Crimson Death (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #25)(30)

“Spectacular,” Lara deadpanned, hanging back. As usual, I had no idea if she was being sincere or not. Probably not.

The girls all had glasses of soda, and Juliette passed me one. Lara glanced at the bartender, and turned aside to let me see her pocket. I saw a flash of a silver bottle. “Want a little something to celebrate?” she asked.

Of course. I wondered if they were all drinking, or if it was just Lara. Not that she was likely to be the only one in here with a flask. “No, thanks,” I said tightly. Tightly, because I knew what her reaction would be.

She rolled her eyes without even trying to hide it. “Why do I bother?” she muttered to herself.

“Take it slow, all right?” Juliette said to Lara. “They’ll kick us out if you get messy.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Matt and Darnell came over to talk at that point, and while Lara greeted Matt, Niamh shook her head at Juliette and me. “It must be nice to be able to eat and drink whatever you want, without ever exercising, and never have to justify your lifestyle to anyone.”

Juliette shrugged, but it was a sympathetic one. She and Niamh joined the rest of the others in a conversation about next week’s game, while I scanned the crowd curiously. And … yep, there she was, hanging out near the bathrooms with a group of senior girls. The redhead Lara had hooked up with at the start of the school year. Renee. I wondered if Lara was hoping to kiss her tonight. If that was why she was already drinking at seven-thirty.

Then I noticed Will had joined us, and I was suddenly interested in the conversation again. Lara gave him a mischievous look and poured something in his and Matt’s drinks, keeping things below waist height to dodge wandering bartender eyes. This would be interesting. Would Will be as eager to make up with me now that his whole letterman-wearing crew were active witnesses?

“Hey, man,” Matt said to Will, slapping him on the shoulder. “Help us settle this. If you had to choose between making out with a Labrador that turned into a chick after you stopped, or making out with a chick who then turned into a Labrador, what would you go with?”

Will leaned against the bar and crossed one foot over the other, pushing his hair back off his forehead. If I did that, I’d look like I was trying and failing to emulate James Dean. Will made it work, though. “What the hell kind of conversation did I just walk into?”

“Answer the question.”

“Um … well, where’s the consciousness? Is the idea that you’re kissing a Labrador in a girl’s body, and then it turns into its true form? Or is it a girl who just shape-shifts?”

“The first one. It’s actually a Labrador the whole time and it’s like, whaaat, surprise!”

“Yeah, got it. How hot is the girl?”

“How hot is … What is the relevance?”

“Well, if I’m gonna frog-prince a Labrador, I’d better be saving a girl I’d wanna date.”

Darnell cut in here. “Wait, so if it’s not a hot girl, you’d just let her stay in a dog’s body, forever? That’s fucked up.”

“What, so you’d make out with the Labrador?”

“Fuck no, I’m not making out with any Labradors, what kind of bestiality fetish do you think I’ve got?”

The same mischievous, playful, fist-bumping kind of attitude that’d pissed me off coming from Will in class was way more palatable outside of it. I still found the cocky posture and wry eyebrow raise a bit of a turnoff, but a part of me liked how much the other guys admired Will, and the way they pounced on him the second he joined a group. It even made me jealous, in a way. It didn’t seem to matter what he said, or how terrible his jokes were, or whether he put his foot in it, they drank it up. It was just his energy. He was ineffably charismatic. Life came so easily to him.

Suddenly, the guys drifted away, the Labrador paradox apparently resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Matt to speak to Lara, Darnell to moon over a slightly perked-up Niamh, and the others to head outside. All at once, Will and I were alone in a crowded room. I swallowed, turning red. Was he going to pretend he didn’t know me? Back away so he wouldn’t be seen with me? If he did, I decided, that was it. No more second chances.

Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and drew closer. “You’re full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“How so?”

“You looked very … different up there. Like, relaxed and confident.”

I couldn’t help it, I flushed with a little spark of pleasure. “Did I? I guess I’m comfortable performing. I’ve been doing it for years.”

He took a sip of his spiked Coke, then held the glass ahead of us. “Hey, who do you ship more? Darnell and Niamh or Lara and Matt?”

I let out a scornful noise, relaxing into the conversation. This was like talking to music class Will. Or the lake Will. “Lara and Matt? No way. She’s into someone else.”

“Really? Who?”

Why was he so interested? I shrugged. “That’s her business. I’d put money on it, though. I notice things.”

“Yeah. I know you do.”

Matt was leaning against the bar, all attention on Lara. He definitely liked her, anyone could see that. She was giving him a little bit back, sure. Giggling, hair tossing, et cetera. But she kept looking around the room, like she was keeping tabs on someone.