Sinfully Spellbound (Spells That Bind Book 1) (14 page)

I still couldn’t believe I’d suggested something like this,
but I was sure it was Allie’s fault. She was rubbing off on me, making me want
to help near strangers. After twenty minutes of hanging out with Nick, I had to
admit that he was an okay guy, and Allie was right about him probably getting
along with Trevor. Nick had the same hopeless romantic quality my friend did,
which is how he’d ended up pursuing a girl named Zoe. That girl had quickly
ditched Nick for another guy after suggesting they go to SpellBinders in the
first place.

The three of us exited the room with Allie in the middle.
Her hair was messy, and her panties were sticking out of Nick’s pocket. The
panties were actually spares that were kept in all playrooms at SpellBinders,
but Nick’s friends wouldn’t know that. Nick had his arm wrapped around Allie’s
waist, and mine was around her shoulders. When we were sure Nick’s friends were
watching, I lifted my hand from Allie’s shoulder and stroked Nick’s cheek. He
batted his eyes and smiled at me. We passed his friends on the way to the bar,
and I almost laughed because their mouths were quite literally hanging open. It
seemed unlikely they’d make fun of Nick for tonight, especially not after they
saw him leave with us later.

Allie gave us each a sweet smile and headed off to the
office to see Marcos about her next assignment. As soon as she walked away, two
of Nick’s vampire friends approached. Both had the same youthful look Nick did.
One was a blond with dark eyes and skin so pale it was nearly translucent. The
other had brown hair and unnaturally green eyes, making me wonder if he was
wearing contact lenses. The second one also had darker skin, meaning he had a
spray tan. Since vampires didn’t get any sun, they were all pretty pale.

“Hey, Nick, you ready to head out for a bite?” the one with
the spray tan asked.

“Nah, I’m gonna stick around here,” Nick said.

“You don’t need to worry about Nick. We’ll take care of
him,” I said before dismissing the other vampires as if they were nothing.

The vampires stood there for a moment, obviously unsure what
to do next.

“I’m fine, guys,” Nick assured them.

The blond didn’t look convinced, but after a moment, he
shrugged. “Okay, well, have fun and call me tomorrow night if you want to hang
out.”

“See ya,” the dark-haired one said, and they left without
another word, gathering up their other friends and heading out of the club.

“Thanks for that,” Nick began. “I really didn’t want to
leave with them and have to explain about Zoe. They obviously know she ditched
me, but they’d still ask me questions and laugh at me for being stupid enough
to fall for her.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t ask for details while they were
here,” I said. “You seemed pretty sure they’d give you a hard time.”

Nick laughed. “Yeah, but I guess they were afraid to start
something with you here, or maybe they were being cool about it so they
wouldn’t mess things up for me with you and Allie. Most likely, you intimidated
them.”

What Nick said didn’t sit right with me because vampires
tended to be arrogant creatures who felt they could take on anyone, so them
taking off simply because Nick was with a warlock was very unusual.

Nick grinned at me. “I can see you’re wondering why they’d
leave because of a warlock.”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” I admitted.

Nick leaned in and spoke quietly. “None of us are old enough
to get in here. We all used fake IDs, and we don’t want to do anything to draw
attention to ourselves.”

That explained it since Marcos would not only kick them out,
he’d probably let the other local clubs know about the fake IDs, and the
vampires would be limited to human clubs. That might work fine when the
vampires needed blood, but it was hard being surrounded by humans. You couldn’t
fully let your guard down because you had to worry about letting something
slip. As I understood it, the vampires frequented several of the goth clubs
where some humans had dental work done to make it look like they had fangs. It
was easier for them to blend in there. Needless to say, the vampires didn’t
always want to be limited on their options, which is why many younger ones had
fake IDs.

I figured I’d better text Trevor to let him know we were
going to his party and warn him about our extra guest.

ME: We’re planning to stop by your place after Allie gets
off work. We’re bringing a guest.

Trevor’s response was surprisingly quick. I’d expected him
to be busy with his guests.

TREVOR: Is it Allie’s hot cousin?

Then a second text came.

TREVOR: Her cousin, Melina.

This was why Trevor ended up with clingy witches. He fell
into a crazy infatuation with most single witches within a few minutes of
meeting them.

ME: No. I don’t think you have a chance with her. Allie
picked up a vampire at SpellBinders tonight.

Trevor was slow to respond. I’d already finished my drink
while hearing about Nick’s family—probably the most boring conversation of my
life—by the time Trevor responded.

TREVOR: Make sure the vampire eats first.

ME: No problem.

“Did you already have blood tonight?” I asked Nick.

He nodded. “I fed before we came here.”

ME: Just confirmed that he’s eaten already.

TREVOR: Can’t believe you’re coming to another one of my
parties. See you soon.

I couldn’t believe I’d agreed to go to another party,
either, but since the last one had turned out so well, I wasn’t dreading this
one nearly as much.

