Chapter 208

Tessa’s POV

By the time night came around, my nerves were in my throat. It’s not that I didn’t want to go out and celebrate with Ruby. A girl’s night has been long overdue. However, she wanted to go to some new club tonight and I’m not much of a club person.

I wanted to ask if Joseph could come along with us, but I decided against it. Joseph was ancient in theory, and he was extremely successful in both lifetimes he lived. There was no way he’d want to go to a club with 23-year-olds. The thought almost made me laugh.

He was incredibly sweet since we returned to the city early this morning though. He helped me bring my things back to my apartment and he even helped me unpack everything. While I took a shower, he made breakfast, and we ate in my bed together.

We spent most of the day snuggling in bed and getting a little bit of sleep considering we’ve been driving all night.

I woke up to Ruby calling me and telling me she was going to be here in 30 minutes to come get me and I shot right out of bed to get dressed.

I wore a black dress that dipped loosely between my breasts and showed off my cleavage, which Joseph couldn’t seem to look away from. The dress ended above my knees and showed off my legs, which Joseph says is his favorite part of my body.

I left my hair down so that it would cascade over my shoulders and down my back and I only put on a little makeup to make my eyes pop and my lips look fuller.

“I almost want to keep you to myself tonight,” Joseph said as he watched me strut around my room to break in the new pair of heels.

I chuckled as I looked over at him; he looked so comfortable in my bed, and it warmed my heart to see him like that. It wasn’t often that I got to see the boyish casual side of Joseph and when I did, I cherished every second of it.

“Play your cards right and I might let you take the dress off me later,” I said, winking at him.

His smile grew and that made my heart swell. But we couldn’t spend long at that moment because soon after, I heard someone knocking on my door.

“That must be Ruby,” I said, turning toward my bedroom door.

I left the room and walked across the living room until I reached the door. Looking in the peephole, I saw Ruby’s small figure standing at the other end of the door.

Smiling, I opened the door.

Ruby squealed as soon as she saw me, and her arms were quick to wrap around me.

“I’m so excited for tonight!” She said, rushing into my apartment before spinning around to face me. “You look amazing, Tess!”

“You look great too,” I said, giving her a beaming smile.

It wasn’t a lie; although Ruby could wear almost anything, and she’d still look amazing in it.

She had her hair in a curly high ponytail and her makeup was done beautifully. Ruby was always good at doing her own makeup and I always envied that about her. She wore a very short red dress with knee-high black boots with little heels that made her a bit taller. She also wore a black leather jacket which really brought out the red in her dress.

Overall, she looked incredible.

Joseph walked out of my bedroom and when I looked at him, I was pleased to see that he was now wearing a shirt.

“Hey, Ruby,” Joseph said as he made his way over to the small kitchen.

Ruby’s face reddened.

“Hello, Professor Evergreen,” Ruby said, awkwardly.

He paused and glanced at her.

“I think it’s safe for you to call me Joseph now.”

Her eyes widened, but she nodded.

“Come on, we should go,” I said, grabbing onto her arm as I shouldered my purse. “I’ll see you later, Joseph.”

“Have fun, sweet girl,” he purred, making my entire insides melt.

I swallowed and then we left the apartment.

By the time we got to Ruby’s car, and she pulled away from the building, I let out a breath and leaned my head against the door as I watched the buildings whip past us.

“So, things with you and Joseph are going well I assume?” She asked, stealing glances in my direction.

I nodded, feeling a smile tugging at the corners of my lips.

“Yeah. Things are incredible,” I breathed. “He’s been amazing.”

“I’m so glad to hear that,” she said, but there was a hint of something I didn’t recognize in her tone.

When I looked at her, I saw that her smile had faded, and she was lost in thought.

“How are things with Carter?” I asked.

At the mention of his name, I noticed her flinching.

“I’d rather not talk about Carter if that’s okay…” she whispered.

“What did my cousin do?” I asked, a little too loudly.

