Page 56 of Love Bleeds

Chapter Twenty

Ifelt awkward again around bedtime. WatchingStar Warshad been great, but by the end of the first movie, I hadn't been able to stop yawning. It was ridiculous, considering how late in the day I'd gotten up, but I had to admit that I was tired. Maybe my body still needed rest after everything that had happened. Everything that I didn't want to think about.

Aside from the fact that I got Damian back.

Sort of.

He might be going by the name Crimson now, but he was still my best friend, and I could make him remember.

If only he would let me try.

If only Collin hadn't told him that I was straight.

Maybe then I wouldn't have felt so awkward, standing in my bedroom with my pajamas in hand and debating where to change.

Okay, I admit, I'd probably have felt awkward in this position either way.

"I can go downstairs," Damian said, obviously picking up on my discomfort.

I suppressed a sigh, frustrated at my own behavior because now I'd made Damian uncomfortable too and I didn't want him to leave. "Do you even sleep at night?" I asked, if only to change the topic to something less embarrassing.

"I can," he said. "But I can also just go downstairs and--"

"No," I said quickly. "It's okay. We've shared a bed before. I mean, we used to do it all the time."

Damian gave me a look, but didn't say anything.

Yeah, I wasn't fooling myself either. This was different. "I don't... I don't want to be alone." God, it was hard to admit that, but I had to, because I knew it would make him stay.

"I could sit in the chair and read," Damian suggested. "You won't even have to leave the light on."

I shook my head. "The bed is big enough. I want you in it with me." I wished I could have sounded assertive when I said that. Or maybe even flirty. Instead I just sounded like human interaction was a math problem and I had dyscalculia. I sounded like a freaking robot. Like C3P0.

In short, I sounded like the nerd I was.

How could someone as smart and good-looking as Damian have a crush on me?

He's a nerd too. Maybe he just really likes robots.

"If you’re sure," Damian relented as if I hadn't just totally embarrassed myself. "But I'll go down for a bit so you can change."

He left the room before I could argue.

I sighed, and then I changed into my pajamas as quickly as I could. For the first time, I found myself wishing that I owned a set of pajamas that was a little more mature than the set I was wearing, which had theSuper Mario Broscharacters printed all over it. Remy had given it to me for Christmas last year, and I'd been happy about it then, but now I felt kind of... unattractive.

Something else I had never worried about.

My solution to the problem was to creep under the covers before Damian came back into the room. I drew them up to my chin.

Damian knocked on the door.

"Come in," I said.

"You still want me to join you?" he asked even as he took his shirt off. This time, I didn't look away. He was more toned than he had been before he became a vampire. "Luke?"

"Uh... yeah." What was the question again?

Didn't matter now, because Damian was climbing into bed with me and I was growing hot. I pulled the covers up to my nose, hoping to hide my blush.