Page 45 of Fangs with Benefits

He could be a little less obvious, though. And first matter of business, he shouldn’t be kissing any human men or women if he’s liable to fang out at them like that. Now that I think about it, he shouldn’t really be kissing anyone who doesn’t know his secret. Which leaves a generous sample size of me and Dylan for kissing.

‘I could help you,’ I say, before I can think better of it. Elijah looks dumbstruck at the offer.

‘Help me how?’

‘Help you seem human. I’m really good at being human, usually.’

‘Usually,’ he says, and the shadow of a smile is back, which feels like a win. ‘What did you have in mind?’

The glass doors onto the roof open, letting out a group of girls bundled in their coats with steaming coffees in hand. We’re quiet while they mosey down to the other side of the roof patio to sit on some of the comfier chairs and chat. They’re too far away to really hear us, but I inch closer to Elijah and lower my voice anyway. He inhales as I do, but doesn’t replace the distance between our bodies.

‘I’ll show you things that a man born in 1992 should know. Essential media, activities, the usual stuff. I’ll show you the ropes. I’ll be your buddy.’

‘You’re already my buddy; it’s an assignment you look at with great disdain,’ he reminds me.

‘Yes, but that was before I knew you were geriatric.’ ‘Hey!’ Elijah laughs, a light sound.

‘Ancient, really.’

‘You wound me.’ He presses his palm over his heart, and I wonder if it beats beneath his skin or sits perfectly preserved in his chest. ‘If I’d known you’d be this nice to me I’d have told you my secret a month ago.’

I would have called him crazy if he’d told me a month ago. I was so sure he was my nemesis; I would’ve thought he was ridiculing me. Now, though, he seems so earnest, relieved even, to be talking about this hidden truth that’s been weighing on his every interaction. I don’t understand it, don’t fully know how anything works, but I do believe him.

‘Deal still stands, but now when there’s a promotion open, you’ll help me get it with your vampire magic,’ I tell him, doing jazz hands in representation.

‘Not very ethical of you,’ he echoes. I narrow my eyes but can’t keep my lips from pulling up into a smirk no matter how hard I try.

He turns to match my position leaning against the roof’s ledge, his amusement reflecting my own. Elijah holds his hand out to me, and I put mine in his, giving a firm shake.

‘Deal,’ he says. ‘How about we get dinner tonight and I answer your burning questions?’

‘A date?’ I tease.

‘A date,’ he agrees.

I take a deep breath, then shrug. ‘I guess I can be free.’

Elijah tsks and pushes off the wall, two hands in his pockets as he inclines his head towards the glass double doors.

‘Come on. We should probably go make sure Kenneth hasn’t sent a Drummond-wide email about us kissing in a closet,’ Elijah says.

We stand side by side in the elevator, the steel door reflecting smiles on each of our faces.

Chapter 17

Elijah

I’ve learned that Molly’s favourite food is Thai. I sit across from her in a narrow restaurant in midtown, just a few train stops from the office. Molly is a regular here–she doesn’t need to look at a menu to order, and the waitress brought her an orange tea and a water without her having to ask. Molly picked two meals and an order of vegetable rolls, all of which smell divine on our crowded table.

She digs in immediately, and I watch, content to sit with her as she does.

‘So you don’t eat? Like… anything?’ she asks after taking a bite of steaming noodles that she squeezed lime slices over.

‘I don’t eat food,’ I agree, quiet enough that none of the distracted restaurant patrons will overhear. ‘I do drink blood, though.’

‘Human blood?’

I nod gravely, thinking of the vegetable crisper in Dylan’s fridge that’s been commandeered by my only source of nourishment. ‘Blood bags.’