It was my turn to laugh. “Maybe they had nothing to say because there is nothing to say.”

“I don’t believe that. I think there is a lot more to you than you show people.” He took a drink from his cup. “You said you live with your uncle. How did that happen, if you don’t mind me asking?”

I had never talked to anyone except Roland and Peter about my dad and how I came to live with Nate. It felt strange telling another person now. I gave him a very abbreviated version of the story. “My dad died when I was eight. It was just the two of us and his younger brother took guardianship of me. Nate’s a writer so it made it easy for him to stay home and take care of me.”

“You and your father were very close, weren’t you? I can hear it in your voice.”

I nodded, expecting the tears to come but to my surprise they stayed away. “My mother left when I was two and my dad raised me alone.” In my mind I saw my dad’s face and for a moment I was with him again. “He was… the kindest, funniest person I ever knew. And smart. He loved books and music and he found pleasure in the simplest things: like having pancakes for dinner or listening to a thunderstorm. He always said you could learn a lot about a person by the things they valued. I didn’t know what he meant then. I do now.”

Samson smiled wistfully. “I think I would have liked your father. I grew up with both parents but we aren’t what you’d call close. My father owns an engineering company and they work oversees a lot. My mother is a math teacher.”

“Wow, an engineer and a teacher. I bet you weren’t allowed to get less than an A in school.”

He toyed with the plastic lid on his cup. “You could say that.”

“Any brothers or sisters?”

“I have a younger brother in junior high and an older sister who lives in New York.”

I swirled my coffee slowly. “Must be nice to have siblings. Roland’s the closest I have to a brother.”

“I gathered that you two were pretty close. When I talked to him he dropped a not too subtle hint that he takes your welfare and happiness to heart. I take it as a good sign that he gave me your number at all.”

I couldn’t suppress my grin. “He’s been like that since we were little kids. I used to have to beat him up to get him to stop treating me like I was breakable.” In hindsight, I must have looked so fragile to my werewolf friends back then.

Samson’s eyes sparkled. “I bet you were a real tomboy.”

“Totally. I could climb trees with the best of them.”

“You said you liked to draw too. What do you draw?”

“Whatever comes to mind? It’s just a hobby, not something I show people.”

“Will you draw something for me?” he asked earnestly.

I shook my head. “I’m really not that good and I have nothing to draw on anyway.”

He was already standing. “One minute.” He went to the counter and came back with a plain notepad and a wooden pencil which he laid on the small table beside me. “No pressure. Draw anything you want.”

I thought about it for a minute before I picked up the pencil and pad and began to draw. As I worked, Samson went to get us two more mochas and we kept up a steady stream of conversation about school, hobbies, friends and his band. He lived in Portland and I asked him how he met up with Dylan and his friends here in New Hastings. He told me he grew up in New Hastings and he still knew a lot of people here. A mutual friend knew Samson and Dylan both wanted to start a band and got them together.

I finished my drawing and signed it with a flourish before turning the pad so he would see what I’d drawn. His eyes widened as he studied the sketch I’d drawn from memory of him playing his drums at the Attic. Without my good pencils it wasn’t my best work but I thought I’d captured him pretty well.

“This is incredible! How can you say you aren’t any good?”

I flushed with pleasure from his praise. “Thanks. Maybe I should keep this one. One day when you’re a famous rock star I can sell it on eBay for a lot of money.”

“You should keep it.” His eyes darkened to a moss green and his voice warmed. “So you don’t forget about me.”

The meaning in his gaze was unmistakable and I looked down at my hands nervously. I was in foreign waters and I had no idea what to say or do next. I’d faced vampires and a pack of crocotta, but put me in front of a cute boy and I had no idea what to do.

Samson laughed softly. “You have no idea how adorable you look right now.”

I turned my heated face away from him to look out the window. “That’s not exactly the look I was going for –”

The words stuck in my throat when I felt the all-too familiar fluttering in my mind. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known one of them would be following us, but for a little while I’d put it out of my mind and I was just a normal girl out having coffee with a nice boy.

I scanned the street looking for my tail. There was no sign of them but my senses told me that either Nikolas or Chris was here. Seriously, what did they think was going to happen to me in a coffee shop in the middle of the day? Caffeine overdose? Hot coffee burn?

Well they were nowhere in sight unless… I turned my searching gaze on the room behind me. They wouldn’t. Please tell me they did not follow me in here. The thought of being chaperoned by Nikolas or Chris as I fumbled through my date was beyond mortifying. Chris, I could almost stand. He was more amiable than judgmental. Nikolas was another story with his moody temperament and his overbearing attitude. If it had to be one of them, please let it be Chris.