Duncan stared hard at me for a moment and then nodded. “Okay. Just be careful.”
I turned away and began moving towards Ethan, whose face darkened considerably when he saw me coming.
I gave him the coldest smile I could muster and his eyes narrowed.
“Well hello, there,” I said, approaching their table.
Ethan stared at me like I was a complete stranger and said hello ever so politely.
“Oh, are you working today?” asked Faye, an irritated look on her face. “How lovely.”
Then, as clear as day I heard her voice in my head.
Not this little irritating bitch, again. Fuck!
“Excuse me?” I said. “Did you just say something? Because I could have sworn you just called me an irritating bitch.”
Faye looked at me in surprise and then flashed an angry scowl at Ethan. “You did not touch this girl, did you?”
Ethan licked his lips but didn’t say anything. He picked up the menu and started to examine it.
Her hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist. “Ethan?” she hissed. “Did you?”
He glanced at me and then turned back to her. “She’s nothing, Faye; just needed to regroup one night when I was weak. It was obviously a mistake.”
I stared at him in horror. I felt like he’d just kicked me in the heart.
“Bastard,” I whispered hoarsely, my eyes filling with tears.
“Leave us,” said Faye with a bored look on her face. “Before I call the manager over and place a complaint against you.”
I turned away and stormed towards the bathroom, needing to “regroup” myself. I was on the verge of having a major crying attack and wasn’t about to do it around everyone in the restaurant.
“You okay, Nikki?” asked Rosie as I rushed by her.
“Something in my eye,” I mumbled.
When I reached the bathroom, I hurried into the stall and only then allowed myself to cry.
I was a mistake, he’d said.
I cried rivers of tears, flushing the toilet several times to drown out the sound of my sobs. Fortunately, nobody else walked in.
I was a mistake…
I’d never felt so betrayed and heartbroken in my life. Before we’d had sex, he’d told me that he loved me. Now that he’d gotten what he’d wanted – sex – he was being cruel and heartless. Although he was a vampire, his actions were so…strangely human. I now realized that he was just a cold bastard and I vowed to never let him confuse me or control my desires again. If he showed himself to me again, I was prepared to tell him to where he could stick his teeth along with something else.
A knock at the door stopped my ranting.
“Nikki?” called Duncan. “Are you okay?”
I let out a ragged sigh. “I’ll be out in a second, Duncan!” I called.
“Okay. I’ll be out here waiting for you.”
I moved to the sink and washed my face with cold water. Unfortunately, my eyes were puffy and I knew there was no way I could hide the fact that I’d been crying. I frowned in the mirror and dried my face.
“Duncan,” I said, stepping out of the bathroom. “Can I borrow your sunglasses?”
He reached over and touched my cheek with his fingertips. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I tried to smile, but I’m sure it came out sour. “I’m fine,” I lied.
He lifted my chin. “Don’t let him do this to you. He’s not worth it. Okay?”
I nodded.
Duncan grabbed my hand. “Come on.”
We walked back to the table and there were three plates of food already sitting there.
“I ordered for you,” said Nathan, stuffing his face with mouthfuls of hash browns. “Hope you don’t mind. I’ll eat whatever you can’t.”
“Thanks,” I said, glancing towards Ethan’s table. Fortunately, they were now gone.
“Yeah, they left,” said Duncan, noticing my interest.
I slid into the booth and began picking at the omelet Nathan had ordered for me. I wasn’t hungry and the thought of food at that particular moment actually made me ill.
“Okay, spill it,” said Nathan, his mouth full of food. “Both of you have a lot of explaining to do. Give me all you got, include whatever vampire fantasy you have in your head, too, just in case I’m wrong.”
I smiled. “Just in case?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t seen any proof of vampires at all. Or shape-shifters. By the way, that’s even more unbelievable, I have to say.”
Duncan put a hand over the one Nathan had resting on the table. “Fine, Nathan,” he nodded. “You want proof? I’ll give you proof.”
Then, Nathan and I stared at Duncan as he opened his mouth.
“What the fuck?” whispered Nathan, snaking his hand away from Duncan’s grasp. “What the fuck is wrong with your teeth?”
“I’m one of them now,” answered Duncan. “And believe me, it wasn’t by choice.”
“You had those implanted,” smiled Nathan. “That’s a little weird, dude.”
Duncan looked at me and shook his head. “Hey, I tried. He’s just too stubborn to open his mind to other possibilities.”
I bit the side of my lip and smiled. “There’s another way to show him.”