Chasing Shadows (Shadows 2)

"That wasn't your fault. Besides, my family likes you. But more importantly, I want you there. Grant's not the only one who obsesses about his girlfriend." Simon's tone was light but I could hear the intensity behind it. I wanted to believe him when he said it wasn't my fault, but it didn't help that we never talked about what had happened in Connecticut. Simon never mentioned killing Claudia or the fabricated story we fed the police, so I never brought it up either. It still didn't feel right that we had lied about something so monumental, but there was nothing to be done about it now. I just had to accept it and move on.

I wrapped my arm around Simon's waist, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Okay, then. I would love to go home with you for Thanksgiving. Thanks for the invitation."

Simon tightened his arms around me and I lifted my head to look at him. He had an unreadable expression on his face but he simply smiled at me. "Great. We can leave on Wednesday, although you'll have to put up with Kendra talking your ear off the whole way down, since she'll be driving home with us instead of flying back."

"I like Kendra. Besides, I can use the time to weasel some stories out of her about your misguided youth."

Simon gave me a pained look. "I don't think you'll have to weasel anything out of her. She'll be more than happy to give you all the details of every stupid thing I did as a kid."

"Perfect." I gave Simon a quick kiss and straightened. "Are you hungry?"

"Nah, we ordered a pizza earlier. Are you hungry? I can go pick something up."

"I ate at Colette's, but I hear a bag of M&M's calling my name." Unfortunately, instead of my healthier eating habits rubbing off on Simon, his junk food addiction had slowly crept into my diet. I had spent a lot of nights at Simon's apartment these past few weeks, and I found myself eating a lot of things with ingredients that were hard to pronounce.

"Luckily for you, I didn't finish off the bag earlier." Simon went to grab the bag from the kitchen and handed it to me, along with a can of soda.

"Great," I sighed despondently. "My teeth are going to rot and I'm going to gain twenty pounds hanging around you." That didn't stop me from taking the soda and chocolate eagerly.

"It's okay," Simon said, nuzzling my neck with his lips. "I'll still love you when you're toothless and forced to wear mumus."

I gasped at the ticklish sensation of Simon's teeth scraping against my neck, laughing while trying to push him away.

"Never! I'll never wear mumus!"

Simon laughingly pushed me back so that I was lying on the couch, his body partly covering mine. I caught my breath when he suddenly turned serious, an enigmatic expression on his face.

"Are you happy?"

Simon's question took me by surprise and I didn't know how to answer. Even though I was deliriously happy in some respects, it didn't completely push away the darkness. It was more than the fact that my aunt and her inner circle were nowhere to be found. It was because I had finally accepted my calling only to have the visions stop. I couldn't stop obsessing about all those innocent people being overtaken by their vardogers, yet I couldn't do anything to help them.

"I'm happy when I'm with you," I said honestly. Simon watched me for a few beats and then leaned down, kissing me quickly.

"I'll accept that answer." Simon pulled me back up so I was sitting and we dug into the chocolate, flicking on the TV although we weren't really watching it. We were too focused on each other and soon everything was forgotten except the way we made each other feel.

Chapter Fourteen

Because we had spent the morning in bed, we barely had enough time to eat a bagel the next day before we had to leave to pick up Kendra. Even though I was waiting to take our physical relationship to the next level, it was still too tempting to spend hours cuddling and talking, interspersed with bouts of restrained passion. That is, until Simon got a pained look on his face and said he had to take a cold shower.

Luckily, we didn't have to stop by my apartment before going to the airport because I had toiletries and a few changes of clothes at Simon's place, which he had insisted on once I started staying over frequently.

We walked outside to his car and Simon opened the door for me, but before I could climb inside he pulled me back and gave me a long kiss.

"What was that for?" I asked, my breath visible in the cold air, but I wasn't feeling the chill.

"You're wearing my favorite shirt." Simon gripped my hips and looked down at my shirt that was visible since I hadn't bothered to zip up my coat.

I raised an eyebrow. "Your favorite shirt is my Oscar the Grouch t-shirt? I didn't know you were such a Sesame Street fanatic."

Simon grinned, his hands slipping underneath my t-shirt, his thumbs brushing the sensitized skin at my waist. "It was the shirt you were wearing the first time I saw you. I never knew a muppet in a trashcan could be so sexy."

"Stop being so charming," I said, trying to hide a smile. I leaned up and kissed him despite my words. "It's not fair to other mere mortal men that you're so effortlessly irresistible."

Simon grabbed my wrist as I turned away to get into the car, his jaw tightening. "What do you mean by that?"

I blinked at Simon, taken aback by his sudden mood change. He went from happy and carefree to painfully grim, as if I had done something to anger him. His grip on my wrist tightened when I just stared at him in shock. "Simon, you're hurting me!"

Simon's grip on my wrist loosened fractionally, but he pulled me closer to him, his expression foreboding. "What did you mean by that comment?"