My last clients of the evening didn’t need much in the way
of help, other than having me discuss the various types of restraint in their
room. That had actually been kind of fun. The demon couple told me they’d been
married for more than five centuries, and it was obvious they were still in
love. Apparently, they’d been given a gift card for SpellBinders as an
anniversary gift and decided to try something a little daring. Helping couples
like them set up their perfect fantasy was always fun and rewarding. Too bad
they couldn’t all be like that.

Surprisingly, Marcos hadn’t assigned me any disgusting
cleanup for the end of my shift. Instead, he’d seemed inexplicably pleased that
I was leaving with Nick. The jerk probably thought I’d already let Nick screw
me and was hoping this meant I’d be open to servicing other clients. Much as I
hated to admit it, Dylan and my dad were right about me needing to find another
job. Things hadn’t bothered me so much at first. Then again, I’d just been
grateful to avoid having sex with virtual strangers right after my breakup with
Chad.

Nick had his own car, so he followed us to Trevor’s. The
drive was surprisingly quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Dylan seemed much more
relaxed than he had earlier in the evening. Whether that was because we were no
longer at SpellBinders or he was just happy I’d agreed to date him, I had no
idea.

Trevor met us at the door, likely because he was shocked
that I’d convinced Dylan to go to another one of his parties. I wasn’t really a
big party person myself.

Wrapping his arms around me, Trevor kissed my cheek and spoke
close to my ear. “I was really hoping your cousin would come tonight. I invited
her, but she told me she was busy. Do you think you could convince her to
come?”

I almost flinched when I realized that Mel was Trevor’s new
obsession. This was not good. Trevor wasn’t going to get anywhere with Mel, and
she could be pretty mean. I love Mel, but she was probably the bitchiest witch
I’d ever met. I figured it was best to discourage Trevor from pursuing her.

“Mel’s not much of a partier, and I can already tell you
she’s not going to fall all over herself for you like other witches,” I warned
him. “I’m only saying this because I care about you, Trevor. You need to leave
Mel alone.”

Trevor pulled away, giving me a pout that almost made me
laugh. “Who’s your friend,” he asked, gesturing to Nick with his shoulder.

“This is Nick,” I said, putting a hand on Nick’s arm to pull
him forward.

Nick gave him a shy smile, ducking his head in an adorable
way. “Allie and Dylan saved me from being thoroughly humiliated in front of my
friends tonight, and they said it’d be okay if I came with them to your party.”

Trevor frowned and studied Nick before giving him a curt
nod. “Don’t feed on any of my guests,” was all he said.

“Sure,” Nick agreed, looking uncomfortable.

“I need to check on some things,” Trevor said before
stalking away from us.

“Why don’t you go mingle,” I suggested to Nick. “I’m going
to find out what’s wrong with Trevor, and I’m sure Dylan will want to come with
me.”

“No problem.” Nick then headed further into the house.

“What do you think Trevor’s upset about?” I asked Dylan.

He reached down to squeeze my hand. “I’m not sure. He
definitely isn’t thrilled about us bringing Nick, but I told him we were
bringing a guest.”

“Now, I get it,” I mused. “Trevor must have thought you
meant Mel.”

Dylan shook his head. “He asked me if I was bringing Melina,
but I told him it was a vampire. Then he just told me to make sure he fed
before coming over. It might have nothing to do with Nick at all. Trevor wasn’t
happy about you telling him Melina won’t go out with him, so maybe he’s taking
his bad mood out on Nick.”

I flinched. “I really didn’t mean to hurt him by saying
that.”

Dylan caught my hand and brought my knuckles up to his lips,
a move that had my heart beating rapidly. His smile proved he knew the effect
that simple gesture had on me. “I know you didn’t say it to hurt him, and so
does he. While I don’t know Melina very well, her reputation suggests she’s not
going to date Trevor, no matter what he does. It’s best that you’re honest with
him.”

“Why did it have to be Mel?” I asked with a sigh.

“Trevor will get over his obsession with Melina,” Dylan
assured me. “Actually, I figured he’d be over her by now. It’s been hours since
he met her.”

“Trevor isn’t that bad,” I said, but he did usually forget
the women who turned him down pretty quickly—not that he got turned down often.

“We probably shouldn’t have come here tonight since Trevor’s
not crazy about vampires,” Dylan admitted. “I’m not usually fond of them, but
Nick’s a nice guy. That’s why I completely forgot about Trevor not liking them
much.”

“You’re right. We shouldn’t have brought Nick here,” I
agreed. “If I’d known Trevor felt that way, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Dylan said. “Trevor will
get over it, and Nick will find plenty of witches to talk to. Not everyone here
has Trevor’s hang-ups.”

We found Trevor in the family room, sprawled out on a sofa
with a witch trying her best to get his attention. Seated on the arm of the
sofa, she was telling him how excited she was to be in his home, and batting
her pretty blue eyes at him. Unfortunately for her, Trevor didn’t seem
interested in her attentions.

