My Vampire Bromance

Chapter 30: I Want to Date You

"One order of the special for tonight, please," Thomas smiled congenially at the waitress as he handed the menu to her. I sat with a glass of red wine in front of me. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that it would be okay– I couldn't drink it. I hardly dared to speak as it was, let alone taste the red liquid that glimmered in the small, family-owned steakhouse. Thomas had ordered the drink for me and I hadn't been able to refuse him. "What's wrong?" he glanced over the stemware at me.

I forced a smile, "Nothing."

"Are you not a fan of red wine?" I watched as his lips twitched from one side to the other.

I waved both hands in front of my face, "No, no. It's not that. I just...I don't drink."

Thomas looked to the side quickly, gesturing for our waitress to return. "Let me get you something else, then."

"No. Don't...don't do that. I'll drink it. It's fine."

"But you say you don't drink."

"I don't." I avoided his gaze, biting my lip. This whole situation was awkward. While Thomas had ordered a glass of wine for himself, he had only ordered food for me, which meant he would watch me eat. And while I was used to Victor's doting gaze as he watched me enjoy the food he made– eating in front of Thomas was a whole other matter. "Why aren't you eating, anyway?"

Thomas rolled his eyes, "I ate earlier. Before I saw you nearly faint at the student union."

"Funny, I could have eaten there." I continued to stare at the undrunk glass of wine. Could I possibly even force myself to sip it?

Tomas signaled again to our waitress. "What do you want to drink? I'll get it for you."

"I don't want to be a pain," I glanced up at his face. Was this really the face of a murderous vampire? His eyes were soft when he looked at me. It was similar to the way Victor looked at me. My stomach churned.

"You're not being a pain, Phillip," he waved again, "just tell me what you would prefer to drink."

"Water, I guess." I shifted uncomfortably.

The waitress finally came over, and Thomas ordered water. He took a sip of his wine. Thomas smiled at me again, eyes roaming the planes of my face, then lower. I moved back in the chair. "You look nervous," Thomas leaned his chin on his left hand, leaning over the table toward me.

"Just awkward. Why are we here?" The real question was, why did I let him bring me here? Because Victor was insistent, that's why.

"Because I wanted to take you out on a date." He said it so matter of fact that I lost my train of thought.

"What?"

Thomas laughed. His mouth quivered, "This is a date, Phillip. I wanted to take you out. I heard your friend. She said you're..."

I rolled my eyes to the side, looking out of the small restaurant window, "I'm sorry...I think you have the wrong idea."

"I mean," Thomas worried his sand-colored eyebrows, "Am I an idiot?" He shook his head, raising his eyes to the sky, "Jesus, I'm an idiot. You're not interested in me at all, are you?"

My shoulders tightened, "You said you just needed a friend."

"And I do!" Thomas's hand shot out to cover mine. I twitched; his hand was icy, cold, like Victor's, except that it lacked the warm promise of love. The way he gripped me spoke only of fear. Fear of being alone. Fear of being judged. "I'm sorry, it's just...hard. You know? To find someone that you like." He let out a breath, "And even rarer to find someone who likes you back, apparently." He looked around like he was going to try and escape, "Forget what I said about the date thing. I was just worried about you. You didn't look well, and I kind of used it as an excuse to take you to dinner so that I could get to know you." His lips pressed together in an unconfident line.