Crave (Harlequin Teen)

gotta be it,” he said. “The locket must have a charm on it that keeps you from connecting to me. Otherwise we’d have no problem. Everyone’s parents in the Clann can dream connect. My parents joke about it all the time.”
    And obviously my vampire genes hadn’t prevented it before.
    “Okay. But how do I know what you’re saying is true, that we’re really connecting and my subconscious isn’t just making all this up?”
    “Easy. Tell me something now that I wouldn’t know in real life, and I’ll repeat it to you Monday morning.”
    “Okay.” I had to think for a minute, then it came to me. “Tonight, my father tried to talk me into moving in with him and switching schools.”
    Tristan stared at me, his smile fading. “Are you making that up?”
    I shook my head.
    “What was your answer?”
    “I told him no way. I barely know him. And he’s…” I almost said he was a vampire and a council spy. “He definitely cares more about his job than me.” I told him how my father had left my dance recital early last spring without seeing my jazz routine.
    “Ouch, that must’ve hurt. Did he say why?”
    I pulled up a section of moss at the edge of the blanket, choosing my answer carefully. “His family doesn’t approve of my dancing. That was the night he asked me to totally quit dancing.”
    “But you tried out for the Charmers anyways, right?”
    I nodded. “His family pulled some strings and made sure I didn’t make the team, though.”
    He muttered a curse almost too quiet for me to hear. “I’m sorry your dad and his family suck. But at least you tried to fight for what you wanted.”
    My eyes stung. I shrugged and stared down at the hunk of moss in my hands, tearing off the little fuzzy pieces from its surface. After a while, I swallowed. “Maybe we could talk about something else.”
    “Okay.” He reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear so I couldn’t hide behind it anymore. “Have I told you how brave I think you are?”
    That made my cheeks burn. “Yeah, right.” I wasn’t brave at all. Just one secret date with Tristan had made me shake in my shoes with guilt and fear that we’d end up getting caught.
    “No, you really are,” he murmured, his voice dropping even lower. “It’s one of the things I kind of admire about you.”
    “Tristan, if I was so brave, I would be dancing with the Charmers now anyways.”
    “What about all the stuff you do for the Charmers?”
    I frowned in confusion. “Like what?”
    “Like how you’re not afraid to be alone on campus early in the mornings and late at night after practice. Or when you go to the school alone during a home game just to get another hat for one of the dancers.”
    Part of me wanted to hold on to those words like they were treasured bits of gold. He seemed almost proud of me, or at the very least impressed. But I had to shrug off his words. He just didn’t know what I really was. Why would I be afraid of being on campus alone? I was the scariest thing that would ever walk those grounds, what with my monstrous mixed blood. Not that I could ever hope to explain any of that without totally repulsing him.
    “Well, what about you?” I said to change the focus back to him. “I mean, you’re not supposed to even be friends with me. Yet you asked me out on a date. And kept asking for a week.”
    “Because you’re irresistible.” Grinning, he leaned closer to me.
    I had to smile back. “Oh, yeah, so irresistible you just had to break fifty years of tradition and become the Charmers first male manager?”
    I was joking, but he became serious. “Well, yeah. How else would I get to be around you enough to convince you to date me?”
    I made a face and threw the clump of moss at him. “Ugh, I knew it! You sneaky—”
    Laughing, he pulled me over to him, swallowing my annoyed groans and grumbles in a kiss. It was like plugging myself into a low-voltage battery minus the unpleasant shock… I could feel the electric energy, so warm, so bright and good, flowing from him to me, filling me up. The energy rushed to my head, pulsed against the top of my skull, pounded through my heart…
     
    I woke up with a jolt, already grinning. That had to have been the best dream ever . I wished I could go back to sleep and pick up where it had ended. But I’d promised to spend some much-needed girl time with my friends today. I only saw them at lunch lately since I’d been so busy with team stuff. Anne would be picking me up in