Cursed (The Brookehaven Vampires #4) (62 page)

I think it was hard for her to be around him and pretend things were
okay just the way they were. She was fine when they worked together, but apparently the thought of sharing breakfast in a relaxed atmosphere was not cool with her.

Anyway, we went to the Pancake House. We were tired, and after a few hours of letting go, and not pretending we weren’t ourselves, it was hard to jump back into pretending.

Our first mistake was me, as Oliver, riding in the front of Felix’s SUV with him, while Laney and my body sat beside each other in the back.

Then, without thinking, Oliver, in my body, took Laney’s hand as we headed for the restaurant. It was me that caught this. Glancing back to check on her, I noticed she was holding hands with, well, me.

I stopped, and jokingly said, “Hey now, stop trying to steal my girlfriend.” I took her hand as both of them stared back at me with wide eyes.

Oliver stood there for a couple minutes as I walked away with his girlfriend.

You’d think the longer we were stuck as each other, the better we’d get at it, but it seemed just the opposite. Especially for Laney and Oliver. But that might’ve had something to do with the fact I’d almost died in his body. Maybe.

Once inside, I gestured for Laney to scoot in first at our booth, then I slid in beside her.

She was miserable, I could feel it, and she also wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t need to feel that one to tell. That was clear on her face. We’d all had a long night, and it was taking its toll on Laney the most.

I watched her for a minute as she looked over the menu. She gave me an uneasy smile when she caught my eyes on her.

“You okay?” I quietly asked as she watched Felix stand so “Carter,” who was finally joining us in the restaurant, could scoot to the inside of the booth, across from Laney.

She stared at the me across the table and shrugged in response to my question.

The other me was busy looking at the menu.

“Laney,” I said very quietly. She turned her attention to me. “It will be okay
.”

She forced a strained smile before looking back to her menu.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the other me glance at the two of us before returning his attention to his menu. He was exhausted and struggling with some jealousy.

Out of respect, I kept my distance in the booth, sitting far enough away that I wasn’t touching Laney, but still close enough it wouldn’t look like we were fighting.

I sat quietly while the others ate. Only Felix spoke during breakfast, and it wasn’t about anything important. Felix was also the only one who really ate. The other two picked at their food while desperately trying not to make eye contact with each other.

When Felix was nearly done with his
breakfast, Laney dropped her fork to her plate with a loud clank, which drew our attention to her. I got a wave from her that made my own stomach roll.

“Let’s get you home,” I said. I slid out of the booth and offered her my hand.

With a glance over the table at the other version of me, she took my hand and scooted out of the booth.

I led her back to the truck while Felix paid. I slid into the backseat with her, and we waited for a few minutes before the others joined us.

“We’ll figure this out,” I said, hoping to reassure her.

“I’m just not sure we will,” she whispered.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against my side.

After a minute or two, she dropped her head against my chest. I tried not to let her feel me cringe. She’d rested her head right where that slayer
fucker had cut me. It was still tender.

She took a couple deep breaths, and she actually calmed down. That is until Felix and “Carter” arrived, then she was tense again.

She pulled herself free of my arm and stared out the opposite window as we rode home.

There were people in our apartment when we arrived. The window in Laney and Oliver’s room was being replaced, and when the dudes who were replacing it were gone, the others filled me in on what I’d missed.

With Oscar back to visiting Laney, none of us would ever sleep again.

Felix and
Oliver got into yet another argument over the safety of our apartment. I locked myself in the bathroom and took a well-needed shower.

Once out of the shower, I examined Oliver’s chest and his right palm. You
would’ve never known anything had happened. But mentally, I think I was still hurting over the incident. My life might suck, but at least the dishes at the diner weren’t gonna try to kill me.

*****

Laney stayed curled in a ball and under her fleece blanket on the couch all day long. The other version of me slept sitting up in the chair with the TV on. Neither of them went to class, and late that afternoon my phone, I mean my actual phone, beeped with a message.

The other me opened his eyes and lifted his sleepy head. He groggily reached for my phone that was sitting on the coffee table. He checked the message, and then he straightened in the chair. “Kiera’s on her way over,” he said.

