Bloodbound: The Alliance

The waiter sets down my cinnamon-spiced latte.

"Thank you."

Next, he serves Kelsey her caramel macchiato.

"Thanks," she says, even though her eyes are on something beyond him.

I survey the world through the tinted frames of my sunglasses. On the same corner street, seated in front of our coffee shop. The weather is ambiguous; the sun is out, but the air is cool, the wind scant.

"I was quite surprised by your call," she says, giving me a teasing smile. "I haven’t seen you at all these past few weeks. And if it’s like that now, it means I’d rarely see you when you’re actually married. This alliance thing doesn’t sound so fun anymore."

I take up a spoon to stir it idly inside my latte. "I’m going to be his future fake wife, not his slave. We can still hang out, of course."

"It’s not going to be the same," she says with an exasperated exhale, then her eyes dart somewhere else for a second. "I used to be your plus one at these snobbish galas. Now, I guess—for appearances, Vance will be attending them as your date."

I scoff at that, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, no, his priorities take precedence over my own. You know this weekend he has some business meeting, and he wants me to go with him—I can’t even make this up—so I can be his arm candy. "

Kelsey’s mouth rounds. "What?"

"Yeah, so I can sit there and ’look pretty’ whilst the men talk business. I am actually quoting him word-for-word."

Kelsey releases an explosive breath. "Darling you you better hope to God we don’t meet because instead of people attending y’all wedding, they’ll be attending his wake. What an asshole!"