New Romantics

Chapter 2

Shortly after Leo Aldridge was safely returned to his apartment, and I finished the scene where the billionaire vampire and the headstrong journalist gave into their attractions, I fell asleep.

My dreams were a mixture of fangs and perfectly tailored suits, alkyl halides, and carbonyl groups, and swoon-worthy meet-cutes that left a warm tingle in a person's chest. That warm tingle lingered Sunday.

But by Monday morning, the warm tingle was overshadowed by exam-day anxiety and I felt like a live wire of nervous energy. My first exam of the semester—of organic chemistry, the bane of my existence—was in two short hours.

"I'll relax after this exam," I murmured to myself. My shoulders ached. My stomach turned. And I was very aware of how hard my pulse slammed in my throat as I marched toward Hadley Hall, ready to hunker down and stare at my revision sheet until it was burned into memory. "And then after all that is over, I'll go to C Bar and get wasted."

Because in college, it was perfectly acceptable to get drunk on a Monday afternoon.

Too bad I worked that evening. Not that minded; the solace of the school bookstore was just what the doctor ordered after such a stressful weekend.

I made a quick detour to Wells Library, the scent of mocha-flavored goodness feeling like a welcoming hug as I stepped into the café on the first floor. At nine o'clock in the morning, it was packed, and the line weaved through the tables, seemingly endless. Dammit.

I feared I'd actually shrivel up and die if I didn't get my lavender oat milk latte ASAP.

Pulling my Kindle out of my bag, I stepped into line, keen on finishing a chapter of BBV while I waited. After a steamy night with Diego de la Cruz, billionaire vampire tech CEO, Abriella Cornelius, star journalist for The Daily Times, was having second thoughts about joining the vampire underworld.

Could she give up the life she loved so much?

Was she certain Diego wanted her because he loved her? Or was it because she looked identical to his wife who died over four hundred years ago?

Engrossed in an angsty exchange between Diego and Abriella, I was vaguely aware of the line shuffling forward. A low chatter filled the air, mingling with gurgling espresso machines and the rapid clicks of fingers on laptop keyboards. The line continued at a snail's pace, and I held back a scream when Abriella—fearful of truly surrendering to Diego's love—said something unforgivable, and the chapter ended.

I swiped and swiped at my screen for the next page. Maybe the app glitched. Maybe there was an issue with the Wi-Fi and it didn't update correctly. Maybe—

No.

With a cheeky message from the author, the words to be continued flashed at the bottom of the screen. I would need to wait a whole week to find out what happened next.

Re-reading Abriella's heart wrenching words over, I looked up, half hoping to magically meet eyes with a stranger who read the exact same passage, the two of us silently asking the same question: did that seriously just happen?

But of course, all I saw were mixtures of bored faces, anxious frowns, and—

Leo.

He looked right at me.

That warm, tingly sensation rushed right back to the pit of my stomach. The corners of his lips quirked when he caught me glancing over my shoulder to confirm that yes, his eyes were on me. Dressed in a pale sweater and jeans, baseball cap gone, Leo's dark blond hair was perfectly tousled by the breezy morning, and he looked even more stunning in the daylight.