Free Tempt (Ava Delaney #3) by Claire Farrell

I’ll train. Happy now?”
    The
smile fell off his face, and his forehead creased into a frown
again. “It’s not me. Gabe keeps pushing. He’s constantly on me
about you. You know what he’s like.”
    I folded
my arms. “Yeah, a total arsehole. I can’t stand him.”
    He
inched closer. “Really? Because you go all gooey-eyed around
him.”
    “ That’s just me seeing past his mask. Nice as it is, it’s just
what he wants us to see. Can’t trust something that doesn’t show
their true face, right?”
    Peter
stared at me until I fidgeted uncomfortably and made an excuse of
having to get ready in order to leave the room. I might have put up
a fuss, but I wasn’t all that opposed to going out. Although I
liked my home, I had noticed I seemed to reenergise whenever I left
it. Maybe fresh air agreed with me. I refused to believe it had
anything to do with Peter.
    “ All right, let’s go,” I said as soon as I was ready. “But
you’re confronting Carl with me.”
    He
rolled his eyes and didn’t commit. Exactly what I expected, but it
felt nice to make demands every now and then.
    We left
my flat and had started down the stairs when an overpowering floral
scent hovered in the air. My slutty next-door neighbour made her
way up the stairs as we descended.
    “ Do not say a word,” Peter hissed, probably guessing she was
the one Carl had been seeing. I chewed the inside of my mouth in a
bid to keep quiet. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t like the woman, but
something about her always set me on edge.
    Although
the stairway had plenty of space for all three of us to walk, she
managed to brush against both of us as she passed. Looking over my
shoulder, I saw her glance back at us with an unmistakably smug
grin.
    Unsettled, I followed Peter to the car. “Car’s looking
better,” I remarked.
    “ She’s well able for a vampire-monster tantrum,” he
scoffed.
    For some
reason, the air filled with tension as soon as Peter pulled away
from the curb. Although we had been relatively comfortable around
each other beforehand, his heartbeat began to race, and that sent
off alarm bells.
    “ It’s getting really hot in here,” he gasped, winding down his
window.
    I did
the same, noticing a bead of sweat trailing down his temple. “Are
you okay?”
    “ Yeah, it’s just… warm today.”
    I
shrugged and stared out of the car window. I watched people walk
by, all wearing heavy coats and scarves. “Warm” was probably not
the best adjective for the day’s weather.
    By the
time we got to Peter’s place, he was fidgeting like crazy and
scratching his arm. It sparked a reminder of Carl for some reason.
I brushed against Peter’s hand as we headed into his home and was
shocked by the heat of his skin.
    “ Are you sure you’re not sick? You’re burning up.” I pressed
the back of my hand to his cheek.
    “ I don’t feel sick. Just a bit warm.” He very carefully took
my hand away from his face. “You go on downstairs and get warmed
up. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”
    I
pretended to work out a bit, but I found it hard to make an effort
without Peter barking at me. When he came down, his hair was wet
and his eyes feverish.
    I
gestured to his long sleeves. “I thought you were hot.”
    “ Cold now. Let’s get on with this. Today, I figured we’d
practice some moves, and do some cardio. You should try to build up
some stamina with daily runs. You seem to recover quickly, so you
should be able for a hunt in the evenings if you run in the
mornings or afternoons.”
    “ Don’t people get rest days?” I mumbled.
    “ Yeah, humans do. You don’t. Not until Public Enemy Number One
is tied up.”
    He
gestured toward the mats and did some stretching.
    “ Think capturing her is really the best idea?” I
asked.
    “ Nope. But it’s not up to us.” He flexed his muscles to psyche
me out. It usually only served to distract me, but that might have
been what he was going for.
    “ I don’t like the idea of them testing