Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (5 page)

“From high school, Laney,” he hissed, somewhat exasperated, most likely from my expression and the confused emotions he had caught from me. “She can’t know I’m me!” he whispered fiercely. He spun around and quickly walked away.

I stared after him, watching him hurry around the end of the aisle opposite his ex. Once he was out of sight, I slowly turned back toward the bubble bath section, desperately hoping this woman would not speak to me. I couldn’t imagine what she would say, or why she would say anything at all. To her, Oliver had died a long time ago. This was also a reminder to myself that Oliver was quite a bit older than he appeared, and that there were still many things I didn’t know about him. For example: the ex that was getting closer…

I twisted off the top to another bubble bath bottle. I held it to my nose, not registering its scent while I watched my boyfriend’s ex from my
periphery as she pushed her half-loaded shopping cart closer to me and my own cart.

I twisted the cap back onto the bottle and placed it on the shelf as I waited for her to pass me. But she didn’t keep going. She stopped.

I glanced over my shoulder and quickly came to the realization that this woman was the same girl I had once, in a jealous fit, searched for on the Internet. My vampire boyfriend’s high school girlfriend, possibly even his first love, was standing just behind me.

I smiled a little, very uncomfortably, and turned back. I wondered where Oliver was, and if he was watching from some hidden spot.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” the woman said.

Her name suddenly popped into my head.
Lacey.
I remembered it only because it was way too close to my own name.

I turned again, looking at her cautiously. I plastered a fake small smile on my lips as I faced her.

She smiled at me. “That man you were just talking to, what is his name?”

“I’m sorry?” I responded, trying to buy myself some time to come up with a response to her question.

“The man you were just speaking to, he looks like someone I once knew,” she said with a small tremble in her voice.

All I could think of as a response was
because he is
, but I didn’t say it, of course. “Oh,” I began, “well, we’re not from around here, I can’t imagine how you would know…my husband.”

Okay, I may have gone a little far with the whole “husband” bit. Maybe it was a protective/jealous instinct that was way too strong in me. He was mine, after all, no matter that she had dated him first. Kissed him first… And who knows what else first
…

If he hadn’t been changed into a vampire, would they still be together? Would they be married and have a family?

She glanced down at my hand, as if she was looking for a wedding ring. Her eyes quickly returned to mine when she found nothing. I mentally cursed myself while I struggled with my inner fit of jealousy.

“This is actually our first trip to the coast,” I added, desperately hoping she would let it go and move on.

Her smile faltered, leaving only the faint remains of itself behind. “Like I said,” she began, quietly, “I’m sorry to have bothered you. He just looks so much like a friend of mine that I lost many years ago.” There was nothing left of her smile when she finished her sentence.

I stared at her, trying to figure out what to say. T
he lines on her face were another reminder of Oliver’s real age, and the fact he looked nowhere near this woman’s age.

“I’m sorry,” I said. And I was. I felt bad for her. She probably thought she had seen the ghost of her dead high school boyfriend. In a way, she kind of had.

She forced another smile then continued down the aisle. I watched after her until she was gone. I felt sad for her, and also a little envious that she had gotten the chance to know my Oliver when he had been my age. Well, in this woman’s mind, he had actually never made it to my age.

“Impressive,” I heard Oliver quietly say from behind me. “Also, an interesting twist. Your husband, huh?” I could hear the amusement in his tone.

I figured he had been listening.

I smirked, felt my cheeks burn, and turned to face him. “You hush it,” I told him, an uncontrollable smile in place. Then I turned back to the cart so that we could finish our shopping.

“Wait, Laney,” Oliver said, grabbing my forearm to stop me. “Here.” He handed me some money and his car key. “You pay. I’m going to stay out of sight. I’ll meet you at the car.” He kissed my cheek, and with his hood still up, he shoved his hands into his front pockets and attempted to blend in with the crowd. Honestly, he looked suspicious, not inconspicuous. I shook my head and started for the registers.

As I was heading to the front, I heard my phone chime with a message. I stopped and pulled it from my back pocket. It was Oliver.

Don’t forget your bubble bath. Get the lavender, it was the least repulsive.

I chuckled, grabbed a bottle of the lavender bubble bath, and headed to the front of the store.

Lacey was in the next check-out lane over. I tried to avoid eye contact as we both finished up at the same time. I felt her eyes on me as I pushed my cart to the Challenger. I wondered if Oliver’s car was another giveaway. If she had known him as a teenager, she would know that his first car was also a Dodge Challenger, and that he loved that car. Possibly a little too much, in my opinion. Kind of like how he loved the black beast I was currently shoving groceries into. Boys and their toys.

Once I had finished loading the groceries
into the trunk, I pushed the cart over to the return, and then I headed back to Oliver’s car. I saw Lacey a few aisles over. She was sitting in her minivan. She was watching me, and I was pretty sure she was waiting for Oliver to join me.

I slipped into the passenger seat and waited. Not long, though. He slid into the driver’s seat, and I handed him the key as he clicked his seatbelt into place.

“She’s still watching us,” I told him.

“I know,” he distractedly
responded, his focus on his ex-girlfriend in the rearview mirror. “She’s following us,” he said as we pulled out of the parking lot. “I’ll lose her on the freeway.”

“Have you considered letting her see you? Maybe let her have some closure by letting her know you’re okay?” I couldn’t believe I was saying it. I mean, he
’d once had feelings for this girl, and I was encouraging him to spend time with her. I gave myself a mental shake. That stuff didn’t matter anymore. He loved me.

