11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Hayden

Leander being away without a word about it? That’s fine. Totally cool. No problem at all.

I tell myself that every day he’s not here. Every night that I go back to his massive, beautiful mansion and slip under the soft bedcovers. Alone.

I shouldn’t care, but I feel disappointed. Blindsided? He could’ve called, given me the heads up. That’s what people normally do, right? Even if they are fake dating and don’t owe their fake boyfriends an explanation. It’s just basic courtesy.

Practice keeps me busy for the most part and I am grateful for it. But it’s still unnerving. I don’t know why I am so annoyed when, realistically, I have no reason to be.

“Hey, dude, you good?” Nick skates up to me, flushed and panting. We’ve just finished the first period. “You were all over the place.”

I aim a scowl his way, not feeling up to the task of pretending I am fine. I’m pretty sure that after my less-than- ideal time on the ice, he already knows something is bugging me. “Lack of sleep.”

My friend’s eyebrow shoots up to his hairline as we claim the benches and snatch a bottle of water each. “It seemed like a bit more than just bad sleep.”

It is, but I also don’t really want to talk about it. “I’ll tell you later. Maybe over drinks? You think the guys would be up?”

Now that I’ve suggested it, I really like that idea. Alcohol is exactly what I need so I stop worrying over nothing.

He shrugs. “Probably. I’ll ask after practice.”

It turns out my sulky mood just won’t let me drink even if we hit the club every day after evening practice. I find the company lacking, the cocktails bland, and the atmosphere not as exciting as it was on the day I met Leander, even though this is the same bar. A cute guy approaches me when Nick fucks off to dance, but his flirtatious words go completely over my head.

I wonder what Leander is doing. He still hasn’t called or texted, and I am too stubborn to cave in and do it myself like some needy, insecure boyfriend.

“Whoa, dude, you really let that cutie go? I know you have your hot teacher, but damn.” Nick slides back on the stool next to mine, shaking his head. “What’s gotten into you? And do you know anything about Guitar getting canceled today?”

“Yes, that’s the problem… Leander is away and said nothing about it to me.”

“Ooh. You aren’t getting laid, I get it. I’d be pissed off, too.”

I smack Nick on the arm. “Shut it.”

“It’s true though, isn’t it? Trust me, I know. Which is why you should be having fun tonight, not drowning your sorrows in cheap alcohol.”

I know he means well, but I’m really not feeling it, so after another five minutes of trying and failing to listen to him, I go home. The previous days, I managed to stay out until the guys got wasted, but today I’m just not in the mood.

The empty late-afternoon gloom of the mansion welcomes me, eerie and irritating. Still no word of Leander. I’ve got no one to talk to, to rant about my day. He’s not here to fuck the annoyance out of my system either, and the dildo I got hasn’t left its box after I tried it on the second night.

That was almost a week ago.

It’s just not good enough, just like how complaining to Nick about Park isn’t quite the same as ranting to my sexy vamp Daddy. The part where Nick can’t comfort me with mind-blowing sex doesn’t help, obviously.

Pouting at myself, I go for a soak in the bath in hopes it will help me relax. It does, but the effects wear out quickly, my frustration returning before I’ve had the chance to fall asleep so I can make up for the previous nights of endless tossing and turning. Seeing as rest won’t be happening anytime soon, I go downstairs with my textbook so I can make my insomnia productive.

That doesn’t work out as planned. An hour or so in, I hang my head back from the cushiony couch in Leander’s lounge that I’ve claimed for my sad study session. I feel dejected and I can’t even be bothered to pretend I don’t know why. I’m still hung up on the whole thing about him being away without telling me about it like a normal human would have.

Leander is technically not human, so does common human sense even apply to him?

Okay, but still. It’s not that hard to let those you live with know you will be away. Besides, we are missing out on sex and fake dating practice! Yes, that’s totally why I am pissed. I miss his magic cock, not his beautiful smile or his pleasant voice. I may also have secretly been planning to ask him on a fake date, for research purposes of course, so we can test out how we vibe with each other in public.

It’s all gone out the window now. I’ve no idea when he’s even coming back or if it will be before his fancy ball. But, I mean, our deal is for me to go as his date. Whether the rest buy it or not is not my problem, right?

“Mr. Johnson.”

I jump in my seat, almost dropping my laptop. “Jesus, Montgomery! You scared me, man!”

