Strange Love 29 Guessing Games

Her eyes trailed over his body stopping when her eyes landed on his widening grin. She dropped her gaze quickly as her cheeks reddened once again. {I really should have dated more over the past 15 years!} Her eyes landed on the gla.s.s of beer in her hand. "Oh um, this is for you." She held out the gla.s.s without looking up from it.

She could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, "For me? Thank you." Her face heated more as his gaze fell fully on her.

He bypa.s.sed the gla.s.s in her hands and clipped a finger under her chin. He brought her face up to meet his, unable to suppress the smile rapidly spreading across his face, "Ya know, such cute faces could cause a man to get the wrong ideas."

Her face heated even more as she averted her gaze. "Sorry…"

He released her face and took the beer from her hands. He took a large drink, killing half the gla.s.s, before replying, "No worries I'm a very patient man with nothing but time to spare." He smiled down at her when her head jerked up to meet his face. {Maybe not my best choice of phrasing but... too late now.} He ran his hands through his hair again, he watched as she avoided looking at him by gazing out over the beach. An idea struck {Maybe it would be better if…. What am I thinking, she's with another guy... but then again...} His thoughts were all over the place as he tried to decide what to do with the beautiful creature beside him. He glanced down at her and asked, "Would you like to go for a walk?"

She glanced up at him before turning back toward the ocean, "Oh, our food should be ready soon though."

He shrugged, "It's fine, we don't have to go far, and I'm sure your friend will watch it for us till we get back."

She nodded, "True." She began walking toward the back stairs kicking her shoes off as she neared them.

He followed close behind her, also kicking off his shoes. The cool sand at the foot of the shaded stairs did little to soothe the heat coursing through his body, it was all but vibrating with her nearness. The soft flesh of her harm brushed teasingly against his as they walked side by side toward the water's edge. He waited until they were far enough away from the back dining area before asking, "So, your roommate in the bar…" he ran his hand over the back of his neck not sure exactly how to continue, "She's fey?"

Joslyn looked up from where she was watching the waves wash along the sh.o.r.e, "Yes, is it that obvious?"

He laughed with a hint of nervousness in his laugh, "Yes, well I've met a few in the past." He stepped in front of her and stopped blocking her way. He looked intensely down at her, "Is it true fey can detect other supernatural creatures just by touching them?" He glanced down at her hands she had tucked into the pocket of her shorts.

Joslyn stared up at him for a long while before averting her eyes back to the bar and saying, "Maybe we should head back. Our food should be up soon."

He grabbed her arm lightly as she began to step away from him. "Joslyn, I can tell you are trying to avoid the question." When her eyes shot from where he held her arm back up to his face he tilted his head down to let the gla.s.ses slide down his nose. He said in a very slow direct tone, "Tell me what it is you're not saying." His eyes gave off a faint green glow, contrasting magnificently against the beautiful scarlet blush of the sunset behind him.

"Raven guessed that you are something supernatural but couldn't guess what without seeing your eyes." She gazed up into the glowing green orbs, hypnotized by their glimmering beauty.

He pulled her closer, looking more intently into her eyes his own seemed to radiate even more brilliantly, "And now that you have seen them again, do you know what I am?"

Before she could answer the bar doors slammed bringing both of their attention back to the deck. Raven stood on the deck with a large serving tray in one hand and waving with the other. She yelled out, "It's ready guys!"

Joslyn tried to pull away from him but he tightened his grip on her upper arm. Her surprised eyes were met by dazzling green bioluminescent orbs. "Tell no one." He quickly released her and moved his hand to the small of her back to guide her across the sand. She didn't struggle or say a word, just simply allowed him to guide her. {Dizziness is common after any form of mind control so it's best to be safe.} He rationalized his need to maintain physical contact with her.

Raven met them at the stairs, "You guys seem to have a lot to talk about, so I figured you would prefer to eat out here." She focused on Xavier as he climbed the stairs. She had watched as he grabbed ahold of Joslyn, and when he let his gla.s.ses fall down his nose she had suspected foul play and took off out the door with the first tray she could grab. She watched carefully for even the smallest glimpse of his eyes as he made his way up the stairs, but he was cautious.

Joslyn smiled as she walked past Raven, "Thanks, but you didn't have to bring it out. We could have come and got it ourselves."

