“Two boys and a girl,” Hottie said in that deep Texas drawl that made my insides clench. I sighed as he smiled, slightly embarrassed at my attempts to hit on him. “And my wife is going to be pissed that I left Evan with Justin and Blake. We have to get your sister home so we can head back to Dallas.”
Nate frowned at me. He was only eleven months older than me, but he could seriously play the big-brother card from time to time. “Let’s go, Kels. Give me your keys so I can get you home.”
I was so not ready to go. Unless hottie with three kiddos wanted to drive me somewhere. “Don’t worry about me, Nate. Gil shouldn’t have called you. I’m perfectly fine. I didn’t mean to disrupt your game night. Were you playing D&D?”
He sighed. “No, we were in the middle of a game of Shogun. We probably won’t be able to finish.”
“Dave.” I snapped my fingers as I figured out that Hottie McHotterson must be Nate’s friend Dave. My brother had played with the same group of guys for about ten years. They got together almost every week to run D&D campaigns or play board games. It was strictly guy time because at least two of the men were married and needed time away, although apparently Dave brought his son along.
Dave laughed out loud. “Yes, I’m Dave. And you’re Kelsey Atwood. I’ve heard an awful lot about you over the years. It’s nice to finally make your acquaintance since we’ve played online together for the last six months.”
My eyes got wide. “Oh, tell me you’re Crozier.”
He nodded and his deep blue eyes sparkled. There was something about those eyes and I wondered if Dave was completely human. They caught the light in a way that made me question him. “At your service. You might recognize my voice if you ever put on your headset and talked to the rest of us.”
I didn’t do that for numerous reasons, but my mind was racing. There was something about Dave that had me sobering up mighty fast. Every instinct I had was on high alert. Dave wasn’t simply hot. He was supernatural. “You aren’t human. What are you?”
My question was curious. I wasn’t really afraid of him, but something deep inside said I should be.
Dave’s smile vanished and I could hear Gil chuckle.
“Damn, girl, you’ll be seeing UFOs next,” he muttered.
“Time to go.” Nate hauled me off the barstool.
I felt bad. It was an unstated rule of our world that we kept quiet around humans who didn’t know about the supernatural. I’d been horribly rude to Dave, but Nate didn’t give me a chance to apologize. He tossed me over his shoulder. Gil slid my keys across the bar and I wondered when he’d taken them from me.
The world was dangerously upside down and my stomach revolted at the change of perspective.
“I’ll try to make sure she doesn’t do it again.” I heard the sheepish embarrassment in Nate’s voice. It did more to sober me up than anything else. I hated the fact that Nate was ashamed of me.
He hauled me out of the bar and the brisk night air hit me. Nate’s sneakers crunched against the gravel as he stalked toward my Jeep. He set me down against the Jeep as he got the door open. The world sort of tilted, but I managed to keep it together. I looked at Dave, whose eyes glittered in the dark, and I knew exactly what he was now that he was in his natural element. The night suited him.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the vampire.
He seemed more curious than angry at almost being outed. He regarded me seriously. “How did you know? I’m pretty good at blending in.”
“She always knows.” Nate opened the back door to my Jeep. He was less than gentle as he hustled me into the backseat. “If you decide to puke, do it out the window.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on her,” I heard Dave say.
“You don’t know how many times I’ve had to cart her ass out of a damn bar because she’s just got to find the bottom of a tequila bottle. I don’t like to think about the times I didn’t get a call.” Nate opened the driver’s side and angrily started the car. Dave got in on the other side and Nate took off.
I watched the dark trees pass by as Nate drove toward my house. This part of Hurst was undeveloped mostly because it tended to flood during heavy rains. The trees were thick on either side of the darkened road. I stared into those woods and knew there were creatures out there. I could see their eyes reflecting off the lights from the Jeep.
“Has she always had good instincts?” Dave asked, his voice quiet.
“It was like growing up with Scooby-Doo,” Nate replied. “She always solved the mystery. If I lost something, Kels could find it in no time flat. She used to be a big old bundle of potential and then my dad took her on one of his little trips and she started pulling this shit. She was sixteen.”