Twice Bitten (Love, Lust & Magic #1)

Pruitt

From this distance, the gentle hum of his Porsche coupled with the occasional pit-patter of a stray raindrop against the windshield were enough to muffle out most of Griff and Uriah’s conversation.

Am I creepy? Yes. Definitely creepy, both asked of himself and answered as he looked on. His eyes followed the men as they strolled along a nearby sidewalk. “Guess I should give the wolf senses a break,” he resigned aloud.

“What was that about a wolf?”

At the same time, the passenger door to ’s car opened. Flowing blonde hair, an expensive-but-foul name-brand perfume, and the tongue-clicking were enough for to know who it was. Ah, my kind and loving girlfriend . Quotation marks around kind and loving, of course.

He rolled his eyes as she took the seat next to him, closed the door, and made herself comfortable.

“Ada,” addressed her in solemn acknowledgement. While the two had technically been together for the better part of a year, it had only taken a couple of months for to see that he was more of a trophy than a co-equal in their relationship. Any intimacy in their relationship had all but vanished since then.

“Bringing the Porsche to campus again? Great idea to protect my hair from the rain, babe,” Ada retorted as she examined herself in the passenger visor mirror. “How’d you know?” She was clueless.

It’s my fucking car, you unbelievably self-serving little… “Just call it intuition, babe ,” replied dryly as he gripped the steering wheel and let his true thoughts fade away.

Clueless to any of ’s inferences, Ada went on. “So, you know that fundraiser you and the rest of the football team were going to put on next week for children’s cancer?”

“Yeah. Next Wednesday.”

“Yeah, well, unfortunately, it was the only day I could get in to see my hairstylist, so I’m going to have to take a rain check. I’m sure the kids would understand, you know, wanting to have wonderful hair and all.”

“Oh,” quietly fumed to himself. “Y-yeah. Of course. ”

Ada didn’t miss a beat, continuing on with a laundry list of items. “Oh, and did you know that they’re actually going to count all the votes before they announce me as homecoming queen this Friday? What a waste of time. I just bumped into Diana and she told me all about it. Like, what is this, a democracy? The good news is I’m having my parents call the president of the university, Dr. Gore, before the end of the day to ensure that it’s me who is the one that will wear that crown come time for…”

Although her lips kept moving, Ada’s voice slowly faded away into nothing. couldn’t lie: the supernatural ability to focus in on a target and drown out everything else was immensely helpful. Thank fucking god.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Ada. In some way, he, too, was perfectly content with being the boyfriend of the university’s hottest cheerleader. The shallow puddle that was their relationship was the perfect cover for a werewolf in hiding. For Ada, being able to tout that her boyfriend was a sportsman like the university had never seen before—a star amongst students, alumni, middle-aged housewives, ESPN, and college sports fanatics alike—was the perfect way to hide her vapid mean streak. Her social status was defined solely by her looks, anyway—and anyone who got to know the real her seemed quick to run for the hills.

Fortunately, Ada’s bark was worse than her bite. At least when you’re a werewolf, thought to himself as their problematic relationship played back in his head.

He tried to instead pick up any intel on the conversation between Uriah and Griff, happening now just some forty feet away. At the same time, he felt some kind of way about trying to be sneaky. While he couldn't care less about building trust with Uriah—or at least so he thought—it would be unbecoming of him to be caught listening in on Griff. Griff , he thought to himself.

It surprised to hear his girlfriend’s voice in his head. ?I swear he doesn’t even listen to me. Does he have the A/C on??

“I swear you don’t even listen to me,” Ada blurted out seconds later. “And why is it so cold in here?”

As his girlfriend fiddled with the car’s temperature controls, it reminded that his gifts were both a blessing and a curse.

Her voice echoed through his subconscious yet again. ?Ignoring me again, huh? What a moron. As if he’ll ever win homecoming king without me.?

“You know you’ll never win homecoming king without me, right, moron?” she spoke aloud.

At one point, might say that he valued a partner who always said what was on their mind. Thanks to his uncanny ability to pick up on the thoughts of those he knew intimately, that time had passed.

“Ada, listen,” sighed as he turned to her. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Well, you clearly don’t see that I’m having a complete meltdown. The odds are stacked against me. I’m a junior competing for homecoming queen while dating a sophomore,” rebuffed Ada. “But… you’re right. My parents have done so much for this school. They got the board of trustees to allow juniors and sophomores to be eligible for homecoming court just so I could wear the crown. They got the head of housing fired for trying to put me in an on-campus studio apartment without a double vanity. They’ll make sure there’s hell to pay if I don’t win the most important popularity contest of my life.”

“ Hell to pay is right,” smiled and played along. You shallow, shallow human being , he finished the sentence in his head.