Raven gave up on trying to catching a glimpse of Xavier's eyes and glanced over at her friend. "Well if you want you can come help me carry out the main dishes. I only brought the drinks and chips."

Xavier stepped up, "Sit and relax, I'll go get them."

Joslyn looked up at him questioningly, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. You've had a rough day. Sit back and have a drink." Xavier said as he followed Raven into the bar. He was back out in just a few minutes. He shifted the two plate back and forth. "Um… So, which is mine?" He snarled his nose up at the contents of both plates.

She laughed lightly as he glanced back and forth between them. "That depends, which do you like better?"

He arched his brow at the plates, "Well if I'm being perfectly honest, they both seem… Kinda…" he examined one plate then the other again, "…gross…" He looked back up at her before asking, "What are they exactly?"

She laughed as she stood and took the plates from him laying them both on the table. "Well this one is calamari and oysters and the other is seafood chowder."

He snarled up his nose once again, "Yeah, is neither an option? Do they not have something normal like a cheeseburger... or better yet cheesecake?" He glanced up at her as she gave her first actual laugh since he'd met her up at the appartment. "You seem to be handling the idea of me being something other than human rather well."

She fell quiet as she met his gaze her smile slipping away to be replaced by a matter-of-fact expression, "If you don't hurry and choose then I will."

He flopped down into the seat and crossed his arms and legs as she leaned back into the chair. "Be my guest. It all looks unedible to me." He nodded toward the plates.

She giggled and shrugged her shoulder as she took the plate and pushed the bowl toward him. "Fine, suit yourself."

He glanced down into the bowl, noting the different things floating within it. He held back a reflexive gage, "Oh h.e.l.l no! You take this one!" He grabbed her plate and pushed the bowl toward her.

He bit into one of the rings on the plate. After chewing a bit longer than needed, he finally said. "Not bad, a little chewy but not bad."

She laughed again, "How can you live on the coast and never have eaten calamari?"

He glanced over his gla.s.ses at her, "Eating isn't a necessity for me. I only eat for appearance sake."

She tilted her head to one side before asking, "But you do taste it, isn't there things you just eat for fun?"

He laughed at her blunt question. "Well yeah, I like sweets." His smile widened before adding, "Pancakes for example."

She giggled, "Surely not!"

His smile fell to a serious expression, "Joslyn…" His words trailed off as he watched her pick contently through her chowder. Once she was happy with the things on her spoon she looked up at him waiting on him to finish what he was about to say. He shook his head and looked away, "Never mind…" {She's so calm and comfortable around me still. Surely she must be suppressing her true feelings... but I'm not ready for this time with her to be over. I won't say anything else about it.} He ran his hands through his hair before looking back at her, "Is it good?" He couldn't help but laugh as she nodded with a mouth full of chowder. He turned his focus back to his own plate, "Alright, what did you say this was?" He pulled the fried oyster apart and watched as the greenish content spilled out. He snarled up his nose at it as he held it dramatically away from his face, "Nope… Don't matter there's no way that thing is going in my mouth!" He dropped it back onto the plate and turned his attention to his half drank beer.

Joslyn tilted her head to one side in curiosity as she watched him take a long drink, "Can vampires get drunk?" She shut her eyes tightly and winced as an unexpected shower of beer sprayed across her face.

Xavier spat and choked on the large drink of beer. He reached into his back pocket still coughing and pulled out his wallet. As he moved to stand up he tossed a $100 bill on the table and grabbed Joslyn by the wrist. He came over beside her before pulling her up and yanking her behind him toward the back exit. He, drug her along behind him as he made his way quickly to his Jeep. With supernatural speed, he unlocked the door and lifted her into the vehicle, too impatient to wait on her to climb in. He was already putting it into drive before Joslyn even got her seatbelt hooked. She caught a glimpse of Raven coming out of the front of the bar as they pulled out of the parking lot. Her phone vibrated. She glanced down to see a message from Raven.

[What the h.e.l.l?]

[What is going on?]

[Are you in trouble?]

More messages poured in as she tried to type out a quick response. [I'll be fine don't worry. I think I may have just guessed correctly what he is, though.]

[OMFG girl!!! Are you sure you're not in trouble?! WTF did you guess?]

