Page 5 of Blind Bite (Best Fangs Forever #1)

Chapter Five

I watched the clock as it neared the end of my shift.

Krista was all too happy to let me leave early and manage the close up herself, but that didn’t come without it’s price.

I finished sanitizing the other stations and was putting away the delivered supplies when my phone buzzed in my back pocket, probably Amelie checking in or she’s freaking out over a bug in the apartment.

I fished it out while balancing sanitizer and ink cups in my other hand.

Amelie

Girl, tell me you’re already there! Is he cute? Is he a short king or is he tall?

I glanced at the time. 7:45 PM. Shit, I was already five minutes late.

Lilith

Just finishing up work and headed there now.

Three dots appeared immediately.

Amelie

LILITH BENSEN, you were supposed to be there already! You cannot flake on this guy.

Lilith

I’m not flaking...

I know you and I know you’re thinking this is gonna be another bust. But you don’t know that! Get your cute ass over there and meet your future hubby.

I rolled my eyes, only Amelie could be this intensely excited over a blind date.

Lilith

Literally leaving now!

Krista raised an eyebrow as I scrambled to gather my things. “Hot date?”

“Blind date,” I answered, “Amelie’s convinced this one is THE ONE and she doesn’t even know him.”

Krista burst out laughing, “That girl could manifest water in the desert. Good luck with the guy, try not to scare him away.”

I gave her one last quick wave before I hurried out of the shop. The cool evening air was a reprieve for the strain of my power walk. My leather boots clicked against the sidewalk as I dodged other pedestrians as Cooper House came into view. The restaurant’s warm lights beckoned from a block away.

Another buzz.

Amelie

Did you die or did you finally come to your senses and get to your date?

Lilith

I’m here.

Slightly out of breath, I reached for the heavy wooden door. The hostess looked up as I entered.

“Reservation?”

“Um, I’m supposed to be meeting someone.” I smoothed down my hair, hoping I didn’t look as crazy as I felt after rushing for three blocks. “I’m not sure what he looks like, blind date.” I couldn’t help the nervous chuckle that emitted from me.

“Oh,” she smiled knowingly, “we had a gentleman come in and let us know. It can be tricky, my friend set me up on one last week, it was fun but he was so not my type. I’ll show you to your table.”

I followed her through the dimly lit room, spotting a guy sitting alone near the back window.

Tall, dark-haired, pretty conventionally handsome.

He looked muscular without looking like a balloon animal, I wondered how he’d perceive me.

Would I be his type? Not everyone was into the violet hair, lip piercing, tattoos, girlie goth that was my essence.

My skirt and sweater today was pretty tame, my safest choice besides a white t-shirt and jeans.

The man looked up as we approached, letting a smile spread across his face as he stood.

I tucked a loose strand behind my ear and flashed a small smile. “Beckett? I’m sorry I’m so late, work got away from me. Hi, I’m your blind date.” Hi, I’m your blind date? Kill me now before I said something even more cringey.

“No worries,” he laughed. “What’s your name?”

“Lilith.”

Lacey was not kidding, this guy was cute!

Deep brown eyes rimmed with the most gorgeous dark lashes I had ever seen.

Short brown hair in that purposefully messy style.

Everything about him screamed all-American boy until you got to the silver hoop adorning his lower left lip.

We took our seats and the waiter came to grab my drink order before leaving us.

“So, where do you work?” he asked.

“Down at Venom, I’m the owner's apprentice.” I could feel my cheeks getting a tinge of red. “It works out well for my class schedule since she doesn’t open until noon anyway.”

“Oh yeah, Lacey said you were an art student. I’m studying cyber security.”

I laughed. “I feel like we’re polar opposites there. Analytical versus creative.” The waiter returned with my sparkling moscato and took our orders. He ran off again and my hungry stomach couldn’t be more grateful.

“I like that about us,” Beckett said as he noted my confusion, “us being opposites. It’d be boring if we were the exact same and liked all of the same things. But to be fair, tech can be creative in its own way. My guess is you’re not a big hockey fan?”

He liked that about us… No, slow your roll, Lilith. This is just one date, a first date. He’s just being nice.

I shook my head, “Nope, sorry.”

“That’s okay, as long as you don’t mind coming to watch me play sometimes,” he winked. “I’ll come to your art shows and try to blend in with everyone who sees the universe in a blob.”

“Well, I don’t know about art shows, but if you like manga or need a tattoo, I’m your girl.”

It was his turn to be confused but saved by our food gracefully arriving by way of our waiter. He dropped the plates down in a flourish before sauntering off to check in with his other tables.

“Is that like anime?” he asked.

I was in the middle of chewing my food but I gave an encouraging nod.

“I dig it.”

We ate our meal slowly, fitting in bites between our conversation.

We talked about everything, our families, friends, how his hockey buddies teased him over tonight.

I mentioned seeing Steven, his captain, at the shop.

It was clear they were not the best of friends.

The conversation never became awkward. He even seemed excited as I shared more about myself.

He wasn’t what I thought he would be. He was definitely a jock, but he appeared to be openly interested when it came to things like my web comic or how my apprenticeship was going.

Just by looking at him, you’d think he’d be more into the preppy sorority type like Grace.

But as I started to see him a bit deeper, I realized my thoughts when I got here were so unfounded.

We shared a dessert. When the bill came, he insisted on paying. Much to my surprise, he offered to walk me home. The walk was nice, he left barely enough space to be respectful but our hands often grazed each other with every step.

As my building came into view, my nerves started ramping up once again.

We stopped near the door, the silence now heavy with something unspoken, but not in the worst way.

“Thanks for walking me home,” I said.

He towered over me, but not in an intimidating way, pools of brown captured my eyes. “Anytime, I enjoyed meeting you, Lilith.”

“Me too.”

“Can I get your number? Maybe we can grab coffee sometime this week?”

My heart skipped a beat, suddenly aware that I had caused an awkward pause.

“Yeah,” I handed him my phone and took his, entering my name and number for him before swapping back.

He seemed ready to say something else, the air around him felt energized.

Before I could blink, his large hands cupped my face and his mouth descended on mine.

Kissing him back, my hands found their way onto his chest. His very broad, very hard chest. It was almost hard to notice under the jacket he had on.

We stayed entangled for a few more moments, lost in the heat of the kiss until he finally pulled away. A huge grin brightened his face.

“I’ll text you tomorrow about coffee,” he promised.

“Yeah, goodnight.” I couldn’t help but smile but I’m surprised at how breathless I sounded.

“Goodnight, Lilith.” I watched as he walked away, back towards downtown where we had just come from.

As I got to the complex’s door, I turned my head one last time to find him looking at me for a moment before continuing his journey.

I knew I was smiling like the cheshire cat by the time I entered into the apartment and Amelie pounced on me.

“So how’d it go?!” she demanded as I made my way to my room to drop my stuff.

“It was amazing.”

“See? I told you this would probably be it,” she leaned against the wall in our small hallway.

Amelie continued to prat on as I threw on pajamas and she finally sauntered away, saying something about having to force herself to sleep because she has to work bright and early, I flopped onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling.

Mysti’s sweet meow rang through the space as she joined me, rubbing her head against my hand.

I considered Amelie’s words and how easy the date had been. How well Beckett and I got along.

“Maybe this was what I’ve been waiting for,” I mused, finding myself excited for his text tomorrow.