“I’m sure it has.” He smiled, then turned his attention to Trent. “Why don’t you show Chloe to her room? Once she’s settled, we can talk about our… situation.”
Situation? That’s what he was calling this? If he only knew.
“Follow me,” Trent said over his shoulder as he headed for the stairs.
“Shouldn’t we get my stuff first?” I asked, hooking my thumb toward the door.
“Jax and I will bring it in,” Sean said.
Panic seized my chest. What if they went through my backpack? Or what if they somehow figured out what I had stashed inside?
“I’ll help.” I headed for the front door, not giving anyone a chance to argue.
They followed my lead and headed outside. Jax popped the trunk, and I snatched my backpack, slinging the straps over my shoulders. They each grabbed a suitcase and lugged them inside. Trent went for the stairs again, my suitcase in hand, so I followed without question.
Thankfully, the upstairs contained bedrooms with actual walls and doors. Trent stopped near the room at the farthest end of the hall. He swung open the door and motioned for me to go first.
The bed frame was hand carved from a dark cherry wood; the dresser and nightstands were constructed from the same rich materials. Gold and maroon accented the décor. It was absolutely breathtaking.
“Wow,” I said.
“Glad you approve.” Trent set my suitcase near the foot of the bed. “My room is right next door, to the right. Jax’s is next to mine, and the bathroom is the door to the left.”
I nodded. “Is your dad staying here, too?”
I really hoped he wasn’t. Not that I didn’t like him—he seemed nice enough—but knowing what I knew… keeping this secret from Trent and Jax was going to be hard enough. I didn’t want to have to deal with his father, too.
“Yeah. His room is downstairs, just past the living room,” Trent said.
“Right.” I nodded again.
At this rate, I could have a lucrative career as one of those bobblehead dolls. Easing my arms from the straps, I let my backpack drop to the floor.
“Chloe?” Trent moved closer and slipped his arms around my waist. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. This is all just a little overwhelming.”
“I know,” he whispered and placed a lingering kiss to my forehead. “But you’re safe here, okay? Nothing will happen to you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. He made me want to believe him, but I knew clear to my soul that he was wrong. One way or another, something was going to happen to me. Either I was going to turn into a vampire and break his family curse, or I was going to walk away from him completely. There were no other options.
Lifting my head, I peered up into his mesmerizing blue eyes, allowing myself a moment to pretend he was just as human as I was, to daydream about having a normal relationship with him, to fantasize about going to prom and on double dates and sneaking out to meet him so we could make-out like hormonal teenagers.
He smiled faintly, then brushed errant strands of hair from my face, his hand grazing across my temple and down my cheek. Then, he lowered his mouth to mine, his kiss soft and delicate, almost as if it were our first time and he was unsure if I’d kiss him back.
But I did. Fiercely. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, holding him to me. His kiss became harder, more insistent.
I loved Trent so much, and the thought of walking away—again—was worse than cutting my own heart from my chest with a dull butter knife. But I couldn’t become a vampire. I didn’t want to. Squeezing my eyes shut, I forced all negative thoughts away and instead, focused all my energy on this moment.
“I love you, Chloe,” Trent whispered.
My breath caught, and a sharp pain shot through my chest. “I love you, too.”
He cradled my face in his hands, and the look of pure, everlasting love in his gaze was too much to bear. I gently pulled away from his hold and cleared the lump from my throat.
“We should probably get downstairs and see what your dad has to say about this whole thing,” I said.
Trent studied me a moment too long. Did he know I was hiding something from him? I held my breath, waiting. Finally, he laced our fingers and led me downstairs.
Jax was seated at the counter, a heaping plate of food in front of him. My jaw dropped. How could he possibly eat again after all that food he’d eaten at the rest stop?
Sean sat at the dining room table, an open laptop in front of him. Vertical blinds had been pulled closed across the sliding glass doors, blocking what little light had filtered in from the full moon.
Sean glanced up. “All settled?”
“Sort of.” I shrugged and leaned closer to Trent.
“Did you give her the full tour?” Jax asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “You two were up there a long time. Not quite as long as I would have taken, but…” He shrugged.
Trent glared at him through narrowed eyes.
What was going on with those two? Did they always act that way with each other? I hadn’t really spent all that much time with Trent and Jax before I’d left Keene Valley, so I didn’t have much of a basis for comparison.
“Knock it off,” Sean said, but his tone was laced with the faintest hint of humor. “Sit.” He nodded toward the empty chairs.
Trent pulled a seat out for me, and I slid into it. He occupied the chair next to me, and Jax sat across from me. I glanced around the table, and for the first time since this whole mess started, it fully hit me.
I was sitting at a dining room table in a cabin in the mountains with three vampires. Yeah, this was a disaster waiting to happen, a certified slasher movie in the making. Laughter bubbled
