“Now you don’t have an excuse. Sit down.” He gestured to the chair next to him.

We were still two chairs short. I looked behind me and noticed two empty chairs at the table next to us.

“Are you using these chairs?” I smiled at the guys at the table.

“Nope, want to join us?”

“No, she doesn’t.” Levi got up and pulled the two chairs over to his table, sitting down in one. My friends had taken the rest of the open seats.

“Thanks.” I sat down. “Was that necessary?” I asked Levi.

“Yes,” he whispered in my ear. “Very necessary. My mate wasn’t going to be sitting at a table with a bunch of blood suckers.”

“What?” I turned back to look at the guys. “Like literal blood suckers?”

He laughed. “Yes. I know how much you wanted to see real vampires.”

I leaned into Levi without thinking. “I had no idea.” I shivered.

“You can tell by their eyes. They all have a ring of color. It’s nearly invisible unless you know what you’re looking for.” He put an arm around me and leaned in close. “But you’re safe with me. Soon they’ll all know to stay away from you.”

“That doesn’t help my friends.” Thankfully, Jared was happily entertaining Tiffany. Anne seemed more than happy talking to Owen. I can’t imagine what they would have thought of our conversation.

Levi shrugged. “It’s you I worry about.”

“How thoughtful,” I grumbled.

He laughed. “So the party was a bust, huh?”

“You can’t do that.”

“Do what?” He took a sip of his drink.

“Tell everyone to stay away from me.”

“Yes I can, and I will.” He tightened his arm around me. “I’m giving you time, but we’re going to be together, Al. Don’t ever doubt it.”

“Don’t ever doubt I can change my mind in a second.”

He tensed. “Okay, we’ll back down, but don’t do anything stupid.”

“I should be telling you that.”

“You look great tonight.”

Talk about a topic change. “Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

“That’s the shirt you were wearing at the beach, isn’t it?”

He was right. “You remembered what shirt I was wearing?”

“It’s the first time I took your shirt off, of course I remember it.” He leaned in so close, his lips brushed against my ear. “I also remember that black dress. I’ll never forget that one.” He so didn’t need to be bringing up the one and only time we’d had sex.

I yawned. It had been a long day. “Okay, I’m kind of tired. Anyone else want to head back?”

“I’m ready.” Tiffany gave me a sympathetic smile.

“Same.” Hailey pushed back her chair.

“You coming, Anne?”

“Yeah. Nice meeting you, Owen.”

Owen waved politely.

I went to stand up, but Levi put a hand on my arm. “One of these nights you’re going to come home with me, and it’s going to be soon.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Night, guys.” I waved.

As we passed the bouncer, he lightly touched Hailey’s arm. “Find them?”

“Yeah, we found them.”

Hailey had some explaining to do.

Chapter Three

Microeconomics at nine a.m. wasn’t my idea of the best way to start the day, but when you register for classes last you don’t have much choice.

Tiffany had a nine a.m. on the main quad too, so we walked together after breakfast. We left Hailey and Anne eating their cereal.

“Do you think it’s going to be really different from high school?” She played with the straps on her backpack as we waited to cross the street.

I thought on it for a moment before answering. “I honestly don’t know. I took loads of advanced placement classes in high school, but I don’t think it’s going to be the same.”

She took a deep breath. “I think you’re right. Okay, I need to relax.”

I laughed. “You’ll be fine. And remember, we’re going to celebrate surviving our first day tonight.”

“Pizza and chick flicks. It’s a good motivation.”

When we reached the quad, I started looking at the names on the buildings. I was about to give up on finding mine when I noticed the sign. “All right, Tilton Hall, this is me.”

“I’m in Gibson. That’s the big one, right?”

“Yup. Good luck.” I’d been in that building once to meet with admissions, but I’d been more focused on not killing Levi or his father than anything else.

“You too.”

I pushed my tote bag up on my shoulder and headed into the building. A burst of air conditioning hit me as soon as I walked in the door. After checking the number outside the door twice, I walked into the mostly empty classroom. I was expecting a huge lecture hall, but it wasn’t all that big. The tables were on risers but didn’t go too far up. I took a spot in the middle row, pulling out a notebook and a pen. I knew a lot of people would be using a laptop for notes, but I liked to do it the old fashioned way.

“Hi.” A guy with brown hair took a seat next to me.

I looked around a little surprised he’d sit so close considering the class was empty but didn’t really mind. “Hi. I guess we’re early.”

“I thought it might take me longer to find the classroom.”

“Same.”

The room started to fill, and I people watched for a while. I didn’t recognize anyone else in the class, but that wasn’t surprising because it wasn’t very big.

“This seat’s taken,” a gruff voice interrupted. I turned around and came face to face with Jared.

“Really? There are plenty of seats.” The guy wasn’t so shy after all. Jared wasn’t exactly an easy person to stand up to.

Jared moved a tiny bit closer. “Really, move it.”

“Quit being an idiot, Jared, and sit down.” I gestured to the seat on my right, the completely empty one. People were starting to stare.

“Fine.” I didn’t miss the glare he gave the still unnamed guy. I decided it was the perfect time to introduce myself.

“I’m Allie, by the way.” I reached out a hand.

He accepted the handshake. “Brian. Nice to meet you.”

Jared cleared his throat loudly. “So tell me, Princess, why’d you sign up for a nine a.m.?”