“Oh, and you didn’t hear this from me, but I’ve just confirmed with my mom’s personal assistant that they’re going to allow another change in tradition for this Friday’s big game.”

“Huh?” asked .

“Don’t you remember? It’s all I’ve been talking about since summer. The president’s office approved my idea of letting us each give a speech when we win! You first, of course. ”

“Oh, yay ,” said dryly. “I can hardly contain my excitement.”

Ada fumbled through her purse, glancing up at just the right moment. “Hey, isn’t that your kind-of-hot, but also probably-a-felon hunk of a friend? The one in that bad townie band he named something terrible?” Ada’s outstretched forefinger led the way as she pointed forward.

It surprised to see that Ada’s attention was now also on Uriah and Griff as they strolled through the stretch of campus just in front of his car. His mouth hung open. He had no immediate response. People think he’s my friend? Well, I guess apparently we’ve been much more than friendly.

“Think the little one is his boyfriend?” she giggled to herself.

“Uh, yes ,” replied too soon. “Meaning that yes, that’s Uriah Black. N-not that they’re dating. That guy isn’t even into him.”

“And the one with the Harry Potter frames and surprisingly good hair?” Ada asked, pulling out a spare button with Ada for Homecoming Queen printed on it and idly pinning it to ’s shirt. “What’s his name?”

Oh, I’ve had it with her. “I don’t know, but it’s not his boyfriend,” said, his grip on the steering wheel becoming even tighter.

“I think there’s more to the story. Oh, well,” Ada shrugged before producing a nail file from her purse and beginning to buff away. “You gonna go say hi, babe?”

The grating sound translated to a sharp ringing in ’s ears. At this point, there was nothing about him that wanted to be in the car, even if it was his own.

“You know what, Ada?” ’s voice raised slightly. “I am gonna go say hi.”

Undoing his seatbelt, opened the door and stepped out of the car.

“Oh, , wait!” Ada appeared frazzled. Shuffling through her purse, his girlfriend produced a handful of pink campaign pins. “Give them these?”

sighed, grabbing up the homecoming queen merchandise before closing the door behind him.

could hear Ada’s thoughts as she waved goodbye to him. ?So cute, but so whipped.?

If only she knew , he fumed as he walked to the edge of the parking lot and followed the path Uriah and Griff were on.

“Well, count me in! I’d love to check out the show,” Griff said to Uriah as the two continued their conversation.

?Oh, great!? could hear the sarcastic tone of Uriah’s thoughts as he approached. ?Time for the pretty boy to swoop in , of course.?

Clueless to the conversation going on, stopped in his tracks before he was in Griff’s line of sight. However, Griff followed Uriah’s gaze, his face lighting up when he made eye contact with . Overcome with a wave of embarrassment, the jock quickly shoved Ada’s homecoming pins in his pockets.

“Look at that, now all of my ominous alleyway friends are here!” exclaimed Griff.

Uriah motioned to a confused . ?He’s teasing . ?

“Uriah,” nodded his head in acknowledgement as he stepped forward and joined the two under a patch of trees. The three of them were now gathered in the heart of the Mystic Green, the name for an open sea of grass popular for lounging in better weather. “Hi, Griff. How’s it going?”

“Oh, hey,”Griff said.

“We were actually just talking about my show Thursday night at Witch’s Brew Pub,” Uriah attempted to interject. ?And I almost sealed the deal until you showed up.?

“Oh?” replied . ?The bar where the witch works? You think she’s still letting you back in after last night??

“Y-yeah,” Griff jumped back into the conversation. “Are you going?”

“Ah,” fumbled as he looked from Griff to Uriah. He didn’t expect that. “Good question. Should I?”

?At least give me your best ‘pretty please’ puppy dog eyes , ? prodded Uriah.

gave Uriah an icy stare. ?You’re looking at ‘em, baby.?

Uriah huffed. ?Bollocks.? “Oh, I mean, I’m not really sure if it’s your thing, Mondamin,” he replied aloud. seemed to be formulating a response when Uriah spoke up again. “Oh, come on, I’m kidding! Of course you can come. They let pretty jocks in, too.”

Griff let out an uneasy laugh. smiled.

Uriah jumped between telepathic and verbal communication. ?And yes, the little lady agreed to let me and the boys come back under the condition that we don’t break anything.? “I’m definitely going to get all kinds of stage fright with you there, but you can keep this little guy company while I woo my fans, I suppose.”

“Does that mean you’re tagging along, too?” asked Griff.

Griff smiled. “Well, yeah, if that’s cool. Not trying to interfere with bro time or anything.”

