I wished I was happy, too. Katie and I got along well—but Frederick had made such a weird first impression on her the night he’d tried to order coffee and then pay for it with his fanny pack of gold doubloons.
He’d made real strides towards passing as normal the past few weeks. He’d learned how to order clothes online. He’d ridden the El without anyone thinking he didn’t belong there. The last thing he needed was to see Katie at this party and have her ask uncomfortable questions.
But I supposed there was nothing to be done for it.
I turned to Frederick. “Want something to drink?”
His brow furrowed. “No. I ate before we got here. You know I can’t—”
I grabbed his lapel and tugged him down until his ear was at a level with my mouth. I resisted the urge to just stand there, breathing him in—but barely. “You have to do some pretending tonight for this to work.”
He swallowed, then straightened.
“Right.” He nodded. “Let’s get a drink.”
As we made our way inside, I turned to him and asked, very quietly, “By the way, what happens if you don’t get permission?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You said you can’t enter someone’s home without an invitation,” I reminded him. “What happens if you try?”
“Oh. That.” He quickly looked over his shoulder to make certain no one was within earshot, and then leaned in close. “Instant disintegration.”
I stared at him. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head gravely. “When I first heard about this phenomenon, I thought it was a joke, too. But not long after I was turned, I saw another vampire try and break into a local farmer’s house while he and his family were out of town.” He paused, then leaned in closer before adding, “Vampire bits everywhere.”
I shuddered, though I was somewhat distracted from the graphic story by both the fact that in telling it, Frederick had chosen to share with me another closely guarded detail of his prior life—and the fact that his mouth was now just a hairsbreadth away from mine.
“How awful,” I said, trying to keep it together.
“Yes,” Frederick agreed, somberly. “It’s not a mistake you make a second time.”
“Cassie.”
I looked up to see Sam, striding towards us from the kitchen. He had a beer in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other.
He handed the wine to me, but his eyes were on Frederick.
My stomach was suddenly a hard, tight knot of anxiety. It had been one thing for Frederick to interact with my best friend for two minutes at the mall the other day. It was another thing for them to spend an entire evening together. From the look on his face, Sam seemed to have gotten over whatever oh no he’s hot moment he’d succumbed to during their last brief meeting and was prepared to come to a final decision about whether Frederick was a creep or was trustworthy.
I fidgeted with the stem of the wine glass and inclined my head towards Frederick. “Sam, you know Frederick.”
Sam extended his hand. “Nice to see you again.”
Frederick clasped Sam’s hand in his and gave it a firm shake. “Thank you for extending us this invitation to your home. It is nice to see you again as well.”
“Can I get you something to drink?” he asked. “Wine? Beer?”
Frederick was quiet as he pondered how to answer that. He may have studied for tonight but he and I hadn’t actually gone over small talk at parties. Which, in hindsight, was an incredibly stupid oversight on my part. I braced myself for Frederick’s answer, hoping it would be at least somewhat within the realm of normal.
“I . . . cannot decide,” Frederick eventually said. “What would you recommend?”
I let out the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding. Since joining his law firm Sam had become the world’s biggest lawyer cliché by getting into different kinds of fancy wines. He loved boring everyone else with endless details about his latest discoveries.
I gave Frederick a small nod, which I hoped conveyed That was the right thing to say. His rigid posture relaxed slightly.
“That depends on your preference. I have a bunch of different reds,” Sam said. “Do you like Malbec?”
Frederick glanced at me, his eyes a question. I gave another small, encouraging nod.
“Yes,” Frederick said with the conviction usually reserved for questions about Halloween candy preferences. “Yes, I do like red wine. Very much so. In fact, Malbec is my favorite.”