Chapter 3 Beer, Bonfires, & Auto-Biographies

“What…” I spluttered. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Checking on you,” Alice said glaring accusingly at me. Like, how dare I not be bound in a straight jacket and pumped full of medication? Aside from the straightjacket part, it had been pretty close to the truth.

My eyes roamed over her petite form from her inky, spiky hair, to the pointed toe of her designer shoes that glittered in the moonlight. I’d been a fool to think I’d finally moved on, far from it. I drank in the sight of her like a vagabond from a desert mirage.

We stood there just staring at each other for an endless moment while I tried to rebuild the protective barriers around my heart that the sight of her had torn down so abruptly. I grabbed on to the anger I’d felt earlier and found it was easier to be near her with that spurring me on.

“Well, get an eyeful,” I sneered moving as far from her as my small room would allow. “As you can see, I’m just fine. Not that you care anyway.”

Her face hardened. “This was a mistake. I should’ve taken Charlie’s word that you were getting better, but I had to see for myself.”

I nodded. “Then why are you still here?” I asked, my tone sharp causing those beautiful caramel eyes to flinch. She looked so sad, so hurt that I almost ran to her to embrace her, but I couldn’t worry about her feelings. She would be fine. What she was feeling right now wouldn’t even linger so much as a day. She would go back to her vampire family and her distractions and not think twice about my rudeness.

No, I had to worry about my own mental health and I could not afford to have anything remotely friendly happen between us. Keeping her at arms length was a very good thing and if I had to be a complete bitch to do that, then I would.

She shook her head sadly and said in a disappointed voice, “What happened to you? This,” she motioned at me while she searched for the words to describe the mess of a human standing in front of her, “…you’re nothing like the girl I remember.”