“He must have sent this right after my apartment blew up. After yesterday, I can’t imagine that he’d still feel that way about me. If he ever did at all.”
Barkley hitched his towel up a bit. “What are you talking about?”
I swallowed hard. “He caught me kissing Quinn yesterday. Well, Quinn kissed me, but it’s not like I was trying to stop him or anything.”
“Quinn is hot.” George sighed. “Have I said that before? And hold on a minute, you kissed him?”
“It doesn’t mean anything. Thierry’s the one I want to be with.”
George’s expression turned serious. “And what about your little accident there on your neck?”
I touched it, then inspected the fang marks in the shard, a fading bruise with two darker red marks. It was quite ugly, but it didn’t hurt at all. The only thing that hurt was the memory of what had happened.
The look in Thierry’s eyes when he’d realized what he’d done. “This was an accident. And it scared the crap out of me at the time. But until this happened, I thought that Thierry was perfect and flawless and basically untouchable, but he’s not. He’s got problems, just like me. Is it wrong for me to say this makes me love him even more than I already did?”
“Not wrong,” George said. “Crazy, yes. But not wrong.”
“Sorry to interject,” Barkley said. “But Thierry looked pretty pissed when he left here. I’m thinking he’s not going to want to take me on any more walks.”
I frowned. “He took you on walks? Really?”
“Not so much, but he opened the door for me like a pro.”
“So what should I do now?”
George blinked at me. “What do you want to do?”
I looked at my horrendous appearance in the mirror. “Well, I need to have a shower.”
“An excellent start.”
“Put on some makeup.”
“Without a doubt.”
“And then . . . ” I yanked the Duran Duran T-shirt down a bit. “And then I’m going to go see Thierry.”
“And then?”
I grinned. “And then what I do is none of your business.”
“That’s not very nice.”
“Wait a minute,” Barkley said. “What about me? Who’s going to take me out for a walk later?”
I glanced at him. “Seriously?”
He shrugged. “It’s okay. George is here. He’ll take care of me.”
George looked at him. “You’re not gay, are you?”
“Not the last time I checked.”
“I hate my life.”
The phone rang. George screamed in pain before grabbing it off the hook. “What?” he snapped, paused for a second, and then held it out to me. “It’s your favorite.”
My breath caught and I took the phone from George and held it to my ear. “Thierry?”
“It’s Barry.”
“Well, it rhymes. Sort of.” I twisted the phone cord around my finger. Talk about a lunch bag letdown.
“What do you want?”
“Amy isn’t speaking to me.”
“Well, that would be because she thinks you’re cheating on her.”
“You need to bring her to the party later.”
I sighed and shifted the phone so I could rub my throbbing temples. “What time do you need her there?”
“Six-thirty. And remember, this is asurprise .”
“Yeah, I figured that out due to it being a surprise party. Where is she?”
“She’s getting her hair done. You can find her at Style V.”
Style V was a vampire salon. Two birds with one stone. I could make an appointment for my nails while
I was there. Excellent.
There was a long pause and for a moment I thought he’d hung up on me. “Why doesn’t Amy trust me?”
He sounded . . . upset. Dismayed. And frankly, a little heartbroken.
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“But you’re her best friend. You know her. What have I done to make her think that I’d cheat on her at the first opportunity I get?”
I sighed. I couldn’t stand Barry and the feeling was obviously mutual, but I hated hearing that somebody else was in pain when I could help a little. “Amy’s been burned a lot in the past. She’s got that sunny personality and her heart has always been wide open to the thought of being in love. I guess she’s built up more scar tissue than she even realizes. She assumes up front, probably subconsciously, that whoever she’s with is going to break her heart sooner or later. It’s a defense mechanism.”
“What can I do about it?”
“You’re asking me? I thought I was on your shit list this week.”