“Yeah,” he says and pulls the sheets up over the stains and himself.
“Ah, crap. Sorry,” Devon says. “I heard you talking to yourself. I didn’t realize you were…” He waves his hand about.
“I was talking to Liv,” Cole says.
“Come again?” Devon says, now stepping into the room.
“She was here, in my head talking to me,” Cole explains.
“Telepathy?” Devon asks. “Neat trick.”
“Yeah, she was just, you know, making sure I was okay.” Cole flushes slightly as he looks away.
“Is she okay?” Devon asks quickly.
“Fine. I’ll tell everyone together so I’m not repeating myself.”
“Fair enough,” Devon says and hovers for a moment.
“Something I can help you with?” Cole asks him.
“Uh,” he says hesitantly. “I just want to know if you are okay? I know you must be missing her. I’d like to talk to you about it.”
“I’m fine. Better now that she has come to me.” Cole shrugs.
“And other things,” Devon murmurs. “Still, I’d like to talk to you.” He walks over to Liv’s side of the bed and is about to sit down, but Cole holds a hand up.
“I wouldn’t sit there if I were you,” he says.
Devon looks down quickly and then looks back up in a flash. “Gotcha. Erm, maybe we could talk outside then?” he asks.
“Sure.” Cole flicks the sheet off and stands to pull his sweats on. He’s not embarrassed for Devon to see him naked. He’s seen it plenty of times in the last seven months. A guy tends to lose all his shyness when he has frequent three-ways with someone. Things get seen and touched even, however inadvertently. It helps that Devon isn’t bigger than him.
They sit on the balcony and Devon starts, “Please don’t be mad, but Jess spoke to me about the conversation you and she had in the kitchen earlier. She’s worried and only looking out for you.”
“She told you we spoke?” Cole asks, surprised. He would have thought that might be something she would want to keep to herself considering what she did.
“Yes. She said that you are hiding your true feelings about Liv being away from you for so much of the time. You shouldn’t do that. You should tell her,” Devon says.
“No,” Cole says, a bit miffed that Jess told him that. “She will only fret about it and she has enough to worry about.”
“It is her job to worry about you. If you go around acting like everything is fine, she will assume it is,” Devon insists.
“Everything is fine,” Cole says, and Devon shakes his head at him.
“No, Cole, it isn’t. It’s a long time ago that I was so new, but even now I know how it feels, that deep-seated need to be around her all the time. That it feels like you are going to wither away if you aren’t next to her,” he says it quietly. “You need to find another focus,” he adds carefully.
“Another lover you mean,” Cole says bitterly.
“Yes,” he says bluntly.
“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” He sighs. “I am married, for fuck’s sake. Doesn’t that mean anything around here?”
“Because it will help. And about that…I want to talk to you about something. Not now, though, but soon.”
He gives Devon a puzzled look, but asks, “She says that all new male Vampires have high sex drives. Is that true?”
Devon laughs and says. “Oh, fuck yes. I remember I couldn’t keep it in my pants.”