“Super,” Laney mumbled from where she still lay on the couch. “She probably has more evil wedding crap for us to do.”

Laney was probably right, and I felt bad for the two of them having to deal with Kiera.

Honestly, this break from her had been kinda nice.

I was having a hard time dealing with the fact that I had almost lost my life, and through no fault of my own.

It had been irresponsible and idiotic of Felix to include Carter, even in my body, in a field assignment. Carter was nowhere near ready for such a task, especially in my body while he struggled to control my ability.

I couldn’t think about it. It was making me crazy wondering if my body had died, if I would’ve gone too, or if I would’ve stayed as Carter. It was killing me to think of leaving Laney. And then, watching him trying to comfort her… I felt on edge.

Honestly, I felt like I was going to blow.

And now, now I had to deal with his girlfriend. I wasn’t sure it was wise, but what else could I do?

I sat on the edge of the chair in the living room, prepping myself. My head
was still throbbing from cracking it against the dresser while struggling with Oscar the previous night. The stiches were already beginning to itch.

I took a deep breath. I needed to get back into Carter-mode.

She tapped at the front door. I was quick to answer, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. I didn’t miss that Laney’s eyes were on me the entire time.

“Hey,” Kiera said as I opened the door.

“Hey.” I forced myself to act like I was happy to see her.

She
beamed at me and said, “I need to talk to you.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me to Carter’s bedroom.

I glanced back to find Laney and my own face watching us from over the back of the couch. They shared a quick, yet concerned
, glance with each other.

I have to admit, I too was worried.

For what reason would Kiera drag me off to the bedroom after not seeing me for several days…?

I’d
run if she tried anything. I’d run and hide and never let her find me again.

She closed the door behind us.

I backed farther into the room, and I stood a good distance away from her.

She turned to face me. “We’re good,” she said
, smiling big.

I just stared at her. I had no clue why we were “good.” Had I pissed her off, again? Was this how she forgave Carter?

“I started,” she said when I didn’t respond, but I only stared at her.

“Started what?” I finally questioned.

“My period,” she said, crossing the distance between us.

I was so surprised by her announcement and by the fact Carter and Kiera had been secretly fearing Kiera was pregnant, I
didn’t even notice that she had slipped her arms around me and was smiling up at me. Not until she pulled me down to her and pressed her lips to mine.

Pulling my lips from hers, I looked down into her golden-flecked eyes. “Oh,” I said, and then, with a little more conviction, I said it again, “Oh!”

Her smile grew even wider, and she kissed me again. She seemed a little too grateful not to be expecting, if you know what I mean.

Trying to avoid her lips, I pulled her against me and hugged her tight, expressing in my own way how thankful I was that she
wasn’t pregnant. All the while, I thought about the fact our significant others were just on the other side of the door.

“Let’s go celebrate,” she said when I released her. “Tonight, okay?”

“Sure,” I said without thinking.

She kissed me again as I thought about how I
would inform the real Carter he wasn’t going to be a father.

“Dinner and the Lunatic Stallion?” she questioned. Before I could even process her words, I nodded in agreement. “Great!” she said. Then she proceeded to tell me she was going to Zoey’s and she would see me later.

I was still dazed as we left Carter’s bedroom.

Kiera questioned Laney, asking her if she felt okay, then she pointed out that Laney looked paler than usual. I knew Laney
didn’t feel well. Could you blame her? My body, and possibly even my consciousness, had almost died. Of course she didn’t feel well. Hell, I didn’t feel well!

After Kiera left, I returned to my seat in the chair near the
TV.

They were both staring at me.

“What did she want?” Laney asked.

I focused on her. She was
definitely pale, but as I said, that was to be expected considering she’d given up a couple pints of blood to help bring my body back from the dead.

Then my focus went to my own face. “You thought Kiera was pregnant?” I questioned.

“What?” Laney snapped. She turned toward my body and questioned her friend.

“Well
…I didn’t actually think she was. It was just a possibility that she could’ve been,” the words tumbled from my own mouth, but I hadn’t said them. “She’s not, right?”

“No,” I told him.

“Phew. That’s a relief,” he said. He dropped back against the other end of the couch. “I mean, I was stressed about it at first, but then this crap happened, and it just kinda slipped my mind.”