He glanced at me for a quick second, then he returned his attention to the road ahead and to the rearview mirror. “I thought I made her go
crazy a few years back,” he began. “She showed up at the cemetery while I was there. She caught a glimpse of me and, well, she was positive it was me. She started telling people that she had seen me. Of course everyone she told thought she was insane. Felix intervened, but she somehow held onto the memory.”

“Do you think she still loves you?” I questioned.

“Not like that, Laney,” he glanced over at me again, his dark, sunglassed-eyes meeting my own. “I think it’s like you said, a lack of closure. I agree that it might be good for her, but I can’t really tell her
why
I am still alive, right?”

I could see his point, but I still felt really bad for her.

“We were friends long before we dated,” he began again, “and we didn’t actually date that long. I think she just misses her friend,” he finished.

This new information made the whole situation even sadder.

We had been speeding down the freeway in silence for a while when Oliver said, “She just took an off-ramp. We’re good.” He reached for my hand and held it as we headed to the long, windy road which led back to the house. “Some people just never let go of things, Laney.” He sensed my concern. “I have checked on her at different times of the year and she’s fine. It’s just this time of year, around the anniversary of my death, that she gets this way.” He shrugged. “There is really nothing more I can do.”

“It’s kind of sad,” I said.

He nodded. “Yeah, it is. But on the other hand, it’s also a relief to me that the worst thing to ever happen to her was losing me. She has had no other tragedy in her life.”

“I wonder what that’s like?” I questioned under my breath.

“You and me both.” He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the backs of my fingers. “However, I would not have you if it weren’t for my tragic human end.” He kissed my fingers again. I couldn’t help the smile that touched my lips.

After a few minutes, I asked, “Did you love her?”

He gently squeezed my hand. “Laney, I didn’t even know what love was until I met you.” He flashed me a breathtakingly, heart-achingly, perfect half-smile.

I felt myself melting. “Good answer,” I softly responded.

The Setting Sun

I loved the front of the house. Well, I loved the entire house and everything about it, but the front, in the daylight, was just spectacular.

The pale yellow cottage had white scroll accents
, and the wraparound porch was white with beautifully scrolled pillars. The path leading up to the front steps was lined with the prettiest little flowers, and lots of green and flowered foliage had been planted all along the front of the house and around the sides. The house sat upon a large lot; there was quite a distance to the next house, and tons of trees filled in the spaces between, making for excellent privacy.

After unloading the groceries, I grabbed a snack before we headed back down to the beach.

Once again, we tossed our shoes and socks and rolled up our jeans. We walked through the shallow parts of the waves as they lapped up onto the shore. We left footprints in the sand, and Oliver held my hand while he told me about life growing up in the area. He spoke of his baby sister, Olivia, more freely than he ever had back home. It made me wonder if being back in his native area made him feel closer to her.

I asked him if he would take me to his old neighborhood where his house used to be. He smiled big when he told me that he would love to. I wanted to know that part of him
—the parts before he had been changed.

After a couple more hours in the sand, the sun was beginning to settle low on the horizon. Oliver piggybacked me up the slope and back to the house. We dropped our sandy shoes and socks on the back porch before heading inside.

I made us salads while Oliver jumped in the shower. He claimed the sand and saltwater irritated his skin if he didn’t wash it off right away. We couldn’t have that now, could we?

While waiting, I made myself a sandwich to go with my salad. Once Oliver was out of the shower, he helped me take our food out to
a table on the back porch, and we watched as the sun began its breathtaking descent while we ate dinner.

After dinner, we snuggled in the hammock and watched the sunset. It was beautiful as the pink sky faded into the darkening night.

Once the stars were scattered across the sky, we stared up at them and just talked about whatever came to mind. You know, avoiding the giant elephant sitting beside us. I was not going to bring up anything about us bonding, and I didn’t think he was either. I mean, what would he say? “So, you wanna go inside and bond now?” Yeah, I didn’t think so. And I wasn’t about to ask the same stupid question.

At some point, I brought up the fact that I had skipped out on midterms, and that I would most likely be failing
the classes I had left.

“I can take care of that,” Oliver said with a playful hint to his voice.

“That’s not fair, Oliver.”

“Sure it is. Think of it as a perk to dating a geek.” He winked and grinned at me.

I laughed, but this conversation was not over; it was only over for the moment. I would not let him fix my grades. It just wasn’t fair to others. Especially to Carter who worked so hard to keep his grades up. The thought made me wonder how he was doing. It also made me wonder if Zane, the angel, had caused any trouble, or was he too busy searching for me? An uncontrolled shiver ran through me. Oliver held me tighter.

“What are you going to do about having your blood checked?” I asked, suddenly remembering Oliver’s seventy-two-hour check-in.

“I got an extension. I was originally assigned weekly blood testing, but I requested it be changed to every three days.”

“Why?” I questioned, turning my gaze away from the sky to find his eyes already on me. My tummy dropped.

“A lot can happen in a week,” he said, his voice taking on a sultry tone that made my stomach drop even more.

“A lot can happen in three days,” I said back very quietly.

His eyes settled on my lips. A breeze suddenly picked up, sending a cold chill through me that made me think of the fancy bathtub just inside the house. I tried to escape his grasp so I could go take a bath, but Oliver was reluctant to let me leave the hammock. He tried to entice me to stay with kisses, which worked for a little while. That is, until I could no longer control my shivers. With a defeated grin, he released me and we headed inside.

While Oliver brushed his teeth, I ran the water in the tub, making sure that it was hot. I felt chilled to the bone and could not wait to soak in that tub.