Chapter 1

Recovering

I was grateful that we were at a bar and that I could order a water I knew I wouldn't touch. Dex ordered the same and the girls both ordered Strawberry Daiquiris, Aubrey's was virgin, and I knew I had guessed right about her age.

"Don't you drink?" Aubrey asked me as the waitress whisked away to get our drinks.

"Oh, not anymore. I'm a recovering alcoholic." It was the first thing that came to mind. It was partly true if you replaced the idea of alcohol with that of human blood. In that case I had been sober for two hundred years.

"Oh," she replied quietly. "So how old are you?" She changed the subject.

"Twenty-eight." That's how old I was when I was turned anyway. "And you?"

"I just turned twenty." The smile that appeared on her face suggested that this was some type of accomplishment for her. I couldn't help but smile at that fact and I think she misread my intention.

"Aubrey is the baby of our group." Cassandra said turning her attention to me for the first time. "You be careful with her." She threw Aubrey a wink and I think she meant to glare at me. It was completely unconvincing.

"He is the perfect gentleman." Dex assured her, "I on the other hand am not." I saw him flash his teeth at her and she gazed at him as if he were a piece of meat. I grinned at the irony. Behind us the pool table opened up. The meaningless banter was starting to bore me so I suggested we play doubles. The girls liked this idea and assured us that neither one had ever played before, but I saw them exchange a glance that suggested otherwise.

"Sounds great! Cassandra and I will wipe the floor with Aubrey and you." Dex was up first from the table and led the way to the back corner.

"ooh, babe will you show me how to hold the stick thing?" Cassandra said as she picked up the cue stick backwards.

"Sure thing, it's called a 'Cue Stick' and you're holding it backwards." Dex flipped the stick over so it was the right way and stood behind Cassandra. "Now Cassie you want to hold it about one third of the way to the end with your right hand." He positioned her hands. "And hold the tip between your middle and pointer fingers like this." Cassie was certainly good at playing dumb; she had Dex right where she wanted him. Even though this was amusing to watch I couldn't believe Dex was being so irresponsible. Touching her bare skin like that, she was bound to notice how ice cold he was. Unless he had already told her about him, about us. No, he wouldn't have. Dex would never do something to imbecilic. Still she didn't seem surprised by his icy touch.

After Dex racked the balls I broke. Usually on a break I get all but two of the solid balls in, solids are my favorite, but since we were playing in public with humans I limited myself and did not pocket any of the balls. I hated limiting myself; it was just one more reason why hanging out with humans was so bad. Surprisingly enough Cassandra didn't pocket any ball either. Aubrey was up. She looked at me expectantly. What did she want the same demonstration Dex provided Cassandra? Yeah ok.

"Can you show me?" She asked her voice quiet. I liked that about her, Cassandra's voice was loud and harsh. Every time Aubrey spoke it was smooth and quiet. I picked up the cue stick.

"Sure," I bent over the table and aimed for no ball in particular. "You hold it like this, and then pick the ball you want to hit and line them up in your mind. Pull back and shoot." I mimicked how to aim and shoot then handed her the stick. She looked rather disappointed that I did not stand behind her and physically show her, but she took the cue stick and readied her shot. Her form was excellent, further proving my point that the girls didn't need any help with the game. Not with either of the games being played that night. She pocketed two balls at once and moved on for a third. I can't say I wasn't impressed.

"Well it doesn't look like you really needed my help." I chuckled as she shot and missed.

She shot me a smile; I think it was supposed to be sexy. "Looks like I do. Always room for improvement, right?"

"I think you preformed wonderfully." That might have been the moment I gave her the wrong idea because she lit up quickly and her smile touched her eyes.

"Why thank you Christopher." I was trying so hard to think about Aubrey as just another silly human but I couldn't help but notice that there was a twinkle in her eyes when she looked at me.

The rest of the night was much of the same. Cassandra really was no good at pool and Dex ended up having to pocket most of their balls. Aubrey and I won four out of the five games we played, we gave them the third one. All in all the night hadn't turned out so bad the worst part was actually the end. Cassandra had quite a bit to drink and insisted that Dex take her home. I was shocked when he agreed. I thought he was crazy. I knew he was crazy when he suggested I hitch a ride with Aubrey.

She looked at me hesitantly. "That sounds good to me." Her voice was soft like a flute. I really didn't want to but for some reason I couldn't say no to those beaming eyes and that soft voice.