I watched Laney staring at him.

Thankfully, we knew we were in the clear. Well, we had been until about a week ago when she’d seduced me out at Julz and Isaac’s place. I smiled at the memory. I wasn’t worried, we had been careful at all the other times, and I was fairly certain she hadn’t been ovulating then.

However, as great as that moment
was, we couldn’t be careless like that anymore.

I would not risk losing her.

“Dude, how messed up would it be if she was, you know, and we stayed each other. How would that work?”

I turned my focus to the babbling version of myself. I
wasn’t even going to try to wrap my brain around this one. Instead, I said, “We’re going out tonight.”

“What?” they both snapped as their eyes found mine.

“She caught me off guard,” I admitted.

“Great,” Laney groaned. She dropped back down on the couch, on the end closest to where I was sitting. I wanted to reach out and comfort her like
I’d done the previous night. It was wonderful to be able to hold her, but it wasn’t the same as when it was actually me doing the holding. But I was willing to take what I could get at this point.

*****

I dressed Carter’s body a little nicer than he usually dressed himself. To do so, I had to borrow one of my own shirts. I knew Carter had filled out since the Were incident, but I was surprised to find the shirt a little snugger on him than it was on me. Maybe my eating habits were catching up to him. Nevertheless, I was tired of looking like a slob.

I combed Carter’s stringy hair and tried to get it to stay out of my eyes. I sighed as I looked in the mirror, the pink scar catching my
attention. I tried to cover it with Carter’s hair, but there was no hope. What did it matter, anyway? It wasn’t like I wanted Kiera to pay more attention to me.

Once
I’d done all that I could to make Carter look decent, I left the bathroom to try to encourage the others to get ready.

Laney was reluctant to go out for the night. We both had to give her some encouragement. It
didn’t seem to help, but she finally caved and headed for our room to change. I think she was just tired of listening to us beg.

“This is stupid,” she grumbled as she sat on the couch and tied her shoes. “So we’re just going to sit around watching each other be with the wrong person?”

Neither of us said anything. Mostly because she was right, and I felt stupid for agreeing to go out in the first place.

“You two don’t have to go,” I told them.

“Yeah, right,” I watched myself say. “Like we’re gonna set you free on the world with my fiancée, without us.” He grinned at me.

I
didn’t find him amusing. I was actually getting tired of looking at myself.

I sat in the back of my own car while Carter, drove us across town. Nobody spoke.

We met Kiera, Zoey, and Rudy at the brewery. They were waiting for us out front when we arrived. Kiera rushed over and threw her arms around me, pressing her lips to mine. Laney, with her arms folded over her chest, turned away, and the other me glared.

While we waited for the waitress to take our orders, Zoey’s boyfriend, Rudy, who was a fellow Brookehaven Vampire, asked me about my
…well, he asked the Carter in my body about the previous night’s accident.

“How are you doing?” he asked. “I heard about last night.”

“What happened last night?” Kiera questioned, directing her attention from staring and smiling at me to the me sitting across the table next to my girlfriend.

Laney
didn’t look the least bit happy.

“Oh, it was nothing,” the other me said.

“Nothing?” Rudy barked. “You almost died!”

“Died? But you look totally fine,” Kiera said. She was obviously stunned. Or stupid.

“Yeah, how is that?” Rudy asked, suspicion in his voice.

I could see that Carter was about to answer. Thankfully, he glanced my way
, and I was able to shut him up with a quick shake of my head.

“Oh, it wasn’t as bad as the others are making it out to be.” He turned his attention to Laney to avoid any more questions.

I breathed a sigh of relief. If the others knew that Laney’s blood had the powers that it possessed, things could get bad…

Kiera was chatting with Zoey about the wedding. She wasn’t focused on me. It was a relief.

My eyes fell on the couple across from me—the couple that consisted of my body and my beautiful mate. I watched as the other me leaned closer to my girlfriend. He spoke quietly to her, and her eyes met his as he spoke.

At one point, she actually smiled at him. It infuriated me to watch them.

Our drink orders arrived and I downed my beer in record time.

This was going to be a long night.

The Right Kisses from the Wrong Man