The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(28)

The doorbell rang again, and I surfaced from the fog in which I had drifted. I opened the door for Gavin, who looked super-hot in his tux. He held a big bouquet of yellow roses.

“Hey,” he greeted me.

“Hi.” I smiled shyly. We stood and looked at each other for a moment.

“Well, can I come in?” he asked.

Embarrassed, I backed away from the door and motioned him in.

“Of course. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He smiled and his pretty green eyes brightened.

“You look amazing!” he told me, extending the flowers. “These are for you.”

Hesitantly, I took them. He didn’t know it, but it was the first time anyone had given me flowers.

“I hope you like yellow.”

“I love yellow,” I whispered, stepping sideways toward the kitchen. “Let’s go put these in some water.”

He followed me into the kitchen and watched me while I stood on a chair to get a big vase down from on top of the refrigerator. I think mostly he was looking at my legs and butt, which made me feel totally uncomfortable. My dress was tight, and the slit opened up to just above my knee, so I don’t think he had much choice other than to look at me.

After balancing unevenly on the chair and getting down without killing myself, I trimmed the roses and stuck them in the vase, filled it halfway with water, and then placed it in the center of the kitchen table. The whole time, he chatted with me about stuff going on with friends of his I barely knew and really didn’t care to know.

“Are you ready?” I asked, practically cutting him off.

“Oh, sure. Let’s go.”

I grabbed my coat off the back of the couch and pulled the bulky thing on over my dainty little dress. Well, at least my top half was going to be warm.

When we arrived at the gym, where they were throwing the New Year’s bash, Gavin took my arm and escorted me inside. The moment we were through the doors, I stopped to stare. I couldn’t believe what they had done to the place. Normally, it was full of exercise equipment, mats and weapons. For this event, they had moved all that stuff and decorated the entire gym with shiny ribbons hanging from the ceiling, glittery things everywhere, and there was even a band set up on a large portable stage. They blasted out rock music from the eighties.

The place was packed with people. I had no idea how everyone fit, but they did. The center of the gym was where all the people who were dancing had congregated. The perimeter was lined with tables of goodies and people who stood around talking.

I looked up at Gavin and he smiled down at me.

“Come on.” He tugged me forward until I bumped into him, and then he wrapped his arm around my waist and guided me to the refreshment tables. Along with all the goodies supplied on the tables were novelty top hats covered in silver and gold glitter. Gavin picked one and somehow managed to get it on my head, even with my hair done up. It was a bit tilted but stayed on. He grabbed another one and put it on his own head.

“There. That’s better,” he said.

I giggled, and he took me around the waist again and led me onto the dance floor. It felt good to have someone like me enough to bring me flowers and treat me nice. I liked it.

After two dances, I needed something to drink. I stood on my tiptoes and hollered in Gavin’s ear that I was going to get a drink and then visit the bathroom.

“Do you want anything?” I shouted.

“I’ll come with you,” he shouted back. He gripped my hand, and we began to wedge our way through the crowd of dancers. We popped out of the crowd next to a refreshment table, and I practically lunged for the punch bowl. It was so freakin’ hot in there from all the bodies. It had begun to smell a bit like body odor.

Gross.

After I guzzled down a plastic cup of punch, I went in for more.

“Here.” Gavin shoved a water bottle into my hand. “This might help more than the punch.”

“Thanks!” I uncapped the bottle and drank about half of it.

The next song up was a slow one, so Gavin led me out to the dance floor and wrapped his arms around my waist. That awkwardness I’d felt before came back immediately. This was the first time I was ever pressed up against a guy… ever. Honestly, I didn’t really know what to do. Gavin took my arms, running his fingers gently from my shoulders to my hands—except for when he skipped over my cast—and then he placed my arms over his shoulders. Finally, he took me around the waist again and pulled me closer.

While we swayed to the slow beat of the music, we turned around and around. I looked up into his eyes and hoped it was affection I saw glimmering there. It was only then I realized his green eyes reminded me of Drew’s.

Strange.

On one of our spins around, I glimpsed Drew and Christina. Christina’s skanky body was draped all over Drew, and it looked like she was nuzzling on his neck. I looked away as fast as I could. For the life of me, I just could not figure out why I hated the fact he was with her. I just couldn’t put my finger on what kind of a feeling it was. It mostly felt like jealousy, but I didn’t like Drew that way…or maybe I did.

Was it just Christina though, or would I have felt the same way if it was a different girl hanging all over him? Really, I felt like he deserved better than someone like Christina.

I couldn’t take it any more.