My Contract With A Vampire

Chapter 12- Their Candidate part 1

I waited anxiously as Jayden finally seemed to have whatever he was grabbing at and righted himself in his seat. His hands were under the table so I couldn’t see what he was holding. I watched as he stood up smoothly and noticed he was holding some kind of white rectangular wide box. Not being able to contain myself I looked up at him in confusion, “What is it?” I asked softly as I trained my eyes back on the mysterious box.

Jayden came to a stop on the other side of me and place the box on the table in front of me, “Open it,” he said simply and I hesitated at his words. The box was for me? I thought to myself as I gazed down at the white box in shock. He had gotten me something and he barely even knew me. I was more than confused as to why he would even want to give me anything.

Suddenly, I felt his presence at the back of me before his arms became visible on either side of me. I snapped my eyes up quickly in surprise as I felt him breathe from above my head. Looking up, I inhaled quickly as he towered closely over my head as he leaned into the back of my chair and placed his hands on each end of the white box, “You know when one gives a gift, they expect you to open it,” he blew out in his deep voice; his smile growing broader. A light shudder went through me then as I became painfully aware of his closeness.

I brought my attention back to the box in front of me then and stared at it a moment longer, not making any moves to reach for the box and open it. I don’t know why I was so reluctant, maybe it had something to do with the fact that a stranger, who was a vampire and who has just claimed to have crossed paths with me before was giving me a gift for no reason. 

Or maybe it was the fact that I had never been given a gift before in my life and I didn’t know how to react to such a foreign gesture. 

Whatever my reasons, it must have been obvious that I wasn’t going to open it any time soon because without warning, suddenly I felt Jayden’s large, cool, strong hands overlap mine, which had been resting on my lap. His action made me look up at him in surprise and stare into his dark eyes. They seemed to be giving reassurance and I suddenly felt like I was being held captive by them. His eyes held a sort of comfort to them, and a feeling of safety overcame me as I gazed up into his deep depths. 

I felt his hands, that were still enveloping mine, gently begin to guide my hands up towards the table and before I knew what was happening my hands were resting on the boxes edges, “Open the box, Love,” Jayden said in a kind voice before finally lifting his hands from mine and righting himself behind me. 

I gave a short nod towards him before twisting to look at a still silent Kendall, who nudged his head towards the box gesturing for me to open it as well. Biting my bottom lip, I looked towards the box again. I gave a deep sigh before finally going to pull the lid of the box up and setting it on the table beside its other half. 

Glancing into the box, there was white tissue paper covering the contents that the box held inside. Knowing Jayden and Kendall were waiting expectantly for me to finish opening the box I went to remove the tissue away, but not before chancing a glance at Cole who was still at the front of the table staring intently at me. 

His eyes were boring into me as he watched from his seat as he leaned back against it casually in silence. It almost seemed like he was analyzing me or looking for something and just like it always seemed to be, I couldn’t take his stare and instead brought my attention back towards the box and finally removed the tissue fully away.