Everyone else had gotten drunk as fuck, but not me. My shoulder bumped off the wall and I stumbled sideways, hitting the opposite wall. Oh who was I kidding? I was as drunk as a mouse in a tiny house and I had plans. Big, big plans.
I made it to our room door, shoving it open and finding Orion on the bed with his shiny little gemstone book open on his bare chest, a hopeful glint in his eyes. But then his face fell as he realised it was me, not Darcy and I smirked, swaggering into the room and holding the bottle of bourbon behind my back.
“Everyone’s having fun,” I announced.
“Great,” he said flatly.
“But you’re here all alone like a lonely llama.” I moved to the bed, crawling onto it as I kept the bourbon behind me and his eyes narrowed.
“I was, but now a dog has come to annoy me,” he said.
“Lemme see,” I urged, reaching for his book but he whipped it off his chest and put it in the nightstand drawer with a burst of Vampire speed.
I hadn’t listened much when he’d told us about what he’d learned in his glittery gemstone book earlier, I’d had my eyes trained on a chocolate bar sticking out of Tory Vega’s pocket. A chocolate bar that was now stashed under my pillow. It was cute how she kept playing this snack hunt game with me. Sometimes she hid the snacks so well, it was almost like she didn’t want me to find them. But I always did.
“What do you want, Seth?” he growled and I held out the bourbon to him with a tempting grin.
“I brought you a gift.”
“Is it laced with poison?” he asked suspiciously and I pursed my lips.
I tipped my head back and howled sadly that he’d think that about his moon friend, but he lurched forward, slapping a hand to my mouth to stop me.
“What’s wrong with you? Go back to the party.” He shoved me away and I hit the floor, clambering back onto the bed and pawing at him while offering him the bourbon.
“Darcy asked me to come get you,” I lied. This was my surprise to Darcy, because I was going to butter her up tonight and get her to put the feelers out on Cal. It was the perfect crime. But she was always the most butterable when Orion was around. Plus, maybe this would be a good bonding exercise for us.
“She did?” he asked, his eyes brightening and I nodded, waving the bourbon at him. “But you have to catch up because everyone else is drunk off their tits.”
He slowly accepted the bourbon, twisting off the cap and sniffing it.
“Come on, if I drugged you Darcy would neuter me,” I said. “It’s just a gift.”
He gave me a narrowed eyed look before taking a sip of the bourbon and I smiled Wolfishly.
“Can I tell you a secret?” I whispered, leaning forward to rest my chin on his shoulder.
“No,” he said bluntly, sipping more of the bourbon as he tried to jolt me off of him, but my chin was staying right there on that meaty muscle bit.
“It’s a good one,” I whispered. “One that could ruin me.”
He frowned, observing me as he swallowed another mouthful of bourbon, intrigue glittering in his dark eyes. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. But if I give you this power, Lance Orion, you have to be my friend,” I said, prodding him in the dimple. “B to the double F. Got it?”
“Sure,” he said lightly, and though the echo of my sober brain said he was probably playing me like a whore of a flute, drunk brain said it was green lights all ahead.
“I’m in love with my best friend,” I breathed my most terrifying secret.
“Darius?” he balked.
“No.” I swatted him.
“Max?”
“No!”
“Darcy?” he growled dangerously.
“No,” I snarled through my teeth. “Forget it.” I shoved off of the bed, but I paused as he said the name that unravelled me like he was pulling on a thread of my soul.
“Caleb?” he asked, his voice softening ever so slightly.
“Yeah,” I rasped, wheeling around again with a whimper in my throat. “I love him and he’ll never love me back because he’s not – because he doesn’t like – because I have a massive – and he has an equally big – and – oh.” I flopped down onto the bed, burying my face in Orion’s chest and he growled in warning, shoving me back.
I looked up at him, finding his fangs on show and I pointed at them. “Wait - you have fangs! So you must have the answer I’ve been looking for. Does drinking blood turn you on? Like, say you drank from an ugly leprechaun but he tasted like a rainbow, would you get a hard on? Or do you have to find your blood bags hot to get hard? You have to tell me, Lance, how do you get hard?!”