“Hey, Trev,” I said as I came into the room. “Sorry about
assuming we could bring Nick. It was my idea because he was having a rough
night.”

He sat up and shrugged. “No big deal. Dylan told me you were
bringing a guest, so I already knew the vampire was coming.”

“You’re disappointed Allie’s cousin didn’t show up tonight,”
Dylan said.

Trevor looked like he was going to tell Dylan his assumption
was wrong, but he just let his head drop back and closed his eyes. “Yeah, well,
I should have known Melina wouldn’t be seen at something this juvenile,” he
stated bitterly.

The way he said it led me to believe Trevor had talked to
Mel more after the meeting with the council. “Did you find a way to get my
cousin’s number and call her?”

Trevor flushed. “I didn’t call her,” he replied, looking
guilty and embarrassed.

Dylan laughed and sat beside Trevor. “So, you showed up at
her house?”

“The studio while she was there,” he mumbled. “She had
security escort me off the property.”

“Poor Trevor,” I said, clutching his arm and resting my head
on his shoulder. “Even if Mel had wanted to come tonight, she would have needed
to find a sitter for Mr. Whiskers. Plus, most of the episodes for
Night High
are filmed around this time.”

I decided not to add the fact that Mel wasn’t going to date
Trevor because I’d already said that, and there was no reason to keep reminding
him.

“Who’s Mr. Whiskers?” Dylan asked.

“Her familiar,” I explained, surprised he didn’t already
know that. It was one of those stories that had a way of getting around.

“I thought her familiar was a bird,” Dylan said, still
looking confused.

“He is,” Trevor said. “I met him at the studio, and he likes
me more than Melina does. I asked about his name, but Melina just gave me a
pissed off glare.”

“Don’t take it personally,” I told Trevor. “Mel usually
looks mad, even when she’s not.”

“She also hates me,” Trevor said with a defeated sigh.
“Women never hate me, so why does Melina hate me?”

“Stop being such a whiney little pussy,” Dylan said. “Go get
laid and you’ll feel better. There are plenty of witches here dying to help you
forget Melina.”

“Sure, I might just do that,” Trevor said, but I could tell
he was lying just to get Dylan to stop pushing him. “What’s the deal with the
vampire?”

“Poor guy got ditched tonight at SpellBinders,” I explained.
“I was supposed to be setting up a scene for him, but I found him alone.
Naturally, I figured he was going to ask me to fill in, but he didn’t. We
talked for a while, and then Dylan and I made it look like we’d all had a great
time in the room so his friends wouldn’t make fun of him. We couldn’t just
leave him there broken-hearted.”

“So, you decided to keep him,” Trevor finished for me.

“He’s not a pet I’m adopting,” I insisted.

Both Trevor and Dylan laughed, proving they thought I
adopted everyone in need, which wasn’t true. Okay, maybe it was a little true.

“You wanna tell me why you don’t like Nick?” Dylan asked
Trevor. “Is it just him being a vampire?”

“It’s not that,” Trevor insisted.

“Then what is it?” Dylan pushed. “Your reaction to him
surprised me, and I’m your best friend.”

Trevor shrugged the shoulder I wasn’t leaning on. “No reason
really. Maybe I’m just having a bad night.”

“Go have some fun. Dylan’s right about you needing to take
your mind off Mel turning you down,” I said, squeezing his arm.

“I guess you might be right,” Trevor admitted, but he didn’t
sound convinced.

“Let’s go have some fun,” I said, standing and tugging on
Trevor’s arm.

“You go ahead,” he said. “I need to go upstairs and check on
a few things related to a filing next week.”

Dylan raised an eyebrow. “Are you abandoning your own
party?”

“Nah,” Trevor said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“I’ll be back down soon, and then I’ll find a hot little witch to help me
forget Melina.”

With that, Trevor stood and walked out of the room.

“Do you believe him?” I asked Dylan.

“Nope,” Dylan said with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry
too much about Trevor. He’ll be over Melina in no time and back to his old
self.”

“You’re probably right,” I agreed. “Let’s go make sure Nick
is having fun.”

Dylan chuckled. “Yep, we’d better make sure your newest pet
is behaving.”

“Stop calling him that!”

“It’s not an insult,” Dylan said, rubbing a thumb across my
lower lip. “Near as I can tell, it’s pretty nice being one of your pets. Your
werewolf doesn’t seem to mind, despite all of his complaining. Trevor doesn’t
mind it much, either.”

“How about you?” I asked. “Are you saying you’re my lap
dog?”

Rather than taking offense, Dylan chuckled. “I’d be happy
being your favorite pet.”

“Let’s go find Nick before you say something even more
ridiculous.” I laughed. “I want to exchange numbers with him before we leave so
we can hang out again.”

Dylan just laughed and shook his head. “I figured you’d want
to, so I exchanged numbers with him at SpellBinders.”

My eyes widened with shock at Dylan’s admission. It never
ceased to amaze, and scare me, how much Dylan understood me after just a short
time.