Page 112

Colin

T he doorbell kept ringing repeatedly while they cleaned themselves up.

Colin was a little resentful of it, honestly. He was all fucked out, loose-limbed and hazy, and it was frankly a bummer being brought back to the real world so quickly. Especially after witnessing how adorably affectionate Dane was when tipsy.

“Shouldn’t we get that already?” he asked, pulling on his shorts. “It doesn’t seem like they’re going away.”

Fox glowered over in the direction of the front door. “It’s three in the fucking morning. It’s gotta be Jamie. Dude can wait.”

Colin shrugged and sat back on the couch, ready to slouch down and let the twins handle it, but then a very familiar muffled voice called out, “We know you’re in there! It would be very rude of us to break down this door, but we will!”

Holy shit.

Jay was here.

Colin hopped up in a flash, evading Fox’s grabbing hands and running to the door, the twins hot on his heels. “It’s cool,” he reassured them breathlessly. “I know him.”

He flung the front door open just as the bell rang for the thousandth time. “Jay.”

“Surprise!” The little vampire beamed back at him sweetly, as if he hadn’t just been threatening to break the door down seconds ago.

He was dressed in his typical nonfashion fashion—were those purple corduroy overalls?

—his messy brown hair grown long enough to flop over his eyes.

And there by his side, of course, was Alexei, looking the complete opposite, his long blond hair in its usual bun, the outfit covering his massive form lacking even a hint of color.

“This is Jay?” murmured Fox from behind Colin, and then strong arms were being wrapped around Colin’s middle, pulling him against a hard torso that smelled of dark chocolate. “We’ve met him before. Back when that feral vamp needed dealing with. Thought his name was Yo-something.”

“Hello again!” Jay chirped, and then he cocked his head, staring at Colin. “Um, Colin…you smell like sex.”

There was a softly admonishing “Jay” from Alexei, but Jay only huffed. “Well, he does!” He gave Colin a pointed look. “You do .”

Dane came around Colin’s other side, pressing closer until his chest brushed against him, eyeing Jay up and down. “I remember this one. He’s so…little.”

Colin frowned at him. “What were you expecting?”

Meanwhile, Jay was now studying the twins, both pressed against Colin like goddamn Velcro strips. He cocked his head and shot a coy look at Alexei, then back to the three of them. His eyes widened. “Two Alexeis,” he whispered, seemingly more to himself than anyone else.

“They’re twins, short stack. Not clones. They’re not the same person.”

“Of course not,” Jay said, but he was still looking at Alexei strangely. After a long moment, he shook his head and sighed. “I suppose one Alexei is enough.”

Alexei leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

Jay preened, then threw his arms up in Colin’s direction. “Colin! I’ve missed you!”

Colin made to move forward and hug his friend, but he found himself stuck, the arms around him tightening.

Jay was frowning at Fox over his shoulder. “I want to hug Colin,” he explained, as if lack of clarity were the issue.

“Good for fucking you,” Fox said.

Alexei was suddenly not looking quite so casual. “Watch it,” he growled.

Colin cleared his throat loudly. “All right, that’s enough.

I’m not interested in any dick measuring contest between muscled idiots.

” He turned back to look at his two particular muscled idiots.

“I’m going to hug my friend now.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly, looking down at the arms encasing his middle.

Fox loosened his hold with a put-upon sigh, and Colin soon found himself with an armful of tiny vampire. He hugged back as tight as he could. “What are you doing here, short stack?”

Jay leaned back to peer up at him. “We heard these two were making plans to get the vampire who turned Riley.”

Colin didn’t exactly feel like that shed any light on the issue. “And you wanted…vengeance?” he asked hesitantly. Because that didn’t really sound like Jay. He wasn’t the vengeance type. More the befriend-everyone-and-everything type.

“Jamie said you were involved,” Jay explained. “You’re human.” He twisted and shot a frown in the direction of the twins. “He’s human .”

Dane looked surprisingly sheepish, running a hand through his mussed auburn hair. “We know that. We didn’t think we’d actually find a vamp when we took him with us.”

That was news to Colin. He glowered at Dane. “Excuse me?”

Jay stepped out of Colin’s arms, then pointed a deliberate finger at him, still looking at the twins. “This is my best friend.”

“One of several,” Colin muttered.

Jay ignored him. “You have to be careful with him.”

Fox tugged Colin back against him. “We are .”

Jay’s judgmental finger didn’t waver. “You can’t just use him for sex and throw him into danger. He’s fragile.”

