Once Bitten, No Longer Shy by Julie Steimle (chrome ebook reader txt) 📕

Chapter Seventeen

Hanz had not returned to the apartment that night. Art was definitely gone. It was strange having the place feel so empty. His last apartment had not been as huge. This one almost demanded to be filled—even with the other half of the main room taken up as a secret lab. The place echoed almost. It was weird.

However, Troy did not miss their sanctimonious whispers and looks between them. He was glad he was no longer constantly being judged by the missionary twins. 

Someone knocked at the door at around ten a.m. the next morning. Troy was in the lab at the time and saw from the video feed that it was Matthew. Luckily, Troy was able to unlock the door remotely—something Semour had put into the security system, letting Matthew in while he cleaned up. Troy came out of the closet doorway to meet him once he was done.

“Wow,” Matthew said, admiring Troy looking pale in his lab coat. “That makes coming out of the closet almost poetic. How are you liking the Lazlo Holyfield entrance?”

Shaking his head, Troy approached him. “Come on. Enough with the foreplay. You’re here to check up after Art’s spy report. Come on. Let’s have it.”

Shrugging, Matthew approached him then gestured for them to walk to the heavily shielded windows. “Come this way with me?”

Rolling his eyes, Troy groaned. “I won’t burn up in the sunlight.”

Yet he followed him. The sun still hurt, but it was as it always was.

“Ok.” Matthew nodded to himself. He then gestured to the front door. “Do you mind if we take a walk together outside then?”

“Am I under arrest?” Troy pulled back a little. Matthew was usually not this controlling around him.

“No.” This time Matthew chuckled. “You didn’t commit any crime. I just want to confirm your story. Those two can’t read your mind, and I need to hear your side of things.”

“To what?” Troy huffed. But he went to his room and got his apartment keys. He also grabbed a dollop of sunscreen from the bathroom and rubbed it on his arms, neck and face. When he came back to Matthew’s side, he continued, asking, “That I went on a date with a woman and she stayed the night?”

Nodding, Matthew then sighed. “Yeah.”

They went out and down, taking the elevator. As they were going down, Matthew suggested they walk someplace to get food. “I know a decent café not far from here.”

Shrugging, stuffing his hands into his pockets, Troy figured, ‘why not?’

As they walked out of the building and down the road, going at a strolling pace, Matthew struck up the conversation again, this time not like a cop, but like a friend. “Tell it to me straight. The girl who stayed the night with you, who was it?”

Was that Matthew’s concern? The girl? Inwardly groaning, Troy replied with a sigh, “Nicole Collins. You know, that hot chick from the Biting Victim’s Group? After the meeting, she slipped me a note and suggested we get dinner together.”

“And then you took her home…” Matthew said, nodding, adding it up and reading Troy’s mind which explained plainly what had gone on—including the incident with Miranda.  

“Her idea,” Troy replied, trying not to feel offended at the implied accusation that he had manipulated Nicole.

“Ok. And why?” Matthew asked, noting the thought Troy had about Miranda being as skittish as ever, but certainly much prettier than she used to be.

Troy coughed with incredulity. “Are you kidding me?”

“Just what was her excuse?” Matthew said, listening to both thoughts and words. He could already tell Troy hadn’t been entirely ignorant of her intentions.

Shrugging, Troy sighed, being entirely honest. “To help me with my infused comfrey oils project. She was the one who had made the suggestion earlier. I may have been a little naïve about her initial intention, but I think I already knew she was coming on to me.”

“And you didn’t…” Matthew rolled his hand, waiting for more as Troy’s words and thoughts had matched perfectly.

“I didn’t move until she did,” Troy said, just as clearly. “She went after me. I just went along.”

“And it went as far as it did because…” Matthew waited, listening for the pure truth.

Rolling his eyes, Troy said, “If you are implying that I seduced her in any way, shape, or form, you are mistaken. I didn’t seek her out. She made the moves on me. I didn’t pursue her. She pursued me. And as for the rest, she made it very clear she wanted to have sex. Honestly, I didn’t see anything wrong with it.”

“And it felt good to be desired,” Matthew added the one thought Troy had not voiced.

Troy bristled. Of course. It felt great to be desired. None of the people he had liked had ever returned the same amount of interest, Randon prime among them. He was always, always, always friend-zoned.

“You know, Troy, did you ever consider that maybe she is a nymphomaniac?” Matthew said.

Still pale, Troy flustered. Was his friend saying the only people who would want him were people were people who just wanted sex and he was an easy target?

“And growing up, you also ignored the plainer people, Troy,” Matthew added, refuting his thoughts. “You are not always friend-zoned. It’s just that the people who have liked you, you’ve never noticed.”

Troy would have blushed if he could. “Who?”

“That Miranda, for one,” Matthew said, meaning the waitress at the café. “She’s always had a crush on you. Why else do you think she got flustered around you all the time?”

“I have a dangerous future?” Troy, however, puzzled over that. He had no idea Miranda had been interested in him. Was Matthew right, implying he was that blind to others?

“Your problem was that you always had your eye on Randon—while publicly gushing over Selina,” Matthew said dryly.

Troy rolled his eyes.

“Should you really be moving this fast with this Nicole?” Matthew asked.

Troy halted in his walk. “This fast? She’s the first woman I’ve ever been with. If anything, it is about time I joined the world.”

