a bit of a drop as I take in his runeless eyes. I knew it before, of course I did. But what is the point of getting involved with him if he’s not my bondmate?

I glance guiltily at the half of burrito Taser shared with me. I’m mad at him and he knows I’m mad at him, and yet he’s still been a good friend, even after I just used him. I don’t want to do anything that makes him uncomfortable.