“I am not fragile ,” Colin protested. He felt like he’d stepped into a fever dream. He’d gone from getting his brains fucked out to his tiny friend chastising the twins like he was the self-appointed protector of Colin’s virtue.

“You’re human,” Jay countered. “Of course you’re fragile. Alexei used to be too. It was very concerning.” He took a deep breath, finally lowering his arm.

Was it over?

“What are your intentions toward my friend?”

Apparently not.

Colin scrubbed at his face with one hand. “Oh my fucking God.”

Alexei pulled Jay into his arms. “Kotyonok. Maybe we should tone it down a bit, hm? Colin’s face is so red he looks like he might catch fire.”

“Thanks for that.” Colin flipped him off, even though he was moderately grateful at the big lug for stepping in.

Jay’s chin dipped down, his cheeks flushing pink. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It was supposed to be a fun surprise.” He threw his arms into the air, incidentally whacking Alexei in the face. “We’re here!”

Colin smiled in spite of himself. “Yes, you certainly are.”

“And we—”Jay leaned back into Alexei, as if for courage. “—we’re staying with you,” he said decisively.

Colin rubbed a hand over his face again. Maybe if he scrubbed hard enough, this interaction would begin to make some sort of sense. “Short stack. I’m a guest here.”

“The fuck you are,” Fox protested. “You live here.”

Colin twisted in his hold, staring him down. “So you’re okay with them staying, then?”

“Sure. They can stay in your room.” Fox’s gaze turned almost predatory. “You’ll stay in mine.”

Colin narrowed his eyes. “And you’ll be staying in Dane’s room, I presume?”

“We’re all staying in my room.” Fox shot a preemptive glare at Dane, who was leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed, looking amused as hell. “Don’t be weird about it.”

“Wasn’t gonna.”

“Perfect!” Jay chirped. “Alexei, will you grab our bags? Colin’s going to show me his room, and then we’re going to have our own secret talk, just the two of us.”

Fox rolled his eyes. “Not very secret if you just told us.”

Jay looked back at Fox, his face serene. “I’m not sure I like you very much.”

Oof. Sucked to be Fox. Jay liked everyone.

Colin was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of fondness for his friend. He threw an arm around Jay’s shoulders, ignoring the muttered protests of all three meatheads. “C’mon, short stack. I’ll give you the tour.”

After the tour—and after Jay shoved the three other vampires into the backyard, claiming he couldn’t have them “listening in to private conversations”—Jay and Colin shut themselves into Colin’s bedroom.

Jay paused at the door, staring at his phone, looking like he was sending out a quick text. Maybe he was telling Alexei to play nice with his new friends.

Then he stared at Colin for a long moment, gray eyes shining.

Colin shifted on his feet, uncomfortable with the scrutiny. “Um…”

Jay interrupted before he could figure out what he wanted to say. “I’m just so happy to be here,” he said on a sigh, clasping his hands together.

Colin’s lips twitched. “Did you really miss me that much?”

“Of course! DBC isn’t the same without you.”

“Dude. You only work one shift a week these days.”

Jay had cut down his hours to focus on using a portion of his considerable funds to revitalize the local animal shelter. They were supposed to start constructing an entirely new building in the fall.

Jay sighed again, a little dramatically. “I know, it’s just…you were my first real human friend, you know.”

“I was? What about Soren? Or Danny?” At the look on Jay’s face, a million little things suddenly clicked into place. What. The. Fuck. Colin shook his head in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Soren, I get. But Danny? Your sweet nurse friend? He’s a vampire too?”

Jay shrugged, his overall strap slipping off his shoulder with the movement. “Pretty much all my friends are vampires. Except you. And Izzy,” he amended.

“And it’s my being human you like about me?” Colin asked, his heart sinking. Would Jay no longer be so keen on his friendship, if he turned? Was it just the novelty of his humanity that kept their relationship going?

Fuck, that was a disheartening thought.

“No!” Jay insisted. “Not just that. I like you for you, Colin.” He peered up at Colin through his lashes. “But you were the first friend I made on my own, outside of my den, without Soren’s help or anything. That means something to me.”

And then Colin found himself with an armful of Jay again, getting hugged so tightly he was afraid his poor, mortal bones might crack. Since he was so fragile and everything. He patted at Jay’s back as best he could. “It means something to me too.”

“Good.” And then Jay released him, whirling around the room, oohing and aahing at all Colin’s possessions, as if he hadn’t been the one to pack them up and ship them over in the first place.

“Oh, your comics!” Jay dropped onto the floor in front of the bookcase, pulling out books at random. “Riley loved the ones you let me send him, by the way. Your drawings too.”