Page 34 of Only Fangs

“I didn’t do anything.”

But I can tell from the grin licking the corner of her mouth that she’s lying. Lying and thinking she’s funny at the same time. “What did you do?”

Ari bites her bottom lip as if she’s debating what to tell me. “All I did was give her a little glimpse.”

“Of?”

Ari runs her tongue over her top lip and then very slowly, she snarls, baring her teeth. It’s the first time I’ve seen her teeth up close and personal. I know it’s a big deal for a vampire to expose the truth of them, not the retracted version they show the world, but the full extension. Matt says its more intimate than showing someone your privates. And seeing Ari’s I don’t know if I should be appalled at how she scared Yetty or terrified myself.

What I most definitely am not is turned on.

No.

Absolutely not.

No siree.

Chapter 19

Ari

Iknow I shouldn’t have done it. I probably shouldn’t have terrified Yetty – even if it was kind of fun – and I certainly shouldn’t have burned our bridges with her sister. Kiki would actually have been helpful with the portraits.

But the way that girl was acting towards Brody got my back up. The way she looked at him like he was nothing. I’d wondered if Kiki was his ex, and with her incredible cheekbones, deep brown eyes and slender curves I could absolutely imagine she would be his type. But the second I saw Yetty I knew she was the one who had broken his heart.

No one fucks with my friends. If there’s one thing I’m proud of in my life – and there aren’t many things, let’s be fair about it – it’s that I will always defend the people I love. Not that I love Brody. But he is growing on me, despite being a human. And I’m not about to let some upstart little girl who thinks she’s better than everyone else treat him like garbage.

“I guess we need to find a new artist though,” I tell Brody.

“Yeah,” he replies with a sigh as we head back towards my flat.

We walk in silence for a few minutes. “I’m sorry,” I say eventually. “I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have.”

Brody doesn’t reply for a moment and I sense he’s thinking about something. “Once upon a time I thought Yetty was the one. You know, the person I was going to spend my life with. But then today… well I realised she’s…” he trails off as he reaches for the right word.

“Kind of a bitch?” I offer him.

He laughs. “That isn’t what I was going to say. But yeah. Kind of a bitch.”

“You deserve someone who sees just what an amazing man you really are,” I tell him.

He blushes and the tips of his ears turn pink. I smile to myself.

Back at the flat, I make us tea and then settle in the armchair with my iPad to look for an artist who can produce the profile portraits for us. Brody takes the sofa and tries to find other photos to pepper his fake profile with. The things that make him him. I sneak the occasional looks at him as he makes his way through his camera reel, face a picture of absolute concentration, the tip of his tongue poking out the side of his mouth.

Ten minutes later he clears his throat to get my attention. “OK, I’ve found a few.” He seems nervous, like a playwright letting someone read their script for the first time. He hands me his phone. “You can scroll,” he tells me.

It’s an odd thing to say and he must notice the confusion on my face.

“You never scroll without permission,” he says, extremely seriously.

“Why not?” It feels like if someone hands you their phone with all their pictures on the screen it would be rude not to scroll.

He cocks his head slightly. “You don’t know that many humans do you?”

I shake my head. “If we’re being honest you’re pretty much the first human I’ve spent time with in the last couple of decades.”

He takes a deep breath as if he’s preparing to say something very important. “I know this isn’t a thing for vampires, but normies – some normies, anyway – like to take photos. Of themselves. Of each other.” He drags the words out as if this will aid my understanding. “Private photos.”