Blood Type (Blood Type 1)

“We’ll make due,” Brian said. “We’re just glad you’re home.”

“What happened to this place anyway?” she finally asked, gesturing around the room.

Both guys looked down and away from her. Neither seemed to want to tell the story. Finally, Brian blew out a breath. “After a bunch of the guys found out that you were sending us money, they ransacked the place and took everything. We have nothing, Reyna.”

Reyna’s mouth dropped open. All this time she thought she was helping and she just made it worse for them.

“I’m so sorry!”

“It’s not your fault,” Drew said consolingly.

“It is.”

“It’s not!” Brian insisted. “We’ve been working doubles to make up for it.”

Reyna threw her head into her hands. She had tried so hard to give them what they always deserved and allow them to take fewer shifts at the warehouse. She had wanted them to have their own lives. Everything had backfired.

She stood with a newfound purpose. “I put the rest of my wages into your account, but I’ll start looking for a new job today.”

“We don’t care about the money, Rey, we care about you.” Drew took her hand. When he saw that she wasn’t relenting, he added, “Give it a day or two. We’ll figure it out.”

Reyna wavered, but ultimately decided a few days wouldn’t hurt anything. She needed some time to get used to being back anyway.

“So, what have I missed?” she asked between them.

Brian immediately colored. It was impossible for him not to get embarrassed. It was probably where she had gotten it from.

“Laura and I are getting pretty serious,” he admitted.

Drew laughed. “She’s already hounding you for a ring.”

“Hasn’t she been doing that since you started dating?”

“Yeah, but, well…now that you’re gone…” He cleared his throat and looked away.

“Now that you don’t have someone else to take care of,” she added.

“She doesn’t come right out and say it, but I’m saving up for a ring.”

Reyna looked down at her hands. Her brother was going to get engaged soon. Wow. She’d known that stuff would change while she had been gone, but she hadn’t realized how fast their lives would move in her absence.

“Well, I’m happy for you. Perhaps it’s time for that ring after all.”

Drew nudged him in the ribs. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”

“And you?” Reyna asked him. “Any woman in your life? Or do you insist on getting old all alone?”

He just shrugged. “No women in my life, Rey. Just you. And I’m glad you’re back. Everything else can wait.”

She slung her arm around Drew’s waist and leaned into him. It was nice to feel loved again and to have the easy comfortable companionship of her family. But it didn’t dull the ache of her missing Beckham and she wondered if he had realized yet that she’d left the house and the check behind. What would he think when he saw it? Would he cut his losses? Would he care at all?

She tried not to think about it any further. There was nothing she could do. The past was the past, and she doubted she would have changed any of her decisions.

They stayed up talking half the night until the guys swore they had to get to bed to stay on schedule for work. The next day was their one day off that week, and they spent it messing around like old times.

In the morning, Reyna cooked breakfast and was pleased that someone else was there to enjoy it. They walked around their seedy neighborhood, and though it felt like home it made her miss the clean park where she had taken a picture of Beckham. It made her miss her camera.

She splurged on lunch at a nearby restaurant that had been there forever, not that it was anything fancy. Then they spent the night playing board games and reading to one another from Drew’s favorite fantasy novel. It was warm and comfortable being with them, but her heart was missing Beckham. Even if she hated herself for thinking so, she still went to bed that night wishing he was nearby.

The next morning, she got up extra early to walk her brothers to the warehouse for work. She couldn’t count the number of times she had done so in the past. Reyna took a sorrowful look around the apartment, and then followed her brothers down the stairs. It was a nice day despite the fact that she had a heavy heart.

When they reached the warehouses, her brothers each gave her a hug and promised to see her when they got off work. She watched them walk away with dueling thoughts battling in her mind. On one hand she was so happy to be here with them, and on the other hand she had never felt more alone watching them disappear and having absolutely no options.

At least before she had always had Visage as a last resort. She knew that after she exhausted her last option on getting a job, she could always become a blood escort. She had hated the idea not because she had anything against vampires, but out of fear of the unknown, her fear of needles, and the thought of becoming a food source wasn’t exactly appealing. Now that unknown had been her reality, and she couldn’t turn back to it. Not now. Not ever.