We should meet up at the pond for brunch

The restaurant, not the water

The familiar tightness in Jack's chest was almost comforting. He should have felt proud of himself for having a small social life instead of constantly hiding away and avoiding the world at large.

tomorrow?

Yes! They have a lovely view of the actual pond they call a lake

Will 11 work for you?

yeah that works for me

Perfect! I'll see you there

No offer to pick him up, so he didn't have to go out of his way with an excuse or show up early at Tara's house. He frowned at his phone as he deleted the conversation. He would have liked the offer.

He stared at his list of contacts. He had several unread messages from Candace, all beginning with a variation of "Beware." It was an appropriate reminder that he decidedly ignored in favor of tapping on the contact listed as "Kiki" and unblocked the number. He hoped it didn't count as cheating. He was temporary arm candy that wouldn't be taken out of the package.

k so ur unblkd

hi

There was something deeply wrong with him. Inviting Kieran back into his life was going to be a mistake. Inviting a vampire anywhere was a mistake. That had to be what the myth about inviting a vampire inside your home was about. Don't tempt fate. Don't give the bloodsuckers an excuse.

Thank you. I'll let you reach out on your own, my.

Jack groaned as he dropped forward, nearly touching his head to his knees. He didn't realize how much he missed that stupid pet name. Was it on purpose? That leftover "my" sitting so innocently at the end had to be on purpose.

His phone pinged again, and he braced himself.

I apologize. I would greatly appreciate it if an old habit would not be held against me.

Was the apology real, or just a ploy to get Jack to notice? He hated not knowing. At least he didn't have to worry about Kieran getting weird over receiving no response.

He called up Sam, hoping to be berated or validated.

"Fairchild."

"Is it normal for someone to use a special nickname that might have romantic connotations after you've broken up?" A soft sigh in the background, and Jack felt better. He was making a mountain out of a molehill, and nothing weird was going on.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I wouldn't know. Maybe? It's been fifteen years, and Meyers still calls me Forester. Does that count?"

Jack didn't think it was the same. Getting married and taking the wife's name was different, so of course people would get confused. Or just belligerent and sexist. "I ran into Kieran."

Another long sigh before Sam said, "Accident, or do you suspect—"

"No! God, no. No stalking from him," Jack quickly replied. "He was surprised to see me, too. Mostly because of Augie, but yeah."

"Augie."

"He's a guy I met. A rebound guy. He's just here to see family for the holidays or something."

Sam had a way of drawing out the silence and getting Jack to confess to more. Jack bit his tongue in defiance and refused to give in. Sam didn't need to know about vampires.

"And you believe him?" Sam eventually said with a mix of patience and exasperation.

"Wow. Thanks for making me question everything."

"You wouldn't be calling about any of this if you weren't already questioning it."

"You could let me live in my delusions for five minutes," Jack grumpily replied. He wanted easy answers and advice, but none of his friends or acquaintances had much to give. They also pushed him into making his own decisions, but his track record of decision making told him he shouldn't.

"You'll figure it out. Tara's usually thrilled when an ex slips up and calls her, so maybe you should see it as a good thing. If this really is a break."

"It's… Fine. I'll stick with Augie for now and see how it goes," Jack said. Having a plan and approval eased his anxiety. "I just feel kinda shitty for using him as a stepping stone. If that's what I'm doing. But he seems all for it? I think?"

He wouldn't be surprised if they were using each other as a bandage for the gaping wound known as Kieran. Having someone else to distract you from the thought of running into your crappy ex made perfect sense to Jack. He was just as guilty and couldn't hold it against Augie. Their relationship had the potential to go somewhere decent. Too bad he was still Kyle in Augie's eyes. He should fix that. Having the same ex, Augie would have to understand.

"You gonna be okay? If you need someone to watch from the sidelines for anything, then I can do my best to be there or coordinate with someone else," Sam offered, breaking Jack from his thoughts.

"I don't need an audience for when I crash and burn," Jack said in a rush. The thought of it made it hard to breathe. "You haven't done that, right? No one's secretly babysitting? I mean, yeah, good safety measure, but people. Watching. Seeing. They'll know I suck more than they already think."

"No one's watching you." The soothing tone of Sam's voice swept over Jack. "Tara's asked for a conspicuous patrolman for a couple dates. They just sit on the sidelines and make sure you leave alone and aren't followed."

"I'm good. I'll stick with checking in. Augie's taking me to The Pond tomorrow." Jack hoped for praise or a warning. Or, if luck was really on his side, an excuse to ditch.

"Candace likes their scones and biscotti. That Cat likes the lox I sometimes get."

It was not the praise he was looking for. "Well, Samuel, I'm gonna let you go."

"I'm not mad at you. Just avoid devils or whatever. She's been weirdly insistent on warning you."

"She noticed I haven't been opening her texts." He knew he should have sent a non-committal response.

"So the stones were right?"

"It's fake, and I'm predictable," Jack insisted. He didn't need to look out for devils or demons or whatever Candace was fixated on. Looking out for people who had bad intentions went without saying.

"In that case, have a neutral time on your date."

"Hopefully. Thanks."

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]