Simmer by Kaitlyn Davis Page B

product of the 19th Century. At school or at
parties, all Kira got was a quick peck or maybe a kiss on the cheek
paired with mild handholding. But, the advantage of having a
supernaturally speedy boyfriend was that he could sneak into her
bedroom very, very quietly and very, very often.
    "Hi," he said with a lop-sided grin. Kira
smiled back.
    "Kira, what are you doing? Get away from
him!" Vanessa's angry and fear-filled voice shouted from inside the
car.
    Tristan's face fell slightly. The movement
was almost too subtle for Kira to notice, but she had expected it
to happen. Who wouldn't be saddened by the fact that his girlfriend
had not told anyone about them, or more specifically about him? He
probably thinks I'm ashamed, Kira thought sadly. But it wasn't
about what he was, it was just that no conduits would understand.
She didn't want to go through everything all over again. It would
be like reliving her first conversation about it with Luke, but
tenfold with an entire community.
    Before she could say anything, Tristan put
his game face back on and adjusted Kira to the side so he could
peer into the car.
    "Judging by their utterly shocked faces, I'm
guessing you failed to mention what I am?" He said quietly to Kira,
letting sarcasm soak into the words.
    "I told them we were meeting up with my
boyfriend..." Kira smiled apologetically. "C'mon, I'll introduce
you."
    Grasping his hand, she turned around to face
the car. Luke lazily relaxed in the front seat, Casey leaned as far
away from the window as possible and Vanessa stared at Kira in a
deep rage.
    "I know this is probably a bit of a shock,
but Casey and Vanessa, I would like you to meet my boyfriend
Tristan. I swear he would never ever hurt either of you. You have
absolutely no reason to be afraid."
    "Hello," Tristan said and reached forward for
a formal handshake, but both girls shirked away from his touch.
Kira glared at Luke until he finally moved to speak.
    "Kira's telling the truth," he said and got
out of the car. He walked around to Tristan and shook his hand.
"Hey, man. How've you been?"
    "Good," Tristan responded a little stiffly.
Nicety was not something Luke usually threw his way.
    "Okay, now you Vanessa," Luke said and
reached into the car to pull on his sister's hand. She slid over to
the window seat and slowly reached her hand out.
    "Hello," she said. The words were so tense it
sounded as though they had been forcibly pulled out of her body
with a pair of pliers. Tristan quickly shook her hand up and down
once before she jerked it out of his grasp and back into the
car.
    "And now Casey," Luke turned towards her with
an easy smile on his face. Kira wondered how hard it was for him to
look so calm when he probably hated having Tristan there as much as
those girls did, just maybe not for the same reasons.
    "Hi," she said almost too quietly to hear.
Tristan greeted her in return and motioned to shake her hand, but
as soon as his fingertips touched hers she pulled away.
    "Well, now that we've dealt with this vampire
problem, let's go deal with the second one," Luke said while
hopping back in his car. Kira rolled her eyes and tugged Tristan
into the car behind her with a sigh. She took the middle seat,
loving that her right thigh was pressed up against Tristan, but not
so much loving that her left one was smashed against Vanessa.
    As Luke pulled away from the curb, a
monotonous silence filled the car: no music, no other cars and no
trees rustling in the wind. All they heard were tires on asphalt
and the rumbling engine.
    But, Kira didn't mind. Tristan's thumb gently
rubbing the side of her hand provided more than enough distraction.
With her head resting on his shoulder, Kira was completely at
peace. At least she was until Vanessa spoke.
    "Okay, sorry to disturb whatever weird pact
the three of you have, but I just can't ignore it. He's a vampire.
I'm sitting in the car watching a conduit cozy up to a vampire.
It's unnatural. It's...it's...just gross,