Honing in on Kayla, Ezra made his way through the crowd to her table, where she was sitting with a friend. There were three other empty or half-empty glasses on the table, so he knew it wasn’t just the two of them.

I’d prefer if it was just the two of us, he caught himself thinking, as Kayla unabashedly stared at him with those huge hazel eyes of hers.

“Hello, ladies,” Ezra said as he got to the table.

“Hi,” Kayla replied quietly. “Oh, uh… This is my friend, Melanie,” she hurriedly added, gesturing toward the auburn-haired woman at her side.

“Very nice to meet you. I’m Ezra,” he said, reaching out a hand.

Melanie shook it, giving him a polite smile.

“So you’re the one shacking up with my Kayla here,” she commented.

“What can I say, I like living in sin,” Ezra replied.

“There’s no sin,” Kayla interjected, eyes growing wide. “I mean, between us, there’s no…” she rattled on, looking adorably flustered, while a man struggling with five glasses he was holding against his chest approached the table.

“That’s Andy,” Melanie helpfully interjected, as Ezra grabbed some of the glasses from him and placed them down on the table.

“Thanks, man,” Andy said, sitting down with a glass of scotch.

“This is my new roommate, Ezra,” Kayla explained, just as two other women were approaching the table.

“Nice to meet you,” the taller one said, giving him a once-over. “I’m Maura.”

“And I’m Lainey,” the other woman introduced herself, and Ezra couldn’t not notice the pink and blue strands in her hair.

“The pleasure is mine,” he replied, grabbing an extra chair and dragging it next to Kayla.

“Wait, your new roommate?” Lainey asked, furrowing her brow at Kayla. “What about Seth?” she asked, as Melanie was making the universal gesture for ‘stop talking, now’.

“We call him Shithead now, on the rare occasions he comes up,” Melanie quickly said, and it seemed Lainey and Maura caught on to what was going on, nodding and throwing compassionate looks Kayla’s way.

Andy just looked confused, but as he opened his mouth to ask something, Maura none-too-gently elbowed him in the ribs, and that shut the man up. Ezra was left to try and figure out on his own who this Seth person was. Clearly, he was persona non grata at this particular table.

With his shoulder bumping against Kayla’s and four pairs of curious eyes looking his way, Ezra felt comfortable, yet slightly on edge. Talking about himself was always a hassle, as he had to lie more often than he could tell the truth in human company. Since these were Kayla’s friends, though, he was oddly feeling the pressure to leave a good impression.

Usually, he only cared about having a good time. But this outing was different.

He was surprised Kayla had even invited him, but now that he was here, he wasn’t going to let a golden opportunity to learn more about his betrothed go to waste. The fact that he was as curious about her as he was, was something best left for later contemplation.

“So, Ezra, what do you do?” Melanie asked.

“I’m a freelancer,” he replied, keeping it vague on purpose. “I deal with property management, mostly.”

There was a grain of truth in that, as he did keep an eye on Stephen’s wide array of properties all around the globe. And he didn’t just party at all the fancy villas, he would check up on places, see if any of them needed restoration, or prepare them for Stephen’s events.

As head of his own line, Stephen had meetings all over the world, and the older members of his family loved discussing their business in lavish settings. Ezra found the get-togethers tedious, but he enjoyed taking care of the properties.

Over the years, he had found in himself an interest in architecture, and he always made sure any repairs the estates needed wouldn’t take away from the building’s original design.

“Kayla said you only just moved here. How are you liking Cleveland so far?” Melanie asked, as Kayla remained quiet.

Sitting at his side, Kayla seemed to be avoiding looking at him as she sipped her wine, her heartbeat faster than usual. Ezra guessed she was nervous about introducing a vampire to her friends. Or maybe it was being so close to him that had her so nervous.

“It’s different, but it’s growing on me,” Ezra replied, smiling at Kayla.

Her cheeks turned a little red at that, and he recalled how Melanie had teased her about blushing when he had walked in. Clearly Kayla had been discussing him with her friend, and Ezra found that he liked the idea of her thinking about him.

And the fact she would be blushing when talking about him wasn’t exactly a blow to the ego, either.

“Oh, by the way, Kayla,” Andy spoke up. “I read the mock-up article you sent me about that school shutting down and I really liked it. You should take it to Edgar. He’s a miserable bastard, but he must recognize quality when it’s handed to him.”

“Thanks, Andy,” Kayla replied, giving her friend a small smile. “I’ll try to get his attention. I’m sure he’ll call me ‘Taylor’ again, but as long as he reads it, I won’t care.”

“You wrote an article?” Ezra asked.

“Just as practice,” Kayla shrugged. “Not for publication or anything.”

“You’re being too modest,” Andy said. “It’s definitely publication-worthy. It could go on the homepage, for example.”

“Maybe,” Kayla replied quietly, and Ezra got the feeling she didn’t like the spotlight all that much.

“How about we make it so the next round is on the new guy?” Ezra interjected, earning nods from everyone, and a grateful smile from Kayla.

“I like him already,” Lainey commented.

The rest of the night sped by, with everyone around Ezra regaling him with stories from work, with most of the tales starring a man named Edgar, who no one seemed to like all that much.

The anecdotes were amusing, but what Ezra really enjoyed was watching Kayla laugh and let loose. Her friend Melanie seemed to draw out the more open side of her, as she talked about being a reporter on her high school newspaper and exposing the cafeteria’s use of expired milk.

“Now that’s a breaking story,” Ezra remarked, among the laughter of the rest of the table.

“I was so proud,” Kayla replied, smiling as she leaned back in her chair.

Ezra was right in the middle of staring at that gorgeous face of hers, when a crackle in the air made him sit up straight and pay attention. Something in the atmosphere shifted and changed, as something akin to a low current slid over his skin.

A vampire just walked in, he thought, the feeling all too familiar to him.