Stone In Love

Chapter 34

My cellphone was ringing when I woke up, and it took me forever to find the damn thing before I could answer it.

"You're supposed to be ready to go in two hours, Reese." Sylvie knew I was no good at pretending to be awake when I wasn't, and she liked to take advantage of it.

"It was a late night," was all I offered. I wasn't going to parse out the details of the gollum party and my testosterone-driven boyfriend who wanted to use my neck as a chew toy. "Are you enroute?"

"Yep. Tell me about your night. I'm intrigued."

"How about I do that on our way to Albany. Plans have changed slightly. We're going to have a chaperone, and we'll be taking Vincent's Escalade, so we won't have to put the miles on your car."

"Is Vincent coming with us?" Sylvie's tone turned suspicious, like she was ready to counsel me about my possessive boyfriend. If she only knew.

"No, but he's sending his brother, Rizzo, so neither of us has to drive. I'm still at Vincent's place. I'll text you the address."

Sylvie stayed silent for a minute. "Are you doing okay, Reese? Is this call being monitored?"

"I'm fine, Sylvie. And this call is not being monitored."

I glanced around the room and realized I was in Colin's spare bed wrapped inside a silver and red geometric print comforter. A far cry from sandy neutrals. "Just call me when you're fifteen minutes out and I'll meet you in front of the building."

"Okay. See you soon. Love ya."

"Love ya, too."

I hung up and swiveled off the bed, looking down at the tee shirt and sweatpants I'd been dressed in by my possessive boyfriend. Vincent must have apologized ten times. He was beyond pissed with himself for hurting me. The worst part was learning he had recited a mantra to begin the change into his gollum form. He claimed to have no memory of this, but apparently it was the only way to cause the fangs to appear, which meant it wasn't the first time he'd done it. The thought was depressing.

I felt for the bandage Colin had expertly applied to my neck. Having not seen the wound, I had no idea how hard it would be to hide from Sylvie. She had seen bite marks on my neck before, during my chaotic days with Heath, and I didn't want to endure another lecture. I turned on a table lamp and stood in front of the mirror hanging above it. Only a trace of blood had soaked into the gauze, but when I pulled the bandage away to inspect the wound, I was greeted by a full set of canine punctures with fresh, red scabs. Ugh. The only positive thing was their location behind my left earlobe, which put them far enough back that my hair would cover the evidence.

Colin was nowhere in sight when I padded around his living room, and after determining he was out, I took a moment to pry. Unlike Vincent's barren apartment, Colin had magazines on his coffee table and knick-knacks on his shelves, although I wouldn't count a solid gold Seal of Solomon that claimed to be from the seventeenth century as a knick-knack. Right behind it hung a framed Beatles Abbey Road album. I knew I had read Colin correctly when I said he would be a fun guy to hang out with. So, why was my body craving his moody, hard-headed brother?

I let myself out of Colin's apartment and walked next door. The dogs greeted me with their usual enthusiasm, jumping and whimpering while I patted their heads. The Rolling Stones were playing in the background, but apart from Bonnie and Clyde, the living room was empty, and I decided not to go hunting for Vincent. I needed to pack for my assignment this evening, and seeing Vincent would only distract me. I wasn't eager to reopen fresh wounds, which in this case could mean both figurative and literal wounds.