Deathless by Scott Prussing Read Free Book Online

was really cool.
    “ You’re gonna be in for a long winter, girl,” Cali said, grinning. She puffed out another big cloud of steamy breath. “Ol’ Man Winter is barely getting started.”
    Leesa pulled her gloved hands out of her pocket. “Heck, it’s not like I lived in San Diego my whole life,” she said, a bit defensively. “I grew up in New Jersey, remember?”
    “ Yeah, but only until you were seven, right? That was a long time ago. I bet your blood has thinned a lot by now.”
    Leesa wondered what Cali would think if she knew about the grafhym blood in her veins. Knowing Cali, she would probably think it was way cool. When Leesa told Cali Stefan was a vampire, she’d asked if he had any vampire friends he could fix her up with. She had been joking, of course. At least, Leesa hoped she had been joking. Besides, Cali had already had a boyfriend, a cute frat guy named Andy, who she really liked.
    “ So, tell me again why we’re waiting out here in the cold for Rave?” Cali asked. “Instead of waiting inside, where it’s nice and warm.”
    “ Because I can’t wait to see him, that’s why. Don’t tell me that thick New England blood of yours can’t handle it?”
    “ Rule forty-three,” Cali said. “Never let yourself seem too eager where a guy is concerned—even one as hot and nice as Rave.”
    Leesa grinned. Cali had a “rule” for seemingly every situation. She had finally admitted she made most of them up on the spot to suit whatever point she was trying to make. But she did have a few real ones. Indeed, that’s how she and Leesa had first met, at Freshman Orientation the first day of school. Cali had come up to Leesa and told her she was cute. Leesa wasn’t sure how to handle the comment, especially since she had never thought of herself as all that cute. Cali had followed her statement with “rule seventeen: always make friends with a cute girl, because there will be plenty of extra guys around.”
    Leesa brought her mind back to the present. “I’ll try to remember that in the future, oh wise one.”
    Rave’s arrival ended their banter. He strode rapidly up the sidewalk toward them, a big smile on his face. He was wearing a black and white checked flannel shirt, with no hat and no gloves. He looked great, as always.
    “ I do see why you’re so eager, though,” Cali whispered. “Rave is definitely smokin’.”
    Leesa smiled. Cali was more right than she knew. And she was pretty sure Rave had heard what Cali said, though she knew he would never let on.
    “ Hi, Leesa. Hi Cali,” Rave said when he reached them. He gave Leesa a quick kiss on the cheek. The cold disappeared immediately from her skin.
    Cali looked at Rave suspiciously. “How come you wore gloves back when you first started dating Leesa, but don’t have any today, on one of the coldest days of the year?” She was referring to the story Leesa had told her and two other friends, Stacie and Caitlin, about how Rave kept his gloves on when he held her hand on a not so cold day early in the fall. Leesa had suffered quite a bit of teasing about it.
    Rave grinned. “I guess I wasn’t in love back then. Love keeps me warm now.”
    Leesa blushed, but she loved hearing him say that.
    “ Very smooth, Rave,” Cali said, smiling. “Very smooth.” She turned to Leesa. “Are there any more like him at home?”
    “ Ha! Should I tell Andy you asked?” Leesa asked.
    Cali’s smile widened. “Never mind. So, where are you two lovebirds off to?”
    If only you knew , Leesa thought. But she was not about to tell her that first Rave would carry her fifteen miles in his arms—in little more than an hour—and then they would very carefully kiss under the watchful eye of Balin, to make sure Rave didn’t lose control and accidentally burn the life out of her. Not that Cali wouldn’t totally get into a story like that, Leesa knew. Especially if she described how amazing Rave’s kisses were.
    “ We’re just going for a long walk,