Page 36 of Magpies & Mayhem
He pulled his arms back and scooted away from me. “I told you I wasn’t going to.” Was he…sulking?
I turned my head so I could see him out of the corner of my eye. “Is it cool if I roll over?”
“I guess.” He wasdefinitelysulking.
I rolled slowly onto my back, trying to give him a little space, but also not wanting to at all. Jordan had his arms crossed over his chest and his ears were tinged pink, just like his cheeks. I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m going to brush my teeth, and then we’re going to talk about this.”
“About what?” he asked as I heaved myself off the bed.
I flipped my hair over my shoulder and pointed my finger at him, swirling it around in the air to indicateall of him. “This,” I answered, turning to head for the toothbrush I’d left on his bathroom sink last night after getting ready to sleep. His expression was guarded when I returned. Normally, I would have just flounced into the room and flung myself onto the bed, but this was metryingto be considerate.
Jordan still looked pretty tired, so I’d assumed correctly that the sun wasn’t quite down yet. I took my time climbing back in next to him, my eyes locked on his grumpy face the whole time to watch how he responded. He gave me nothing, so I—oh, so slowly—lowered myself down in front of him and pressed my forehead into his sternum, above his folded arms.
“Pet me.”
He barked a surprised laugh. “What?”
“Pet me. Anywhere. My hair, my back, wherever.”
He gave an amused huff and disentangled his arms, tucking one under his head to make room for me, and reaching the other around awkwardly to pet the hair at my temple.Whatever. I guess I’ll take it.I snuggled closer as he fell into a slow rhythm, adding more pressure and threading his fingers through the strands. Once I was sufficiently reduced to a puddle of happy goo and Jordan’s heart rate had slowed significantly, I asked him why he was being weird.
“Petting a girl’s head kind of weird?” he asked dryly.But it wasn’t weird when he was petting my wings?
“No,” I retorted. “Pouting because I expected you to react the same way two days in a row kind of weird.”
“Hm.” He focused on my hair for several silent minutes, and I wanted to press him about it, but I held my peace. The petting helped. “I told you I’d be fine tonight,” he said in a murmur.
“Yeah, but you were pretty worked uplastnight when you woke up, and I take people on their actions, not their words. I’m notjudging youfor waking up ready to fight. I just don’t want to be directly in your path before all your neurons are firing at full capacity.”
He gave a quiet sigh above my head, and he draped his arm around my head to give me a gentle squeeze. “Thank you. I’m not… I don’t deserve anyone’s trust, and yet, I find myself desiring yours,” he whispered.
“Why do you believe you don’t deserve anyone’s trust, Jordan?” I frowned at his chest as a spark of anger flared in me for him.
“I know what I am.”
That brought me up short. Because hadn’t I had those same thoughts about him? He was dangerous in ways beyond even most of the magical people of the Boundlands, and he’d warned me outright that he couldn’t always control his reactions. But he’d also told me he wouldn’t hurt me and that he wouldn’t let anything else hurt me either. I could take care of myself in most situations, but I acknowledged that sometimes I just wasn’t enough. And I knew I wouldn’t be enough if I ever had to throw down with Jordan. And yet… andyet, perhaps foolishly, I did want to trust him.
Maybe I just needed to better understand him.
“Can we talk about it?” I asked, considering this.
“Me being a vampire?” His voice sounded thick. It made my heart clench in my chest, a cold weight settling in my gut, and I nuzzled my forehead in closer to him.
“Will you tell me how it happened?”
He didn’t answer for a long time, and instead began to toy with my hair again, dragging his fingers gently through the strands as he thought.
“Will it change anything?” he asked, finally.
“No.” I focused on the tug and pull of his fingers against my scalp. “I just want to know you.”
He released an unsteady breath. “I was at a college party with my teammates, celebrating winning a game we hadn’t been expected to win.”
“Playing hooks?” I asked.
“Yeah, I got a full ride for it.”
“Wow.” He’d always been a ferocious player, so I guess that didn’t surprise me too much, but I was impressed.
