Kiss of Death (The Briar Creek Vampires, #1) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (16 page)

Glancing in the mirror, Lexi decided that she
looked the best she had looked since she had arrived in Briar
Creek. She wished that Gabe would be the one to see her dressed
like this, instead of Dan though.

Dan pulled into Aunt Violet’s driveway at
nine o’clock on the dot. If it had been a less persistent guy, Lexi
would have been surprised that he was actually on time, but she was
beginning to accept that nothing surprised her in Briar Creek
anymore. Her aunt and uncle had probably warned Dan not to be late,
so that Lexi couldn’t hold it against him.

Once they were in the car, Lexi felt a sense
of awkwardness again. She didn’t know what to say to a guy who she
barely knew and who was so fascinated by her. Instead, she looked
out the window and ignored the awkward silence.

Some of the business names in Briar Creek
made her want to laugh. They passed Crimson Hair Studio (was it
only for people with red hair?) and a bar called On the Rock’s on
Main Street. Lexi wondered if Austin had ever snuck into that bar
with a fake I.D.

When Dan pulled into the drive-in movie
theater, Lexi felt like she was in an old movie. There weren’t
drive-in movie theaters where she lived in New Jersey and she had
always wanted to go to one. They had agreed that they would see the
latest Owen Wilson movie together.

As Dan turned off the engine and tuned the
car radio so that they could listen to the movie, Lexi found
herself glancing around. A tall guy was sitting in a red Subaru
next to them.

On second glance, Lexi recognized the blonde
sideburns. It was Dave.

Dan immediately picked up on the fact that
she had noticed Dave. “He said he was going to the drive-in
tonight, too. To be honest, it’s what gave me the idea to bring you
here.”

“It was a good idea,” Lexi said, smiling.
“I’ve actually always wanted to go to a drive-in movie, believe it
or not.”

“I’m glad you agreed to come with me then.”
Dan reached over and grabbed her hand, intertwining her fingers in
his. Being around Dan really made Lexi feel comfortable for once.
Maybe giving him a chance on her own terms and for her own reasons
(even if the main reason was not being grounded anymore) was all
that she needed to do to be open-minded about him.

Next to them, a car door slammed shut. Lexi
glanced over and noticed that a girl had gotten into Dave’s car,
sodas and cotton candy in hand. In the darkness, Lexi thought that
it was Julie at first – but then she realized that the long, brown
locks of hair belonged to Mary-Kate.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lexi saw Dave
lean over to kiss Mary-Kate. A few moments later, she heard a loud
moaning.

Lexi shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She
found it harder and harder to focus on the movie knowing what was
going on in the car next to her. When Mary-Kate was dating Austin,
she had cheated on him with Dan. Now, she was with Dan’s brother –
who also happened to be dating one of her close friends? What a
slut. What was stranger was that Dan wasn’t reacting to it at all.
Lexi didn’t feel his body tense or his skin warm up or any other
physical signs that would make her think he was angry at Dave,
Mary-Kate or both of them. Dan had to have seen that Mary-Kate was
the one who was in Dave’s car. Didn’t it bother him at all that his
brother was with a girl who he had been interested in at some
point?

“You okay?” Dan asked, glancing at her out of
the corner of his light blue eye. “You look bothered.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Lexi whispered
back, attempting to pull her glossy lips into a smile.

If only everything really was fine.

****

Chapter 16

When Dan walked her to the front porch, Lexi
wasn’t sure how to feel. For weeks, she had been telling herself
that he wasn’t the right guy for her and, deep down inside, she
still knew that she would never have the right chemistry with Dan –
the type that made her body feel like it was going to explode into
fireworks every time she saw or even thought about Gabe. And yet,
their date really hadn’t gone as awful as she had been expecting it
to.

“I had a great time,” Lexi said quietly.
“Does that mean that you’re willing to see me again? Or are you
just being polite?” Dan questioned, nervously sliding his car keys
in and out of his pocket.

