Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

170 - Rebecca

"I'm just not so sure if I want that. It's all so complicated," Katrina was saying, mostly talking to Xepher but we were all listening. Sam especially. "I still like being human."

"I get it," Xepher replied with a smile and pointed at herself. "If I had the choice, I would've stayed human for a little while but I'm still happy now."

"Same here," Tara interjected, ignoring her current conversation only to turn immediately back to it. Katrina stared at her for a moment before she looked to me—I was shamelessly looking at her as I listened. I could see the question on her face on how I was feeling about the whole thing but I didn't want to bring it up, not when Colby was wrapped around me.

Something about that must have translated to her because she turned back to Xepher and continued to talk. "Well, anyway, it won't be for about another year, is my guess. I'm happy as I am right now."

Xepher grinned. "You'll kick ass as soon as you join us, I'm sure."

"Even I can kick ass," Devyn agreed with a big smile on her face as she leaned away from Corey. Katrina returned the smile, a pale pink taking over her cheeks. I noticed Elton let out a soft growl before he darted from the water inside. He came back with a blood bag and sat casually next to the pool drinking from it. I raised a brow at him.

"What?".

"I thought you hunt," I questioned.

"New rules," he grumbled. "We're basically on house arrest." I grinned, unable to help myself. He growled softly but didn't say anything else. Grumpy Elton had always been amusing to watch, especially when it had anything to do with blood and feeding.

A few moments passed in which I wasn't listening specifically to anyone, staring into space. I was thinking about Katrina's conversation with the others and what she thought of becoming a vampire. The way she talked about it made it seem like she had a choice but I didn't see it that way at all: if I wanted to be with Colby, I had to change. I wasn't going to grow old while he stayed the same age. Besides, I didn't want to grow old to begin with.

Katrina also thought of it as a chore of some kind, like it was something she must—or could do. For me, changing was important now. Not only would it freeze me in place physically and mentally, but it would allow me to be stronger and faster and to have the power for once. I wouldn't be some vulnerable little human woman who couldn't defend herself—okay, maybe I could, but not as much as I wanted to. I would be so much harder to kill; so much harder to hurt.

I wanted all of that and I saw no negatives. The thirst? As a human, I was constantly hungry and craving sleep. I wouldn't need to deal with all of that shit. I could just sleep whenever and mostly not get tired—Colby was only ever tired when he had been worn out specifically by something. Like training or, you know, fucking.

It sounded like my dream. I was never supposed to be human.

Did that say something about me? Probably but I didn't care.

What broke me out of these thoughts was Colby's heavy exhale from behind me. I tuned back into life to find that his arms were tighter—tensed. He was annoyed by something, hence the sigh that he'd tried to hide unsuccessfully.

I glanced back at him but he wasn't looking at me, his eyes locked elsewhere away from everyone. Trying to find out who'd said what'd upset him would be impossible: they were all pretending not to notice our existence. Fucking vampires.

In an attempt to calm him down regardless, I let my head rest on his chest and placed one of my hands over his, squeezing. He took a moment to squeeze me back then hugged me closer. His body was pressed to mine so much it felt like we were one rather than two. I supposed he just needed me so he wouldn't break anyone's face.

After a couple of seconds, he finally looked away to find me. The silver of his eyes was bigger than usual, demonstrating his mood. Whatever had been said had really pissed him off if it made him lose control over his eyes like that. Lately, they'd been completely blue, especially when he was around me.

I raised a single brow at him, asking him silently if he was okay. He just gave me a nod, though I could tell he was lying. I didn't ask, squeezing his hand again.

Just as I was about to tune back into the other conversations, Reggie let out one of those "I'm about to get up and leave" sighs and Cassie shifted from his lap. A couple of the others looked like they were ready to get out of the pool, too. Jake and Tara went after Reggie and Cassie but none of them got inside before Devyn, to my surprise, yelled at them.

"Don't take water into the house!"

They stopped, zipped once around the yard, then walked inside completely dry. Katrina and I looked at each other at the same time, both thinking the same thing. Fucking vampires.

Since I was going to need a towel, I decided to follow behind them. I kissed Colby on the cheek then forced him to let go of me and swam to the side of the pool, climbing elegantly out—to my surprise. I walked over to the sunbed, picking up the towel to quickly dry myself off. I soon found Katrina joining me with a soft smile on her face.

After squeezing the shit out of my hair to make sure it wouldn't drip, I glanced over at Colby. He was getting out, Sam doing the same next to him. Not even a moment later, they were both stood next to us completely dry—and in Colby's case, putting a shirt on. I rolled my eyes, stealing his hand to drag him inside. We walked up to his room at a human pace.

As soon as I'd shut the door, however, Colby's face completely changed. He looked pissed off again, his jaw clenched and his eyes hard. My head tilted to the side but he didn't say anything, silently pointing at his car keys on the couch.

We weren't going to talk about this here.

I held up two of my fingers then walked off to the bathroom with a change of clothes. I heard him sit down on the couch just before the door shut behind me. I changed into a pair of black tracksuit pants and a crop top, tying my hair up into a bun since I wasn't about to style it for the last couple of hours of the night.

When I walked back out, Colby looked up at me and a small, adorable smile came over his face—the kind of smile he did when he was trying not to smile but couldn't help it. It made my heart stutter in my chest, my legs freezing in place. He got up and zipped over to me before instantly pulling me into a sweet kiss. Light but deep.

As he pulled back, I found myself biting my lip to stop from smiling, too. He carefully rubbed my cheekbone with his thumb, holding my face so he could see it. There was something going through his head; something that was still bothering him. I just didn't know what yet.

With a soft sigh, he laced our fingers together, grabbed his keys and pulled me for his door.