“My apologies, Mr. Johnson. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Please, just call me Hayden. Mr. Johnson sounds weird. It’s like I’m some important bigshot.”

“You are Leander’s guest. That makes you important,” he counters matter-of-factly, dipping his head slightly.

“Yeah, sure. But please, call me Hayden.”

“Very well then. Hayden, please follow me to the conference room.”

The conference room? “What? Why?”

Montgomery offers me a small smile. “Leander would like to speak with you. I’ve patched him through.”

Oh, now he calls? About fucking time after leaving me hanging for almost a week!

I practically sprint after Montgomery to catch up, following him to the third floor where a massive room with a round table, a skylight and floor-to-ceiling windows houses a top-of-the-line home cinema system. The screen is on, showing Leander in a room similar to this one. He has his back to me, leaning on the sill of an open window with scarlet drapes. It’s nighttime where he is.

“Leander,” I say, letting my bite and indignation show.

He spins around, the camera zooming in on his upper body. He’s wearing a black shirt with glitter, his eyes outlined in red eyeliner and his hair slicked back with gel. He looks fucking delicious.

“Hayden. I apologize for not calling you earlier. I had to deal with a newly turned vampire going rogue. It was an emergency.” He walks over to the camera and drapes himself across an armchair. Despite his striking features, he looks tired, like he’s not slept in ages. “Things almost got out of hand. I was negotiating with the local authorities until just now.” He sighs, leaning back into the chair.

My irritation kind of evaporates. He didn’t call because he was too busy trying to keep the vampire secret secret while I was being a whiny little drama queen. Oops.

“It’s all sorted now?” I ask, softening my voice.

“Yes. She’s been detained and will remain under supervision until she can control her feeding urges.”

We’ve not talked a lot about vampires, haven’t really had the time. But I want to know. I have a million questions I want to ask him. “Is that normal? With… new vampires?”

“It happens sometimes. Not always.” His eyes flutter closed. “But let’s not talk about this. How has practice been? I heard you’ve been behaving for the most part.”

I raise an eyebrow, leaning into the camera. “Montgomery?”

“Perhaps.”

“You know then.” I shrug, waving him off. “When are you coming back?”

The words tumble out of me before I’ve realized what I am saying. Leander snaps his eyes open, directing that mesmerizing green right at me. It’s not as potent as it is in real life, and that makes me miss it even more.

It’s just… I know we’ve only known each other for like a total of three days before he left to take care of his vampire problem, but I really wanted to hang out with him more. To chat, maybe to get him to play the guitar for me again. To hear him praise me for acting like an adult at practice, even if it doesn’t lead to mind-blowing sex.

Instead, I got the rug pulled out from under my feet and it wasn’t even intentional or his fault.

Okay, maybe I might be a little obsessed with him, but he makes it awfully hard not to be. Besides, it’s not like it’s harming anyone—other than future me, potentially—so who fucking cares?

“Tonight,” Leander says.

I blink at him, my heart leaping a bit. “Oh. That’s…” Awesome . “Nice.” Depending on when exactly he’s back, maybe we can catch each other up over dinner. Tomorrow also works, I suppose, since I have no practice or lectures.

“I’ve instructed Montgomery to prepare the car. He will drive you to the airport. We’ll meet there. A friend has invited me over for dinner, so we’ll go together.” He smiles, showing off those sharp teeth. “We’ll do a bit of shopping first, to get you something nice to wear. My treat.”

This sounds an awful lot like a date. A fake date, I remind myself. He must’ve also realized that we’ve lost quite a few days of practice, so it makes sense he’s inviting me to go with him. Yep, that’s the reason. He worries about our performance.

“Tomorrow.” I grin. “We’ll do another fake date. There is a new barbeque place on the south beach that I want to try, but Nick already has plans. More practice can’t hurt.”

Leander glances to the side, nodding his head curtly. “Agreed. Perhaps we should do one every day until the ball.” His eyes swim with dark amusement. “I have to go now. My plane is about to leave. I’ll see you in a few hours.”

I wish him a pleasant flight, laughing when he licks his lips seductively and hangs up with a wink. The room goes quiet, and I sit there for a while, trying and failing to calm my rapidly beating heart because even if our dinner date is for practice, I can’t help how much I look forward to it.