Matthew rolled his eyes, mouthing ‘Join the world’.

“Oh, come on,” Troy snapped at him. “Rick has his she-wolf. Randon got with Silvia. And I’m sure Tom and Selina had their moments before they broke up. And you have to be getting it on with Deidre—”

“No.” Matthew lifted a finger. “Let me correct you. Rick does not have that she-wolf. He finally escaped her and has been living celibate since. You are probably right about Tom and Selina, but Deidre and I are not ‘getting it on’. First off, JJ and his dad put their feet down, and I am not to see her unaccompanied, as she is still a witness in a critical case dealing with the Unseelie Court. But more importantly, besides it being unethical, I want to know a woman well before I take such an intimate step with her—preferably after a wedding.”

“What did you do?” Troy gasped. “Find religion?”

“I never lost religion.” Matthew snorted. He then shook his head. “I’ve always felt this way.”

Troy gazed wanly at him then shook his head. Yet his mind went back to one point. He said, “But you do not deny that Randon has moved on.”

Matthew sighed, shaking his head. “No denial. He has. But he is also married to the gal.”

This time Troy snorted. “Married? They eloped. My best friend—the one guy I could have been happy with if he finally recognized how I felt about him—eloped. Married a witch.” He then bristled, his mind fixating on that. “He married a witch! The very thing he was running from! You guys were supposed to protect him from that!”

Hearing his angry thoughts, which were beyond anger and was more in the realm of jealousy, Matthew meekly replied. “We tried.”

“How hard did you try?” Troy shouted at him. His face felt hot, but he was most likely still as white as death. People around them were beginning to stare. But they kept walking. It wasn’t that loud of an argument.

“Look,” Matthew said, “Neither you nor I can change his feelings on this. They met and hit it off. We objected like crazy. And because we did, they just eloped. That’s why they eloped.”

“But Rick introduced them!” Troy felt wretched. He had been wanting to scream this since he had heard about their marriage.

“Not on purpose,” Matt snapped, irritated as always at Troy for venting his life’s anger on Rick. “In fact, he was more upset than the rest of us that Silvia set her sights on Randon. Rick was scared enough that she had gotten involved with Audry Bruchenhaus.”

Troy blinked. The wolf-shirt lady? He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Not that I am happy about it, but fine. Randon didn’t want me like that anyway, but…. what’s wrong with me enjoying what I can get?”

Matthew sighed, reluctantly nodding. Maybe he understood. Or maybe he just felt sorry for Troy. “Nothing,” Matthew muttered. “I just don’t want her to break your heart.”

Troy felt a ripple go through him. Matthew was being honest here.

 “I’m sure she’s a nymphomaniac,” Matthew said. “Her head was a jumble of seriously messed up thoughts at the meeting. She’s hyper-sexual. In fact, she sized up every man in the room—including people who were married, with their wives in the room, and all the admitted vampires.”

A little disappointed to hear that, Troy sighed. Yet he paused. “What was she thinking about me? How did I compare?”

Blushing, Matthew shook his head. “Ah come on, man…”

“Come on. Spill.” Troy peered at him, now truly wondering. “Nerdy? Weird. Handsome? Boring? What?”

Meeting his gaze, Matthew admitted, “She thought you were hot. She also thought a few slightly pornographic things, examining the size of your hands and guestimating the size of your…well, you can guess.”

Troy grinned to himself. So, she really did want him.

“But she thought that about a few others also,” Matthew added, following Troy’s train of thought. He then sighed. “Your own thoughts were pretty messed up.”

Troy stared. Then he realized what Matthew had heard, whom he was eying, and he was glad he was incapable of blushing. He had been checking out a fair number of people as well that week. Usually there was no one around to hear his thoughts to judge him.

“So,” Troy asked after a while. “What happened to Art? Did he really go back to Idaho? And where did Hanz vanish to?”

Matthew colored a little, his heart picking up a pace as he hesitantly said, “I’m not at liberty to talk about Art. I don’t know much anyway. My guess is that he got another job. As for Hanz…um, Hanz is now staying at the Deacon’s penthouse. He decided it was no longer safe to be living with you.”

“What?” Troy stared. “Why?”

 “Uh…” Matthew shook his head. “He picked up that you were, um… bisexual. And—”

Troy boiled inside. “That prejudiced—”

“No,” Matthew cut him off. “No. He sensed that you were attracted to him. He figured in the best interests of everyone that he move out.”

A shudder whipped through Troy. He was now extremely glad that blushing was a non-vampire trait. Hanz had noticed him crushing on him. That was embarrassing.

“Eve would rip your heart out if you ever tried anything—”

“I didn’t lay a finger on him!” Troy snapped back.

Matthew nodded. “And he said so. But, uh, just reminding you. Because I know you only have eyes for the super cut and sexy kind—excluding Randon.”

“Hey!” Troy protested. Randon happened to be a fine piece of man. Admittedly, he wasn’t workout-ripped, but he had the best heart.

“Anyway, can you handle that possibly your gal just wanted a taste of you?” Matthew asked, eying him carefully.

With such an internal moan, Troy nodded. “I guessed she was curious about sex with a vampire, so yeah. But will you be angry with me if she comes back for more and I give it to her?”

Matthew raised his eyebrows. His eyes inspected his face. “Don’t you want a real relationship? You know, one where you