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I want to ask what he’s talking about, but I can’t get a word out. All he can hear is muffled words falling from my lips, but he doesn’t seem to care. He pulls me down the hallway until we reach his bedroom. He kicks the door open with his foot and drags me inside.
“Stay here,” he commands, placing me on the edge of his king-sized mattress. “If you don’t want your brother to know you’re here, then you better not make a fucking sound.”
My eyes widen. “What! Miles is here?”
“He will be in a minute,” Jaylen says, looking over his shoulder. “I heard his car pull into the parking lot.”
“Right, I forgot about your super hearing,” I mutter under my breath. “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just left now and waited down the hallway until he got inside?” I can’t let Miles find me in his apartment with Jaylen, alone.
He shakes his head. “I’m not done with you yet.”
His words only make my pussy throb harder, and I want to punch myself. Get a fucking grip, Evie, I scold myself. I need to remind myself that although Jaylen handled Roman for me, and I’m grateful for that, whatever is happening between us can’t happen. Unaware of my presence, hiding in his bedroom with my brother in the living room, is proof enough.
Keys jingling at the front door put me on high alert. Jaylen shoots me a knowing look before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. As I listen to him greet my brother casually as if I’m not hiding in his bedroom, I glance around the large room. For an old apartment, the bedrooms sure are large.
I quickly realize I have never stepped foot in Jaylen’s bedroom. Why would I? The style of the room certainly fits his personality, that’s for sure. The sheets under me are black satin and the bed frame is black wood. Across from the bed is a black desk with a computer monitor on top and a black leather chair. It doesn’t surprise me that every piece of furniture is black, even the bookshelf to my left. The only color in the room is the spines of the books on the shelf.
It’s a room fit for a vampire.
My right leg bounces under me as I nervously rub my hands together in my lap. Miles’s voice grows louder as his footsteps echo down the hallway. I hold my breath as I listen to him enter his bedroom next door and then walk back into the living room. Their voices are too muffled to hear exactly what they’re saying. Instead, I focus on the blood rushing in my ears.
God, I hope my brother doesn’t walk in here. I’ll be fucked if he does.
Instead of sitting around waiting for Jaylen to come back, I quietly stand and walk around the bed to the bookshelf. My eyes scan the bright colors on the spine. Who would have thought that the Jaylen Black would have The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Frankenstein on his shelf? Not me. I roll my eyes when I see the tattered spine of Dracula. Of course, a vampire would have read that book.
It never crossed my mind that Jaylen might be an avid reader. Based on the number of books on his shelf, I would guess he likes to read in his spare time. I don’t know why the thought surprises me so much. I guess I always pictured him spending his downtime when he’s not in class or at practice at the Black Rose or with other women. It’s a pleasant surprise.
I squat to look at the stack of vinyl records next to a record player that has seen better days. If I had to guess, it looks to be as old as the one my mom had. The wooden base is worn, likely due to sun damage, and it has that musty old smell like when you walk into an antique store emitting from it.
I run my fingers over the top of the vinyl records and smile to myself. I like seeing this side of Jaylen. The one he doesn’t let others see.
The bedroom door swings open behind me, and for a split second, I consider dropping to my stomach in case it’s my brother. But when I smell sandalwood, I breathe a sigh of relief. Standing to my full height, I turn around to see Jaylen in front of the closed door, his baby-blue eyes watching me with amusement.
“Snooping around, I see,” he comments, tilting his head to the side.
I walk to stand by the edge of the mattress and shrug. “I got bored. You didn’t expect me to just sit here in silence, did you?”
He smiles and shakes his head. “Not at all, little angel. I know you too well. Did you find anything of interest?”
I bite back the smile threatening to turn up the corner of my mouth, and instead fold my arms over my chest. “Yeah, that you like to read books. I never would’ve guessed that.” I smile to myself and jab a finger over my shoulder. “That’s a nice record player. Where did you get it from?”
Jaylen folds his arms over his chest and looks at the bookshelf. For a moment, his blue eyes almost appear hazy with an emotion I can’t put my finger on. “It was my mom’s. She gave it to me a week before she died. Much like your mom, she would play that damn thing every time she cooked dinner. It was her most prized possession.”
I smile. Jaylen doesn’t talk about his parents much, especially in the years following their deaths. Even when they were alive, I only met them a handful of times because they were very private people. Miles knew them a lot better than me, but that was because Jaylen’s mom would take them to and from practice most weeks. My mom tried her best to befriend Jaylen’s parents, but they preferred to keep to themselves, only having to interact with my parents if they had to. I now know their reasoning for doing so, being vampires and all.
From what I knew about them, they were lovely people and even better parents to Jaylen. It was tragic when they died. I could tell their deaths hit Jaylen hard, but he was good at putting on a brave face and eventually resorted to just not speaking about them at all. I guess it was easier to ignore the pain he was feeling than to acknowledge it.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, remembering my mom’s record player. My aunt has it now, but once I finish college and move into my own place, it’ll be the first thing I take with me. I smack my lips together and roll on the balls of my feet. I don’t want to push Jaylen by talking about his parents, so changing the subject is easier. “Okay, so what do we do now?”
“Well, as much as I would love for you to stick around, you have to go. Miles wants to invite the guys over for drinks and a movie, so you won’t be able to leave through the front door.”
I frown. “So, how do you expect me to leave?”
The grin on his lips tells me I’m not going to like his answer. My suspicions are correct when Jaylen marches across the room, scoops me up in his arms in one fluid motion and walks toward the large window beside his bookshelf.
“What the hell are you doing?” I whisper-shout, holding onto his shoulders for dear life. The hardness of his body is lethal. “You’re not going to—”
“Jump out the window,” he finishes for me as he slides the window up with one hand, the other splayed firmly across my ass for support. “Sorry, little angel. It’s the only option.”