Jos glanced across the seat at Xavier. He was focused intensely on driving, and no wonder... her gaze fell on the speedometer of the vehicle to see that they were driving nearly ninety miles an hour. [Yea, I believe so...Mostly… ;)] She glanced back over at him before sending her next reply. [About my guess... I'll tell you when I know for sure.]

[Well that's not rea.s.suring!!!]

Joslyn could feel the concern in the many exclamation signs Raven was using and decided to send one last text. [I'll be home soon, don't worry.]

Xavier drove at reckless speeds as he navigated the twisting and winding back roads of an area Joslyn had never been in. Her phone vibrated again, this time telling her the battery was about to die. {Great! Just what I need in a neighborhood I've never been in with someone who is acting like a sudden crazy person. Had he not been the one pushing me to tell him what I thought he was earlier?} She glanced over to Xavier. "I hate to break your focus here speedy, but um… Where are we going?"

He glanced over at her before looking back at the now dark road, "Somewhere we can talk freely."

She rose her eyebrows at him as her phone vibrated again, "And where would that be?"

He shot her a skeptical look of his own suspecting that by now she was only pretending to be calm, "Why? Planning on texting it to your boyfriend?" He glanced down at her phone.

She flipped the phone toward him, "It's vibrating because the battery is about dead, not because I'm texting someone."

He glanced down at the phone then back out the window, before muttering almost to himself, "But you're not denying he's your boyfriend, are you?"

She stared at him, "Are we really back to talking about this again?" She crossed her arms letting her phone drop onto her lap.

He gave a sarcastic laugh, "Well, when the girl you've been obsessing about for the past 48 hours, suddenly pegs you… correctly mind you… as a vampire. It does tend to bring things back around to that topic."

She shrugged, "And why is that? You said you wanted to be my friend, wouldn't a friend eventually find these things out too?"

He smacked the wheel in frustration, "Really?! 'Why' that's what you want to know?" He sent her a frustrated glance, "Do you realize how hard it is to have a relationship for me? How many people I've told in the past that completely flipped out? I've had to erase so many memories because I fell for individuals who couldn't handle what I was…." He raked a hand roughly through his hair before shooting her a despite glance. "To have someone so… calm about it… you can't understand what that means to me… and no, I have no 'friends' who know what I am who are not also vampire or of the supernatural realm." He moved one hand from the wheel to her leg glancing over to read her reaction.

She glanced down at his hand, "Do you normally get so handsy with your friends?" She looked up at him with a scold on her face. "I bet it makes your guy friends super uncomfortable as well."

He couldn't help but laugh as he replaced his hand on the wheel. "Don't you understand, the last person I tried to touch after they found out what I was tried to jump from a moving vehicle." He smiled over at her, "You can't fault me for wanting to see what your reaction would be could you?"

She shrugged, "It's no big deal, I knew Friday night while we were still…." She selected her next words wisely, "…in the ocean that you weren't human. I just couldn't pinpoint what you were."

He shot her a questioning look, "And how did you guess so easily this time."

She answered matter-of-factly, "You swam incredibly fast when you tried to catch me, you moved through the water with ease even while holding onto me, you got rid of the on-lookers without fuss, and of course your eyes. Vampires are the only thing that's eyes glow like that even in the daylight." She shrugged again, "That's why you wear the sungla.s.ses all the time isn't it?" She leaned over and took the gla.s.ses from his face.

Surprised emeralds gazed back at her. "…." He searched for words but couldn't say anything. He forced himself to look back out over the road as he began to slow the jeep down. "Not exactly the only reason I wear them, but yes it does come down to my eyes and their ability to give away what I am." He said as he whipped the jeep off the road. He pulled into a wide driveway and into a garage before she could even get a good look at her surroundings.

She responded sarcastically as she began uncrossing her arms and removing the seatbelt. "Well, rule one of not creeping out a date after admitting to being a bloodsucker is to not speeding down back roads and pull into super shady garages." She turned her head to glare at him, "Really gives off the serial killer vibe, ya know." She popped the door open as he continued to stare wide-eyed at her. She glanced up at him after jumping to the ground, "Coming? Or are we just going to chill in here the rest of the night?" She shut the door and began looking around. It was a large 4 car garage with an antique Austin Healy 3000 sports car, a brand new Dodge Challenger, a Cadillac xt4 SUV, and 3 motorcycles. {Alright, so calling this a shady garage was a bit of an understatement...}