“What was he going to tell Lyla?”
The crunch of approaching footsteps broke the silence. Boaz turned toward the sound and immediately groaned.
Lyla.
He dragged a hand down his face, heat creeping up his neck.
Fuck. She was here.
He pushed himself to his feet as she approached.
“No, don’t get up,” she said, coming closer. Her hands were hidden behind her back. “Have a beer with me.” She smiled and pulled a bottle from behind her with a flourish. She handed it to him before sitting down beside him.
Boaz glanced at her, unsure what to make of her sudden friendliness. She had never sat next to him like this, or been nice to him without Hansel nudging her into it.
“I heard you were looking for me,” she said.
“Did Hansel tell you that?” Boaz asked
“No,” she said, unscrewing the bottle cap and taking a sip. “My neighbour told me. She must’ve seen you at the house.”
“Oh… yeah. I was looking for you,” Boaz said, picking at the label. “I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn’t have left you in the haunted house like that. I…”
“I understand. I would’ve done the same if the man I liked came for me.”
Boaz’s mouth dropped open.
Lyla giggled softly and took another sip of her beer. “I saw you with the vampire.”
Fuck.
“You did?” Boaz managed.
She nodded eagerly. “And you two were so hot. I couldn’t look away. I knew you had a thing for him.”
“How?”
“Remember the day he brought me flowers?”
Boaz nodded, mortified.
“You couldn’t stop looking at him. Then you took his hand and dragged him out of the barn. Wow.”
That wasn’t how it was. “I was trying to get him away from you. I wasn’t into him then.”
Lyla leaned close, her eyes narrowing as if she was studying him. “You were attracted to him. You just didn’t realise it.”
“I…”
“Don’t deny it. I know these things,” she said with a smirk. “You’re together now, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” she said, resting her elbows on her knees with a small sigh. “At least one of us got something out of this.”
What?
“I thought you liked Alexander. I heard you talking about asking him out with your friends. And you were always nice to him. You even went on dates with him.”