“Oh, no worries, Griff. I invited you first.” Uriah stepped around Griff and put his arm over ’s shoulders. winced, expecting a flood of bright lights and painful memories accompanied by the force of a small atom bomb—all of which never came. “Nothing— believe me, nothing —gets in the way of our bro time. Right, mate?”

?Ass hat,? retorted. ?If only I could telepathically elbow you in the ribs.?

?Quiet. The freshie hasn’t given me a single clue as to his connection to all of this—if there is one. Be nice.?

?Well, here’s one, asshole. Do you remember what happened the last time we got physical? Explosions. Now, nothing.?

?Oh, fuck,? replied Uriah, looking up and down. ?I nearly forgot.?

cracked a smile as he nervously stepped out of Uriah’s friendly hold. “Gotta love bro time,” he said dryly. “But don’t worry, Griff. I’m sure Uriah can guarantee us the best seats in the house. And I’m not just saying that because nobody else will be there.”

A bashful Uriah spoke up. “What he actually means is?—”

“I’m sure it’ll be a good time,” said Griff.

“Doors open Thursday at what time?” asked.

“Eight o’clock sharp, my man,” Uriah couldn’t catch himself from giving a playful pat on the back. The two winced, but again nothing happened. ?Okay, you’re right. Maybe that’s a clue.?

?No kidding.? “Perfect. I’m done with practice at six that day,” rattled off . “Are you giving Griff a ride, then?”

Uriah scratched his head. “Well, we hadn’t actually?—”

“I’m sure you’ll be busy doing sound checks or whatever you animals do to prepare, so—” began .

“Well, not really, but—” interjected Uriah.

“I-I can always meet you guys there,” Griff added to break up the testosterone competition. “I don’t think it’s that far from my dorm.”

and Uriah looked at each other and back down at Griff simultaneously. “No!” shouted the two in unison.

“Uriah’s got this great motorcycle,” began rambling. “I think you’d fit perfectly on the back?—”

“I don’t want you to miss out on giving Mondamin’s nice whip a spin. I mean, that baby is priceless. In fact, you can see it sitting right over there. Must’ve been watching us, eh?”

Griff raised a brow.

“You know, I had a question. If walking around alone after dark is such a big no-no around here, how do you two get away with it?” he asked of the two upperclassmen. Both and Uriah squirmed to find a response.

?Here, let me . ? Uriah shot a quick look. “Well, would you look at that? I actually have some last-minute band practice I need to get to. Don’t want to sound too rusty if you two are gonna be in the crowd on my big night.”

“Huh?” asked .

“And—you know what, that’s actually made me remember. I promised the guys I’d warm up with them before the show, too.”

“You sure?” asked. “I mean, it’s really no?—”

“Oh, it’s all good,” interrupted Uriah. ?I’m only saying this because it looks like my cloud cover is about to disappear, but you owe me one.?

?I’m willing to bet you’ll take me up on that , ? replied . “All right, man,” he said aloud to Uriah before turning to Griff. “You live on campus, right?”

“Yeah. I live in Wheaton Hall if you’re familiar with the dorms.”

“Indeed, I am,” smiled. “Pick you up at 7:30 on Thursday, then?”

“Uh, that should work for me,” Griff beamed back.

“Excellent, it’s a date then,” Uriah interjected with a more jovial and playful smack on ’s back this time. “I’ve gotta jet, but I’ll see you two at the show.”

Uriah was quick to disappear into a nearby building as felt his face fluster. “Uh, yeah. Not a date, but…”

“But?” Griff asked.

“I mean,” changed his tune as he made eye contact with Griff. “It’s just—it should be a good time. H-how about I call you when I arrive? I live nearby, so I can meet you at the main entrance to your building if that works.”

It was hard to combat the gut-churning feeling emanating through him at the moment, but couldn’t remember the last time he felt so nervous. It felt like Griff was the one reading his mind.

“Works for me,” said Griff. He sounded completely oblivious to ’s narrative.

“Cool,” replied. “I’ll see you then.”

“Perf.”

lifted his hand as a parting gesture and backtracked to his car.

“Hey, I think you need my number first to call me,” Griff called out from behind him.

sighed as he spun around. ?Way to play it smooth by forgetting an important part of the process.? To his surprise, Griff grabbed his phone out of his hand and began punching in his contact information. As Griff handed the phone back to him, their hands grazed against one another.

“See ya!”

“Bye, Griff.”

As he turned back to his vehicle, tucked his cell phone away and fell deep into thought. I guess the supernatural electricity between Uriah and I burned out, so maybe it has nothing to do with this kid. He reminisced on the sound of Griff’s heartbeat—as clear to him as though he were listening through a stethoscope when they briefly touched. But still, I can’t pick up a single thought coming from him. Not even an inkling. I wonder why…