"Well, what about you?" I said to change the focus back to him. "I mean, you're not supposed to even be friends with me. Yet you asked me out on a date. And kept asking for a week."
"Because you're irresistible." Grinning, he leaned closer to me.
I had to smile back. "Oh, yeah, so irresistible you just had to break fifty years of tradition and become the Charmers first male manager?"
I was joking, but he became serious. "Well, yeah. How else would I get to be around you enough to convince you to date me?"
I made a face and threw the clump of moss at him. "Ugh, I knew it! You sneaky-"
Laughing, he pulled me over to him, swallowing my annoyed groans and grumbles in a kiss. It was like plugging myself into a low-voltage battery minus the unpleasant shock... I could feel the electric energy, so warm, so bright and good, flowing from him to me, filling me up. The energy rushed to my head, pulsed against the top of my skull, pounded through my heart...
I woke up with a jolt, already grinning. That had to have been the best dream ever. I wished I could go back to sleep and pick up where it had ended. But I'd promised to spend some much-needed girl time with my friends today. I only saw them at lunch lately since I'd been so busy with team stuff. Anne would be picking me up in an hour for a group trip to the nearest mall, about thirty minutes away in the small city of Tyler. We were all going to do last-minute costume shopping for the Fall Ball, which the Charmers would be hosting next weekend.
Not that it really mattered what I wore, since I'd be working the concession stand all night. I just missed getting to hang out with my friends beyond lunch at school every day. I jumped out of bed and got ready. I hesitated, then put on my locket. Was it really charmed?
When Anne pulled up an hour later in her forest-green Ford F150, I yelled goodbye to Nanna and ran to the truck. It must have rained last night after I got home. The thick bed of damp pine needles beneath my shoes was soft and spongy, reminding me of the moss in my dream last night and making me grin.
Since Anne had picked me up first, I got to ride shotgun. I hopped onto the front seat in one step.
"Whoa, you're energetic this morning." Anne gave me a startled scowl as she backed out of the driveway.
"Yeah, I guess I am."
"Since when did you become a morning person?"
"This morning, I guess." I shrugged. Actually, now that I thought about it, I really did feel amazing. "Hmm, that's weird. I don't know, I just had this great dream and woke up with all this energy."
"What'd you do, drink a ton of energy drinks in that dream?"
"No. But I did kiss a really hot guy in it."
She rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at the edges of her lips. "All right, all right. Tell me all about it."
"Okay. But I won't tell you who, so don't bother asking."
"What? Why not?"
"Because. So listen...he's standing there at the edge of a forest, and he holds out a hand and says, 'Come walk with me.'" I did my best to imitate Tristan's deep voice. "Then we go into this forest, and the floor is all covered in really soft moss-"
"Oh, brother," she muttered. "Do you realize it is all of nine o'clock in the morning and you sound more hyper than Michelle usually is? Honestly, try to remember you're talking to the unconverted night owl here, and sound less like a squirrel high on drugs."
"But, Anne, I have to tell you about this dream before we pick up Carrie and Michelle, and we're almost to Carrie's house already. If I tell them about it, they'll just tease me and ruin a perfectly fabulous dream."
She sighed. "Fine, by all means, continue where you left off. But just so you know, you are officially banned from caffeine for the rest of this trip."
I hurried through the dream so I could tell her how the kiss at the end had seemed to fill me with energy. "And kissing Tristan in the dream was just like kissing him in real life-"
She slammed on the brakes and yanked the truck over to the side of the road.
CHAPTER 14
Savannah
I gasped, "Anne, what are you-"
"You kissed Tristan? Is this the Tristan I think it is, as in Tristan Coleman, the guy who dated you then dumped you in the fourth grade?"
What had I said? Biting my lower lip, I replayed my own words then cringed. Yep, I'd slipped and said his name despite being so careful not to. Oh, crap. I shouldn't have even told Anne about the dream. But it had been such an amazing dream, and I hated not having a single person to share it with.
So I told her almost everything. I told her about how Tristan had stepped in and fought Greg for me in September, and then I'd accidentally gaze dazed him, too. I told her about his joining the Charmers as a manager and escort after his parents made him quit all sports as punishment for fighting Dylan during a game. And how he and I had ended up on our secret first date last night.
Being able to talk to someone about Tristan was such a huge relief, even if Anne wasn't exactly his biggest fan. But either she was mellowing out or she'd given up on hating him as much as she used to, because even though I was braced for it, she didn't give me even one warning about his being a player who would only break my heart. And out of all the people in my life to accidentally slip and confess to, there was no one better than Anne, Jacksonville's very own human vault of secrets. She had never once spilled anyone's secret, not even in anger or revenge. So I knew I could trust her with the details about Tristan and me.
And yet...I still couldn't tell her everything. I couldn't tell her about my father, or anything about the existence of vampires. What might the vampire council do if she learned about their existence and they found out about it? I also couldn't tell her that my family used to be in the Clann.
She already knew about the Clann's abilities, though. Or at least strongly suspected.
"They're all a bunch of witches, aren't they?" she said. "I knew it. Everyone says they are, and I believe it. You know why? Because it explains everything. I mean, how else would he have saved you all those times? It had to have been either magic or some crazy high-tech CIA-mind-control type gear he gave me. They just worked way too well and way too fast."
Huh? "Anne, what are you talking about?"
She pressed her lips together, considered then nodded. "He never made me promise not to tell, so... Do you remember how all your gaze-daze victims just suddenly left you alone?"