Part 14 (2/2)
”Well, good thing you got smashed tonight so you could figure it all out!” Jack was exasperated, and he ran a hand through his hair.
72.
”You couldn't even return a text message today!” I yelled. ”And when I called, you couldn't wait to get off the phone! I've barely talked to you lately! And you just...” Biting my lip, I shook my head and didn't even finish the thought.
”I couldn't stay on the phone with you! I shouldn't even have answered the phone, but I didn't want you think I was p.i.s.sed at you. Things almost got really out of control because I didn't want to hurt your feelings, and now you're mad at me because that wasn't good enough for you?” He shook his head and exhaled roughly.
”It was a five second phone call! What could've gotten so out of control?” I asked skeptically.
”Milo!”
”Milo?” I looked at him, waiting for him elaborate, but he didn't. ”What? Did he... I don't know. I can't even think of anything he could've been doing that would be out of control.”
”I was teaching him to eat,” Jack explained gruffly.
”What?” The air felt like it was going of my lungs, and there was a nauseous feeling creeping up inside of me. ”I thought... I thought he was eating.”
”Out of bags,” Jack said quietly, and then swallowed hard. ”But... he needs to learn how to do it with live... people.”
”Why?” I demanded. ”Why does he have to know?”
”Because there isn't always bags, and because it happens, and because when he does it I want to make sure he doesn't kill somebody!” Saying it made him uncomfortable, but he sounded more angry than he did embarra.s.sed. ”As it was, he could've killed her tonight. He was going crazy while I was on the phone with you, and I had to stop and show him how so he didn't break her neck.”
”You had to show him how?” My mouth suddenly got dry and I gripped onto the car to keep my hands from shaking. ”You... bit a girl tonight?”
”I am a vampire, Alice,” Jack sounded weary but there was a guilty expression on his face, and he wouldn't look me in the eye.
It wasn't the act of biting someone that upset me. Slowly but surely, I was coming to terms with drinking blood and biting and all that. It was just that I remembered how amazing and intense it felt when Peter drank my blood, and how crazed and delirious Jack got just over the taste of it.
For vampires, drinking blood from a person was far more intimate than s.e.x. And tonight, Jack had been that intimate with someone else, and it made me feel sick to my stomach.
Admittedly, I had been kissing another guy tonight too, but I was drunk. And I wouldn't have been there at all if Jack hadn't ditched me to drink her blood. Suddenly, I regretted not going farther with Jordan. It would serve him right. Not that I even knew what that meant, but that's what I thought anyway.
”Pull over!” I screamed. The combination of Jack's confession and the vodka were not mixing well, and I felt like I was going to throw up at any second.
”Alice?” Jack asked concerned.
”Pull over now!” I insisted.
Jack did as he was told, pulling sharply onto the shoulder, onto the gra.s.s next to the highway. I opened the car door and swung my legs out. As soon as my bare feet hit the gra.s.s, I actually 73 started to feel better. Still, I put my head between my legs, and let the cool night breeze blow against me. I kept swallowing until I felt like I was okay, then sat back up. I kept the door open and my feet in the gra.s.s, though, just to be on the safe side.
”Are you okay?” Jack had completely softened from earlier, and he reached out to touch me, but I pulled away.
”I'll be fine. I just need a minute.”
Closing my eyes, I did my best not to think about Jack biting another girl. To feel that close with somebody, it was impossible to describe. When Peter was drinking my blood, his heartbeat was my heartbeat. Knowing that Jack was capable of feeling that with anyone else, when he hadn't even felt that with me... My insides twisted painfully.
”I know why you're upset and I don't blame you.” His voice was low and apologetic, and I knew he meant what he was saying. ”But Milo has to learn. He's still so ... volatile. In all honesty, I should've waited, and if I had, I probably wouldn't have had to actually physically demonstrate.
He would've had a better concept of things. But I didn't want to wait. I want to get through all of this as quickly as possible, so he can be completely independent and then you can turn. I did this so you could hurry up and come live with us.”
”I'm not going to turn,” I told Jack quietly, and my words came out harsher than I meant.
”What?” Jack asked.
”I talked to Ezra the other day.” I finally opened my eyes and glanced over at him. Hot tears were sliding down my cheeks, and his blue eyes were swimming with confusion and pain. ”He said that I still have to hold off for a couple more years. It's not safe or healthy because of Milo. I don't think you can rush through this, no matter how hard you try.”
”But...” He was staring off at nothing, digesting it all and trying to think of a way to fix it.
”Maybe this is all a sign,” I said thickly when he didn't speak. ”I don't mean just tonight. Like everything, with Milo and Peter, and... It's like everything in the universe is saying that this won't work for me.”
”Two years really isn't that long,” Jack interjected quickly.
”Jack! You know that's not the only thing!” I leaned my head back on the seat, staring out at the night sky around us.
”Alice...” He breathed deeply. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper. ”When I called, it was because something felt off. I knew something was going on with you. And by the time I got to the exit, I knew exactly where you were at. I could feel you, scared and alone. I can't just turn that off. You can't just throw this away.”
”What am I supposed to do?” I lamented, looking at him with tears in my eyes.
He was right. I couldn't just turn it off, and more than that, I didn't want to. He was looking at me desperately, and there was a longing radiating from him. The alcohol was either wearing off or he was just overpowering it. There was a panicked need overtaking him because he thought he was coming close to really losing me, and there was nothing in the world that scared him more.
Without thinking, I leaned over and pressed my lips tightly against his. He was surprised, but he quickly gave into it. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me as close to him as he could get without hurting me, and his mouth worked ferociously against mine. He tasted amazing, and his 74 skin burned hot against me. I could feel how excited he was, and that only intensified the way I felt. We'd only been kissing for a few seconds when abruptly, he stopped, and pushed me back from him. Gently but firmly, he held me at arms length and struggled to catch his breath.
”Alice... that's way too dangerous,” Jack panted.
”You're really not helping the case, you know?” I pulled away from his arms and slunk down in the seat.
”The only reason I have any restraint is because I just ate,” Jack said, leaning back. ”Otherwise, that could've been very bad.”
”Thanks for reminding me about that,” I scowled.
”You can't really talk tonight,” Jack grumbled. ”At least what I did, I did because it's how I survive and it was to help out your little brother. You just did that... for fun. And you can't use being drunk as an excuse because you wore a purple thong. That was premeditated.”
”It was not!” I insisted. ”I wore the panties cause I wanted to feel fun and dangerous!”
”You're dangerous alright,” Jack muttered.
”Whatever.” I slammed the car door shut. ”Just take me home.”
<script>