Page 21

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

The orange glow of cigarettes was the only light on the porch.

Kade’s heart pounded as Theo leaned back, blowing out a stream of smoke. The way Theo had looked at him during that speech—like he was drowning and Kade was a life raft. Like Kade was the only thing holding him afloat. It felt huge. Impossibly huge, the kind you couldn’t talk about.

“Thought you might not notice me,” Kade said instead. “It was pretty cramped in there.”

“If you’re around, I can hear you.”

“Right. Loud heart.” Kade rubbed his chest through his flowy shirt. The embroidered heart veins were rough against his thin fingers. He looked around, trying to think of something safe to say. Other than grass on the lawn and trees looming ahead, there were no plants for him to comment on .

“Hey,” Theo said. Something in his voice made Kade’s teeth tighten around his cigarette.

“Yeah?”

Theo hesitated. “Aaron gave you a nice first time, right?”

Kade choked. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, coughing and spluttering.

Theo clapped him carefully on the back.

“Shit,” Kade rasped, eyes watering. “Mate, what the hell ?”

“I just—” Theo dropped his hand. “I know he can be an asshole. But not in bed. Right? He made it nice for you? I assume it was your first time.”

“Of course it was my first time,” Kade mumbled, chewing on the end of his cigarette. His cheeks burned. He didn’t want to go into how Aaron was his first and currently his only. It depressed him, and more importantly, it was humiliating.

“It was fine,” he gritted.

Theo gave him a worried look. At least he didn’t seem like he wanted to cry anymore. He had definitely been on the verge of it, back on that staircase with Aaron. Kade wanted the guy to let it out, but not black tears in front of all their classmates.

“Jesus Christ,” Kade muttered. He threw up his hands. “It was fine! I knew what I was getting into. It wasn’t like I liked him.”

“Why did you try to kiss him in that parking lot?”

Kade groaned. He hated that Theo could hear his stupid heartbeat right now, even more damning than his blush.

“I don’t know! I wanted him to admit we were…something.” He flicked ash to the wood, rubbed it in with his shoe. Hoped it would stain. “And he never kissed me, so.”

Theo’s face twisted. “That’s stupid. What is this, the eighties?”

“ Right ? I get his parents are homophobes, but still.” Kade tapped the cigarette. There was no ash to get rid of, but he wanted something to look at that wasn’t Theo’s piercing eyes.

Theo asked, “But you’ve kissed other people, right? At parties and stuff?”

Kade snorted smoke out of his nose. “Sure. Everyone’s lining up to kiss Monster.”

Theo’s smile faded. Kade tried to come up with a joke, a comment, something mean, anything to stop Theo from saying what he was about to say.

“Wait,” Theo said. “Have you never had a first kiss?”

“Nope,” Kade said. He said it fast, dismissive, hoping like hell Theo would get the hint and change the subject. But Theo just stared at him, looking oddly heartbroken. Like Kade being unkissed was something to cry about.

“You should go back in there,” Kade said desperately. “Act normal. Go…dance with some cheerleader.”

“Not really in the crowd kind of mood,” Theo said, still staring at him. Then he blinked, looking toward the giggling teens at the tree line. It was too far for Kade to see who they were, but he bet Theo could make out every single one of their pores.

Theo took a long breath of smoke. “Could dance out here though,” he said, sounding strangely hesitant.

“Oh man. Go for it.” Kade flapped a hand at the porch.

“Yeah?”

“Sure.” Kade expected Theo to crack a joke, maybe do the Cool Guy Shuffle he’d seen Theo do at parties before, too cool to even try proper dancing. As if Kade had danced anywhere except his room, arms flailing, more jumping than anything else.

But Theo just stared, long enough for Kade to get nervous again. Then he dropped his cigarette, ground it out on the porch with his shoe—and took Kade’s shoulders.

Kade startled. “Oh. Oh ! You mean with me?”

“Why not?” Theo smiled, a little stiff. Nervous. Probably remembering Kade’s humiliating unkissed status, hoping Kade wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Not that they could kiss, even if Theo wanted to. Even if sometimes Kade thought that Theo might want to, with all those lingering stares. Laughing at Kade’s stupid jokes. Staring at him so intently after he bit him, lips slick with Kade’s blood. It was probably just the high. Still, there was this small, stupid hope that remained no matter how hard Kade tried to stamp it out.

He evaluated safe spots to touch. Theo was in a long-sleeved Henley and slacks. Nothing exposed except his face and his hands, those big soft hands so gentle on Kade’s bony shoulders.

“My waist,” Theo said.

Kade looked up. “What?”

“Put your hands on my waist,” Theo told him.

Slowly, Kade settled his fingers on the soft cotton of Theo’s shirt where it was tucked into his slacks. He’d never touched Theo’s waist before. He’d touched Aaron’s, a few times. The hazy memories paled in comparison to Theo, soft and solid and staring at him like a life raft once again. Like if he let go, he’d float away.

“Okay,” Theo said. “Now sway.”

Kade’s throat clicked. “What, no box step?”

“Just move with me.” Theo rocked from side to side, shuffling his feet. Kade followed, heart thumping painfully in his chest. Theo heard it, he had to. He probably heard it louder than the music bleeding out of the house. Some poppy dance song Kade pretended not to like when it came on the radio.