She shook her head, biting her lower lip. I knew that look well; she was trying not to cry. My heart tugged for my best friend; if Carter did anything to hurt her, I was going to kill him. I don’t care if he’s a vampire or not, he wasn’t going to get away with this. Especially after I had already spoken to him when I was at the mountain village.

It’s only been a day!

“It’s nothing,” she said softly, shaking her head. “Honestly, let’s just forget about boys tonight.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that, so I smiled.

“Deal,” I said, a little too eagerly, but it made her laugh all the same.

When we got to the club. I could already hear the loud music before we even got out of the car. I followed Ruby over ot the long line of people, eager to get into the club.

“You look nervous,” Ruby chuckled. “This is going to be a blast!”

I smiled at my best friend; not wanting her to see how nervous I truly was.

By the time we got to the front of the line, my entire body was trembling from these nerves. The bouncer looked us up and down before saying, “I need your IDs.”

I scrambled in my purse until I came across my ID; grimacing at the picture, I handed it to him. Ruby did the same once she uncovered her ID from her wallet.

He looked at the ID for a long while and then looked back at us. That continued for a few more seconds before he handed the IDs back to us and motioned with his head for us to enter.

Ruby squealed and grabbed my arm, pulling me through the doors and into the club.

It was absolutely wild in this club; neon lights were flashing everywhere. The music was so loud, I couldn’t even hear Ruby speaking. There were people everywhere and they were all dressed so nicely. Everybody was dancing and singing to the music; not to mention drunk. Everybody was very drunk.

Ruby kept her arm looped around mine and she tugged me toward the bar. The bartender, a woman with a bunch of tattoos and piercings, smiled at us as we approached.

“What can I get you ladies to drink?” She shouted over the music.

I opened my mouth to tell her just a coke would be fine, not wanting to get too drunk and return to Joseph sloppy. But Ruby spoke first.

“Tequilla shots!!! Keep them coming!”

The bartender smiled.

“You got it!”

Within seconds she was pouring shots of Tequilla and Ruby was passing me a couple of them and then taking a couple for herself. She lifted the first shot high in the air and yelled, “To a new chapter!”

“Cheers to that!” I replied, clinking my shot against hers.

I put the cup to my lips and threw my head back, wincing at the burn of the tequila against my throat and then feeling unsettled when it entered my stomach. But I shook my head and took the other shot, lifting that one in the air as well.

“And to an everlasting friendship,” I said, smiling at her as she lifted her shot in the air and clinked it against mine.

“We will always be friends,” she assured me.

We both did the shot at the same time and once again, I winced at the sting.

The bartender chuckled and poured us a couple more before going to help someone at the other end of the bar.

My head was already buzzing from the tequila, and I felt relaxed. I was here to have a good time, so who cares if I get drunk?

We did a couple more shots and then I could hardly even walk.

“I’m so happy we are here,” Ruby slurred.

“Me too,” I said in return, trying my best to keep balance on the barstool.

“Who needs stupid boys? They are stupid.”

“Joseph’s not stupid,” I said, chuckling at nothing in particular.

“Carter’s stupid,” she muttered, folding her arms across her chest. “You know I called him this morning and a woman answered his phone saying he was on some kind of warrior duty and would call me back later.”

My entire body froze from her words.

“Wait, what?” I asked, raising her brows.

“Right? Like what does she mean by warrior duties? Is he in the army or something because that’s news to me,” Ruby said drunkenly as she spun around her bar stool. “I want to dance.”

She starts to get up but immediately falls; thankfully, she used me as support and didn’t actually fall to the ground.

“Did he end up calling you back?” asked, helping her regain her balance.

“Yeah,” she muttered, rolling her eyes dramatically. “He told me he wanted to tell me the full truth but came up with this elaborate lie instead.”

I swallowed a lump in my throat.

“What lie? What did he say?” I asked.

She sighed and shook her head.

“It’s crazy,” she said, laughing bitterly. “That jerk had the audacity to lie to me and tell me that he’s a vampire.”