“Seemed like a better idea to stay here,” I said with a shrug. “Otherwise, Matth—Dr. Byrne,” I corrected, “would have insisted on tagging along. I figured that wouldn’t make me very popular.”
“Won’t your little friend be terribly disappointed?”
“Won’t Jenna?” I shot back. My jealousy had grown and festered since that first sleepless night. Each day since, I’d become angrier and more confused, my feelings a tangled mess of insecurity and self-righteous fury.
Aidan turned back toward the wall, but I could see his jaw working, the muscles flexing as he stood rigidly with his hands fisted by his sides. Several seconds passed in silence.
“I suppose that means your little spy reported back to you,” he said at last.
My heart did a little leap against my ribs. “What do you mean?”
“I think you know exactly what I mean. I have preternatural senses, remember?”
“You mean . . . you knew?” I stammered.
He turned back toward me, his face an implacable mask. “I was fully aware of Cece’s presence there in the woods.”
“So you . . . what? Wanted to punish me?” My swelling rage was constricting my windpipe, making white spots dance before my eyes. “Is that it?”
His eyes narrowed a fraction. “Is that really what you think of me?”
“What else am I supposed to think?”
He waited a beat before replying. “That I was trying to make you jealous by acting like a complete and total ass.”
Hurt, shock, surprise, relief—it all battled inside me. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“It was a stupid, immature thing for me to do, Violet. I know that now. But I was seething with jealousy, and—”
“For nothing!” I shook my head. “We weren’t even doing anything.”
“And you know what’s really killing me, Violet? As much as I want to hate him, I can’t help but think you’d be better off with him. Especially now, with assassins crawling out of the woodwork. Did you know that the guards have intercepted three in the past two weeks alone? Right outside Winterhaven, coming for me. You’d be safer with him. With Tyler.”
“But I don’t want to be with Tyler. He’s just a friend—there is nothing going on between us.”
“There’s nothing going on between me and Jenna either.”
I turned away from him, tears flooding my eyes. “This isn’t even remotely the same. She was naked, in case you didn’t notice.”
I heard him sigh. “For the record, that wasn’t the first time I’ve seen Jenna naked. It’s quite routine, though she makes my skin crawl. I suppose it’s something biological—you know, a vampire-werewolf thing. Regardless, I promise you I get no pleasure from it.”
“Just shut up,” I muttered. Hearing that he saw her naked regularly did not make me feel any better, even if the sight of her did make his skin crawl. Which I doubted, considering how freaking gorgeous she was. There was no way I could ever compare, not in the looks department.
He reached for my shoulder, turning me around to face him. “Can we stop fighting now? Please? It’s ripping my heart out.” His voice broke on those last words, making my own heart twist painfully in my chest.
The truth was, I didn’t want to fight anymore, either. I just wanted things back to normal.
“Please forgive me, Violet,” he continued. “I should have trusted you, believed you. I should have tamped down the beast inside of me.”
I swallowed hard. “I can’t believe I actually thought you and Jenna . . .” A shiver snaked down my spine. “I mean, seriously.”
He hung his head, shuffling his feet against the dusty floorboards. “I’m sorry I was such an ass. I’ll do anything—whatever it takes to make it up to you.”
I couldn’t stay mad at him, not any longer. “Okay, okay. Apology accepted. Consider yourself forgiven.”
“Thank you.” His blue-gray eyes met mine. “Now please come over here and put me out of my misery. I’m not sure I can stand it another second.”
I hurried into his embrace, pressing my cheek against his chest as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. I let out a sigh of contentment as his lips moved against my temple.
“Have you any idea how much I love you?” he asked, his voice a hoarse whisper now. “I bloody well thought it would kill me, keeping you at arm’s length. I can’t do it, Violet. Never again.”
“I know,” I said, tipping my chin up to meet his gaze. “Just kiss me, okay?”
He did. Somehow, we ended up tangled together on the floor as he kissed me deeply, thoroughly, hungrily. I arched my body against his, wanting more, wanting to be swallowed up entirely.
“When are they coming back from Sunnyside?” he asked, his lips leaving mine just for an instant before finding them again.
“Doesn’t matter,” I somehow managed to say. “We’ve got all day.”
He pulled away, smiling down at me. “Ditch day. Right. God, we need a blanket or something.”
Scrambling to his feet, he found the box in the corner that held a stash of blankets and throw pillows. I just stared at the square window above me, the sky a perfect blue beyond the glass.
“You’re smiling,” Aidan noted, standing over me now. “I haven’t seen that in far too long.”
“I was just thinking how normal this is. You know, the fight and all. For once it wasn’t about something supernatural or anything like that. It didn’t have anything to do with you being a vampire or me being a Sâbbat. You called it ‘juvenile,’ but that’s what it should be, right? I mean, no matter how long you’ve lived, you’re really just seventeen. You acted like a normal seventeen-year-old would. I think . . . I think maybe we needed that. It’s like . . . I don’t know . . . just so human.”
“And that’s why you were smiling?”
I sat up, scooting over to allow him room to spread out the blanket. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, that and the fact that we can stay here making out all day long if we want. We’re not expected in class, and there’s no one here to come looking for us. At least, not until after lunch.”
“What about Dr. Byrne?”
I shrugged. “What about him?”
“You must have told him you weren’t going off campus with the rest of the class. So . . . did you tell him where you were going instead?”
“Uh-oh,” I said, realizing the problem. Matthew was hyperattuned to my emotional state. And if my emotional state got all . . . aflutter . . . would he feel it? How would he interpret it? Worse, would he start combing the campus, looking for me, when I didn’t answer my cell phone?
“Why ‘uh-oh’?” Aidan asked, on his knees beside me now.
A plan formed in my mind. “Is there any way you can . . . you know, pop into my dorm room real quick and get my cell phone for me? I need to call Dr. Byrne and tell him where I am.” And who I’m with, I mentally added. Embarrassing as it was, Matthew would probably figure out what was going on once he started reading me, if he knew I was here with Aidan. I cringed at the thought, but what choice did I have?
“Of course. Is it on your desk?”
“Yeah, I think so. Plugged into the charger.”
“Okay. Sit tight. I’ll be right back.”
He was, in a matter of seconds. He handed me the phone with a smile.
“Okay, that is just so weird,” I said. “You know that, right?”
“Do you want to know how it’s done? Technically speaking, I mean?”
I envisioned a lengthy, scientific-term-laden explanation and shook my head. “Not really, to tell you the truth.”