Theo spun them slowly. Kade let him. He couldn’t not, they were pressed so close together, as close as they could get without their faces touching. Chest to chest, shoes bumping as they circled each other.

Dancing. Like a real teenager, doing real teenager things. Kade never thought he’d see the day.

He wanted to defuse the tension. Make a joke. But he couldn’t make his tongue work, stunned into silence at the pressure of Theo’s strong arms, his face so close and lovely, his eyes devastatingly soft. Then Theo pulled him closer, and Kade’s breath hitched as Theo’s cheek hovered so close to his own.

Oh god, Kade thought, heart pounding. He pictured Theo smirking as he heard it, not to mention the stench that had to be rising from Kade’s sweat. He could feel it dripping down his spine, only stopped by Theo’s hand resting on the small of his back.

Kade pulled back, hoping his smile didn’t look as vulnerable as he felt. “Golden boy dancing with the Monster. What would your mother say?”

“Ha ha,” Theo said, a beat too late. His eyes were fixed on something behind Kade.

Kade winced, desperate not to ruin the moment. “I was joking.”

“What? Sorry, I was just looking at the greenhouse.” At Kade’s confused look, Theo continued: “Remember, I broke into it last year when you were pushing me to scope out the Fletcher house? Me and Aaron joked there would be bodies or ghosts or a drug empire, but there was nothing. Look.”

He turned them until Kade was looking at the forest over Theo’s shoulder. At the border of it, almost hidden around the back of the house, sat a small, plastic hut that Kade wouldn’t even call a greenhouse. After all, you were supposed to be able to see through a greenhouse. The whole point was to let the light in. Kade couldn’t see how any light got through that thick white material.

The padlock was huge and rusty and oddly inviting. A strange shiver ran down Kade’s spine. He ignored it, forcing a smile.

“Mysterious plants,” he said. “I bet that drove you crazy.”

“I did convince myself they were raising secret plants for the government,” Theo admitted wistfully.

They twirled another circle around the porch. Kade tried to focus on Theo’s proximity, but he found his eyes dragging over Theo’s shoulder again, catching on the small dark greenhouse. There was something about it, tucked at the back of the Fletcher house, almost swallowed by trees. Like something out of a fairy story he read as a child, dark and foreboding.

“Theo—” Kade started.

Theo stopped. “Shit.”

Kade looked up. Theo was glaring guiltily at something behind them.

Kade turned.

Aaron stood at the edge of the porch. His hair was floppier than Kade had seen it in years, his jaw tight. His injured hand was wrapped around a support beam, bandages peeking out from the glove. Something was wrong with the veins above it. Like blood poisoning, but more…profuse. And sharp . It looked like something was trying to cut its way out of Aaron’s skin.

Not for the first time, Kade damned his loud heart for drowning out vampire senses so they didn’t notice people sneaking up behind them.

“You walked off in the wrong direction,” Aaron said flatly as the boys broke apart. “Just wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost. Looks like I’m too late, you’re tongue-deep in my leftovers.”

“We weren’t doing anything,” Kade snapped.

“He’s not leftovers,” Theo said over him. “And he was never yours .”

Aaron snorted. His tongue moved inside his cheek. For all the crap he had to say about Kade, his gaze was fixed on Theo.

“I don’t know what your dad would think about this,” Aaron said, voice low.

Theo tensed. “Well he never gets to know, does he? He’s dead . Somebody killed my dad and I don’t know who, Aaron. Excuse me for…for…blowing off some steam!”

Kade felt it like a punch. Aaron had said that once, after they did hand stuff in that same disabled bathroom where he now met Theo for feeding sessions. We’re just blowing off steam together, he’d said after Kade asked if he wanted to go see a movie. Then he’d given Kade a stern look. Don’t get the wrong idea about this. We’re not a thing.

Aaron laughed again, uncertain. “Your dad…your dad got killed by a bear , man. Or are you seriously telling me you believe in all this vampire shit people have been whispering about? ”

“Theo,” Kade said warningly, but Theo was already stalking forward so fast that Aaron stumbled back.

“You have no clue, huh?” Theo hissed. “Because no one will tell you what’s going on. Even your girlfriend. Even your mom. Even?—”

“Then tell me,” Aaron blurted. He gripped Theo’s shirt, groaning with pain. “For god’s sake, someone tell me what the hell is going on.”

Kade covered his mouth with his hand, whispering so only Theo could hear him. “I don’t trust him. Maybe Felicity’s keeping her mouth shut, but I don’t trust him . Especially after we just?—”

Aaron whirled toward him. “What are you muttering about?”

“Nothing,” Kade said.

Theo’s head shot up, eyes wide with shock. Before Kade could ask what was wrong, he saw it: flashing lights. Red and blue. No sirens, just a single cop car pulling up outside the house.

“Ugh,” Aaron spat. He rubbed his forehead, flinching when he reached up with his injured hand. “Jesus. Let’s get this over with.”

He let go of Theo, wobbling as he straightened.

Kade traded a panicked look with Theo. He didn’t have to ask—this wasn’t noise control. And now he was stuck here, watching as Mrs. Fletcher climbed out of the backseat of the cop car, eyes wet, white-knuckling her purse .

Aaron stopped at the edge of the porch. “Mom? What are you doing?”

Kade squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to see this.

A hand touched his shoulder. Kade looked over to see Theo, face tight and grave, nodding toward his car.

Time to go.