Page 59 of Only Fangs

“It isn’t that… it’s just… some guys can be…” She makes a face.

“Disgusting. Creepy. Perverts.” I list them off on my fingers. “I have three sisters,” I tell her. “I know exactly how gross some guys can be.”

“You’re one of the good ones though,” she tells me and then smiles as she closes her eyes.

I pull the blanket up an inch, just to make sure she’s as cosy as possible. I know she doesn’t get bothered by the cold, but there’s still something nice about snuggling, isn’t there? Her hand reaches out and she gently cups my cheek. She doesn’t open her eyes but her smile broadens slightly. “Definitely one of the good ones,” she whispers before pulling her hand back and promptly falling asleep, letting out a gentle snore.

I head back to the flat and find Matt and Ivan in the living room. Matt is setting up Mario Kart and I can hear them talking from the hallway as I take off my shoes.

“You can’t be serious?” Matt says.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Ivan replies.

“Ha ha. But serious? You’ve never played Mario Kart. Like you were around when this all began. OMG, did you have like an original NES?” Matt has always loved vintage computer games and will spend hours at car boot sales looking for pieces of treasure in the things people throw out or try to sell for a fiver.

“Nope. Honestly, I have never played this Mario go cart thing.”

“Well then. You’re going to have to learn.”

I decide to leave them to it rather than be a weird little third wheel. I think this is Matt flirting and I don’t want to cramp his style.

Half an hour later and Matt and Ivan are still playing. I can hear them from my room; it turned out that Ivan wasn’t being entirely truthful and he has played Mario Kart before. A lot. And he has an entire collection of vintage consoles, all pristine and in their boxes. Matt is refusing to be beaten though and it’s getting a little competitive. I still think Matt’s flirting though.

I wake up to brilliant light flooding the room through the open curtains. The dream I was immersed in begins to fade, the edges blurring. I definitely remember that Ari was in it. Is it bad for me to have inappropriate dreams about my boss? This has never happened to me before. I mean, I was hardly going to fantasise about Clive, my boss from my last job, was I? But this dream with Ari feels different. It wasn’t just… you know. It was more than that.

I pull the pillow from behind my head and use it to smother the groan that escapes from my mouth. Nope, this is not happening. I’m not catching proper feelings for Ari. She’s my boss. And a hundred and seventy-two year old vampire. And she definitely doesn’t date normies, even if she did say I was “one of the good ones”.

I throw on some pyjama bottoms and head to the kitchen to make some coffee and toast. I don’t feel too hungover but I’m still half expecting it to slap me in the face at any moment. Matt comes to join me about five minutes later, that vampire super scent always able to sniff out a pot of freshly brewed dark roast.

“Good night?” I ask him as I reach for a mug to pour him a cup.

He nods and a shy smile flicks at the corner of his mouth.

“What time did Ivan head home?”

“About three…” The smile broadens.

“You had a good time though?”

“Yeah. He’s fun.” Matt pulls out a stool and plonks himself into it. “Now then, tell me all about this funding thing. I didn’t get to talk to you properly last night and you barely came home the night before.”

“It’s not a done deal yet. We still need to pitch to the High Council.”

“Sorry?” He almost spits out his coffee. “Did you say the High Council?”

“Yes…” I pull a face and wait for him to tell me more about the weird way he just reacted.

“The High Council, as in Andrei Hele?”

“He’s Clara’s dad?” Surely Matt knows this? Surely he’s put two and two together from everything we’ve been talking about the last week? But the look on his face says he did not know.

“No. Fucking. Way.”

I nod a few times, a wry smile on my face. “Yes. Fucking. Way.”

“But she’s so…” he gropes for the right word. “Normal.”

I snort. It’s a lie. Clara is anything but normal, especially from where I’m sitting.