Almost Midnight (Shadow Falls: After Dark #3.5)(32)

Chase offered an apologetic shrug when Mindy stormed through a group of friends, some sporting pale skin and fake fangs, others wearing werewolf masks.

You didn’t want to piss off a park full of werewolves or vampires. Once or twice, he glanced at Tami at his side and she just shrugged as if she’d realized how crazed his sister was as well.

They’d made three or four treks—he’d lost count—around the square, without one glimpse of the boob-gawking Eric.

After the third time walking through the same group of creatures, who were looking pissed at his sister’s lack of manners, Chase finally took her by the arm and tried to get her to see reason. “Mindy. He’s not here. Let’s go grab something to eat.”

She frowned, obviously unhappy, and looked about ready to toss some ugly insult his way. But he kind of understood that she wasn’t as upset at him as she was disappointed at being stood up by the guy she had a major crush on. He remembered hearing the jerk tell Mindy several times that he’d be at the festival and for her to please show up and find him.

“We can come back later and see if he’s here,” Chase offered, noting the hurt in her eyes. Hurt that he recognized as rejection. Sort of how he’d felt when Susie Muller had told him he didn’t know how to kiss.

“I’m kind of hungry, too,” Tami said, moving in beside him, chasing all thoughts of Susie from his mind.

The warmth of Tami’s shoulder against his had him wondering if the brush was accidental or if maybe … just maybe, she liked touching him as much as he liked her touching him.

“Fine,” his sister said, but the pain in her expression and her rejected posture had him forgetting about Tami for a second and disliking Eric even more.

If the guy stood his sister up, he’d better not show his ugly face back at the cabin before they left tomorrow, because Chase would tell him what he thought. Then he might get Baxter after his butt.

*

They all ordered hot dogs—two for him and one for each of the girls—with extra mustard and one order of nachos. Since his dad had slipped Chase three twenties before getting out of the car, he picked up the bill. He kind of liked paying for Tami. It made it almost feel like a date. Of course, if it were a date, she might be holding his hand and he might be trying to figure out how to sneak a kiss. But not wanting to be disappointed, he tried not to think about it too much.

They sat at an empty picnic table set out for the festival. Tami, who’d borrowed Mindy’s phone because hers had lost juice, was trying to call her parents, but for some reason couldn’t get the call to go through. He studied her under his lashes, noticing little things. Like the shape of her lips or the way she messed with her hair.

“We must have a bad connection here,” she said and set the phone down.

She had chosen to sit beside him and not beside Mindy. Was he over-reading her every move? Or was it possible she had a thing for him, too?

A group of vampires, several of the ones they’d charged past in their search for Eric, sat at the picnic table next to them.

Mindy, as if seeing them for the first time, stared and then shuddered. She leaned down and spoke in a whisper. “They’re freaky, don’t you think?”

Chase looked at the group of teens. They must have lost their werewolf friends, because these were all dressed in black, probably doused with some kind of white powder to make them appear extra pale, and wore fake fangs. One of the guys had a few drops of fake blood running down his chin and one girl had what looked like bite marks on her neck.

“There has to be some costume contest going on,” Chase said. Not that these guys were going to win, Chase thought. “Did you see that zombie with the skin hanging off his face? He almost looked real.”

“They’re still freaky,” Mindy said, and cut her eyes back to the table of vampires.

“You’ve been reading too many novels,” Chase said and took his first bite of hot dog. The spicy mustard filled his taste buds and reminded him how hungry he really was. But even starved, he stopped himself from poking the whole thing in his mouth, the way he might have done if he was just with his guy friends. The last thing he wanted to do was look like a pig in front of the girl of his dreams.

“No,” Mindy said, and scooped up a chip dripping with cheese and sliced jalape?os. “It’s not the books. I’ve been reading too many of Dad’s reports.”

Chase picked up his soda. “Reports?”

“His medical reports,” she said. “I went by his work a couple of weeks ago and he was with a patient so I went and waited for him in his office.” She leaned in and spoke quietly. “There was a file open on his desk and it was about some virus that made people crave blood. Human blood.”

Tami almost choked on a nacho. “So you’re saying that vampires actually exist?”

“No, I didn’t say that,” Mindy said. “I’m saying a virus exists that makes people crazy and they want to drink blood. You can call it anything you want.”

Chase chuckled. “I think you just read it wrong.”

“I didn’t,” Mindy said. “I mean, maybe it was about one of his patients in the loony house, but…”

“Dad’s a nephrologist, meaning a kidney doctor, not a shrink. His patients aren’t in the loony house.”

Mindy took a big sip of her drink and rolled her eyes at Chase’s disbelief. “Hey … I’m just telling you what I read.”