“Yes, I’ll see you again.” She replied,
glancing across the street at Gabe’s darkened house out of the
corner of her eye. Lexi couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty. He
was probably in bed, possibly dreaming of her, and here she was
standing on the front porch with another guy. Unlike last time,
Lexi couldn’t really say that it was entirely her aunt’s fault.
After all, she had been the one who had agreed to go out with
him…even if it was for her own selfish reasons. Dan’s tight smile
transformed itself upside down into a slight frown when he realized
where she was staring.

“Lexi, you know you’re not allowed to see
him.”

“Yeah, I know that, Dan. It’s just not
right.”

He sighed. “It’s right for your own sake. If
he were to ever hurt you during one of his mood swings, I would
never forgive him. I know that Violet and Tommy wouldn’t
either.”

Lexi grunted. Dan obviously didn’t know her
aunt and uncle as well as he thought. She was convinced that Violet
and Tommy weren’t concerned about her well-being.

“So, when do you want to see me again?” He
asked, a doubtful tone in his voice.

“I don’t really know,” she said. “How about
I’ll give you a call whenever I’m ready?”

He nodded and his blue eyes sparkled in the
moonlight.

“That sounds great.”

Just as she was about to go back into the
house, Dan encircled her in his strong arms, planting a kiss on her
lips. She felt his familiar tongue brush against hers before he
released her.

“Goodnight,” Dan said, slowly turning and
walking back to his car.

Instead of going back into the house like she
had originally planned, Lexi flopped down on one of the white
wicker chairs on the porch. As she watched Dan back out of the
driveway and speed away, she thought about their kiss. It hadn’t
been the worst kiss she’d ever had (that would have been her first
kiss with Justin), but it also didn’t give her the same butterflies
in her stomach, and the racy heart feeling that she got from
kissing Gabe, either.

It dawned on Lexi that if she had never met
Gabe, kissing Dan probably would have been fine. In fact, there may
even be a chance that she would find herself attracted to him and
wanting to get to know him better, but with Gabe in her life, there
was just no room for Dan.

Gazing up at the stars, one blinked at her.
Lexi had always been a firm believer that when a person died, their
spirit occupied one of the stars. She wondered if the star that was
shining at her was her mom trying to tell her something.

“You didn’t have to kiss him, you know,” a
deep voice said, interrupting her thoughts. Looking up, she
realized that Gabe was standing in front of her.

“I know that your aunt and uncle are making
you date him, but kissing him was unnecessary.”

“Gabe, I…I,” she stuttered. “Spending time
with him is making it so that I’m not grounded. If kissing him is
what I have to do to have a little bit of freedom, it’s worth
it.”

“Freedom? Either way, you’re still not
allowed to see me.”

“No,” Lexi said, shaking her head. “You’re
right, I can’t see you. I am allowed to talk on the phone now
though.” She handed him her cell phone. “Give me your number.”

He took the tiny cell phone in his large,
masculine hands. Lexi watched as he clumsily entered his number
into her cell phone contacts.

“I’m putting my number under Nora,” he said,
adding, “just in case your aunt and uncle go looking through your
phone.”

“Smart idea,” she said in a hushed voice,
afraid that Violet and Tommy might wake up if they heard them
talking too loud.

“So, do you like him?” Gabe asked her,
avoiding eye contact.

“Yes, I like him,” she answered. She added,
in a softened voice, “But I love you.”

A smile widened on Gabe’s face. “I love you
too. I guess I better get going now. I don’t want your aunt or
uncle to get pissed off if they find me here, especially after last
time.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Lexi agreed,
getting to her feet. Gabe put his arms around her waist. He stared
intensely into her eyes and gently kissed her lips, which she
pressed hard against his. His kiss sent a shockwave of shivers down
her spine, forming goose bumps on her bare legs and arms. As he
pulled away from her, she felt lifeless, as though she had been
unplugged from an electric fuse.

“Goodnight,” he whispered into her ear before
crossing the front lawn and heading back towards his own house.

Feeling disappointed that nothing else had
happened between them, Lexi strolled into the house. Just as she
was about to begin climbing the stairs, she heard the sound of
someone clearing their throat. Afraid that she and Gabe had been
caught, Lexi froze.

“Did you have a good time tonight?” Violet
asked.

