The Wager

Excerpt From: The Wager

I ran into Maxiel, our local vampire pub, at eight-fifteen PM. I was late, as usual, but he would be expecting that. I had never yet been on time for this weekly date. He might even worry if I got there on time or, heaven forbid, early.

I scanned the few occupied tables and found Will in the corner already nursing a beer. And even from across the room I could tell the waitress was flirting with him. But I couldn’t blame her. I’d been with Will for twenty years, and I still flirted with him every chance I got.

He looked up, saw me watching him and flashed me a grin. I did a little finger wave and started towards him. The waitress disappeared quickly, which also didn’t surprise me. I’m not known as an understanding girlfriend. And I like it that way. It keeps the skanks away.

Not that I ever really worry Will would stray. I believe I keep him plenty happy.

“Hey Sadie.” He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me deeply. I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed him back just as hard. The feel of his skin against mine never failed to send little shocks through my body. I could spend eternity with him and he would still make me shiver in anticipation of what was coming. Because with Will, something was always coming. Luckily it was usually me.

I heard a loud thunk and turned to see the waitress had brought the beer Will had ordered for me. Foam ran down the side of the bottle from the force with which she’d slammed it on the table. I hissed at her through my fangs. She rolled her eyes then walked away.

“Bitch,” I muttered. “Why don’t you come back here and fucking try me, you American twat?”

“Shh. She’s not worth it. Besides, she’ll probably be gone by the end of the week anyway. Just let it go.” He nuzzled my neck, his fangs just barely scraping the skin.

I smiled. He was probably right. Most of the waitresses who had problems with me disappeared before too long. We were very good customers at this pub and the owner liked to keep us happy.

And what made me happy was being able to spend time in public with Will without having to worry about waitresses making unwanted passes at him.

“Do you want to rack?” Will asked, motioning towards our pool table.

“Do I ever?” I replied before sitting at our table and taking a long swig of my beer.

“You know, if you don’t start showing up on time, I am going to make you start racking. Where were you anyway? You were awake when I left the flat, so I know you didn’t oversleep this time. What did you have to do that was so important?” he asked, walking towards the table with the tray of balls he must have gotten before I arrived. I am sure the waitress was only to happy to grab his balls for him.

“There was a sale.” I raised my leg to show him my new shoes. “I was only going to pop in for a second, but it was a really good sale.”

“And how much did that cost me?” He glanced down at the shoes, obviously not really even seeing them.

“Aren’t they cute?” I bounced my foot impatiently while ignoring his question.

He shook his head laughing. He looked again, this time taking my ankle in his hand and pulling my foot closer to his face, almost pulling me off the barstool in the process. “They are adorable. And I am glad to see that kept me waiting for a good cause then.”

“Besides, if I had been here on time you would have missed quality flirting time with your future ex-girlfriend.” I pointed the neck of my beer in the direction of our bitchy waitress.

“That’s true,” he said, dropping my leg and doing a convincing leer at her. “It would have been a shame to miss such fascinating conversation.”

“Oh really? And what did Ms. Skeezy have to say that was so great?”

“The usual,” he said walking back to me. “Why am I wasting my time with a woman who obviously doesn’t appreciate what she has? When am I going to find a real woman to satisfy my needs?”

“She has a point,” I said, draining my bottle and motioning for another. “When she comes back with my beer you should take her up on it.”

“Maybe I should,” he said with a smirk. “I’ll chat her up, and you can rack.”

“Bite me.” I couldn’t fight the smile enough to make any false anger believable.