The Vampire Hunter's Daughter: Complete Collection(29)

“Let’s get out of here,” I whispered into Gavin’s ear.

“Why?” he asked, pulling me back a little bit so he could look at my face. “Did something happen?”

I shook my head and pulled him through the crowd of slow-dancing vampire hunters. After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the door. We grabbed our coats from the portable closets they had by the door for the many jackets.

Once Gavin pushed open the heavy doors to the gym and we were met with a blast of icy wind, I felt better. I didn’t exactly like the cold, but it felt good to be out of the throngs of hot, sweaty people.

“What happened?” Gavin asked me on the way to the car.

I shrugged. “Nothing. I don’t know. I just needed to get out of there. It was beginning to feel claustrophobic with all those people all mashed together.”

He opened the driver’s door and turned on the car while I slid into the passenger seat. We sat there while the car idled and warmed up. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t get that image of Christina kissing on Drew’s neck out of my head.

Gavin shrugged. I was pretty sure he knew what was going on but was polite enough not to say anything about it. We sat in the car for what seemed like forever until he broke the silence. “Well, what should we do?”

“Let’s just go to my house. No one is there right now.”

“All right, then.” He shifted car into gear and we left.

My house was dark when we arrived. Briefly, I wondered when I had started thinking about it as my house. I had always considered it Luke’s house. I flipped on the light switches as we walked in, and I shrugged out of my coat. I wanted to change my dress, but I settled for just shedding my shoes.

“Are you hungry?” I asked him, trying to keep annoyance out of my voice. “I can go find us some snacks.”

“You got any popcorn? We could watch a movie or something.”

“Let’s go find out.”

In the kitchen, we rummaged around until we found a box of light popcorn.

“Well, it’s better than nothing.” I held up the microwave popcorn bags.

“Popcorn is popcorn.” He smiled as I ripped off the plastic wrappers and threw one in the microwave.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked as opened the fridge.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I was just wondering why you would ask me to go to the New Year’s bash with you. I don’t hang out with your crowd.” I handed him a bottle of water. “I barely know you.”

He took the water and grinned. “Isn’t that the point, to get to know each other?”

I nodded, not buying that as an answer.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I asked you to come with me because I think you're pretty, and I do want to get to know you.”

“Why would you want to know me?” I just didn’t get it.

“You barely talk to anyone at school. You sit alone with your iPod in your ears so you don’t socialize, but you aren’t a geek. I just want to see what is behind this wall you’ve built around yourself.”

The microwave beeped and I pulled out the cooked bag and set it on the counter so I could grab a big glass bowl from the top cupboard.

“How do you know I’m not a geek? You just said you don’t know me.”

“I know some things about you,” he told me as he rose from his chair. “I know that you lost your mother, that you witnessed her death.”

I sucked in my breath. Why would he bring that up?

He moved toward me. “I know that you moved here and have had a hard time adjusting. I know that you aren’t very social.”

I held the bowl of popcorn in my hands and could feel my fingertips tingle.

“Everyone knows about my mom, and that other stuff is plain observation.”

Still, he moved closer. I backed up against the counter as he moved forward. He took the popcorn bowl from my hands and put it on the counter. He took my hands and wrapped them around his waist, pushing his body flush with mine as his own arms circled my shoulders.

“Let me know more, Chloe.”

I felt my breath catch, and then flutter out. I wondered if he was going to kiss me.

His eyes were there, staring down into mine. It should have felt uncomfortable to have someone staring so deep into my soul, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I felt… wanted. It was quite a change from how Drew had been treating me lately.

When his head lowered toward mine, I closed my eyes. His lips touched mine, soft and questioning. I kissed him harder. I pushed myself against him and parted my lips so our tongues could meet.

It was wonderful.

One of his hands worked into my hair, holding the back of my head, while the other one tightened around my waist. My toes and fingers began to feel warm. My heart was pumping harder than usual…

Oh, no…

I pulled back quickly, placing a hand on his chest to keep him away. The last thing I wanted was to catch fire and burn him.

“Chloe, don’t. It’s okay.” He reached out to bring me closer again.

“No. You have to stop,” I told him. I was freaked out, so my voice was stern and my hand was still on his chest.

The next thing I knew, Drew tore through the kitchen door and grabbed Gavin by the back of his jacket.