“Um, yeah,” Lexi answered. “It was fun.”

“Good. Just wait and see, Lexi. You and Dan
will be good for each other in more ways than you realize right
now.”

Unsure what her aunt meant, Lexi forced a
smile. “I guess so. I’m pretty tired, though, so I’m going to head
to bed. Night, Aunt Violet.”

“Goodnight, sweet niece of mine.”

Sweet niece of mine? Lexi found it hard to
believe that one date could change her aunt’s entire attitude
towards her.

*

Stretching out her legs the next morning,
Lexi checked her phone and sighed. She had sent Gabe a text message
the night before so that he would have her phone number. Lexi had
been hoping that there would be a text message from him waiting for
her when she woke up the next morning, but, so far, there was
nothing.

Between her mom’s death and arguing with her
aunt about Gabe and Dan, she had lost focus of the entire reason
she had fought with her mom about wanting to stay in Briar Creek –
to figure out what had happened to Austin the night he had
died.

As she headed downstairs to grab a bowl of
cereal, Lexi realized what she had to do today. Her aunt was at the
stove, her fiery red locks of hair pulled up into a loose
ponytail.

“Lexi, do you want something to eat? I
figured that I would make breakfast to celebrate how successful
your date with Dan went last night.”

“No, thank you,” Lexi replied. “I’m really in
the mood for Cocoa Krispies.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I guess we can always have a
celebratory dinner then! I just want to celebrate.” Drowning her
cereal in skim milk, Lexi bit her lip to keep the words that were
rolling around in her head from spilling out. She couldn’t
understand why her aunt was so obsessed with her and Dan dating.
Maybe it was her way of coping with Austin’s death. The first day
she had met Dan, he had told her that he and Austin were like
brothers. Violet probably viewed him as a second son and, now that
Austin was gone, Dan was the only one she had left. At least,
that’s what Lexi was hoping. The alternative was that her aunt was
a control freak – which was a strong possibility.

Once she and her aunt were sitting across the
table from one another, Lexi put her spoon down. “Aunt Violet, I
was just wondering if you called for the Internet yet.”

“Not yet, Lexi,” her aunt answered smugly.
“I’ll call them sometime today though, if you’d like.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Lexi replied. She was
feeling really anxious to get on Facebook. Although it had only
been a little more than a week since the last time she had signed
into her account, she was beginning to have withdrawals. At home,
she logged in several times a day. Now that she had moved away,
Facebook felt like the best way for her to keep in touch with the
few friends that she did have from home…if they hadn’t already
forgotten about her. With the exception of Justin, she hadn’t heard
from any of them since she had arrived in Briar Creek.

“You’re going to need it soon anyway once you
start school,” Aunt Violet said, gripping the mug of coffee in her
hand.

Lexi hadn’t even thought about what school
she would be going to now that her mom had died. It wasn’t until
now that the reality had set in. Lexi wouldn’t be going back to
Abington High in New Jersey. She would be going to Briar Creek High
School. The idea of being a new student made her feel uncomfortable
and school didn’t even start for two months. Worst of all, her mom
wasn’t even around to help her get through this rough patch in her
life.

Lexi reminded herself that there would be one
good thing about going to Briar Creek High. It was the one place
where she would be able to see and talk to Gabe as much as she
wanted, as long as Dan didn’t snitch on her again. Feeling the
anger rise in her cheeks, Lexi realized that she had forgotten
about Dan telling her aunt and uncle that Gabe had been over when
they were away. She decided that she was going to have to talk to
him about that the next time she saw him.

“Lexi, there’s another thing I want to talk
to you about. Now that you’re going to be living here permanently,
we’re going to need help, if you know what I mean,” Violet
said.

Lexi stared at her aunt blankly. What was she
trying to say?

“I know your mom just let you run around and
do whatever you want,” Violet went on. Lexi winced at the mention
of her mother. “But things are going to be different for you here.
Between Tommy’s job as a plumber and my meager teacher’s salary, we
struggle to make ends meet around here as it is. When we add the
cost of Austin’s funeral expenses to the picture, we’re pretty
broke.”