Free 4 Vamp Versus Vamp by Christin Lovell Page A

handle and slowly turned the knob. Abruptly the door flew open. My instincts kicked in and I had the vamp in a headlock in a split second.
    “Hell-the-freak-oh! It’s me, Lex!” Gabi yelped.
    I immediately let her go. “Sorry.” I felt myself flush.
    “Someone’s a little edgy today.” Her brows were near her hairline, as if to emphasize her words with an expression.
    “I have a right to be after what happened.”
    “True. So what are we doing today?” Gabi did a little dance in place.
    “Wait, how did you even know where to go?” I asked, as we walked out the door together.
    “I stopped by your place and talked to your aunt.”
    “Oh.” That made sense.
    “I love how we totally didn’t plan it, but we’re all in matching outfits,” Mel gushed.
    I looked at Gabi, dressed in black skinny jeans and an oversized fuchsia and grey striped sweater. Stripes didn’t usually work for plus-size women, but it worked on her. She wore gold ballet flats and a gold necklace with a heart pendant.
    Gabi bypassed my car and walked down to the black Corvette parked along the street. The passenger window rolled down, and I saw Jack tilt himself and wave in our direction. I was still a bit uneasy about him, but my friend truly did seem to be in love. She radiated at the sight of him. I waved back but slid into my car so as not to eavesdrop on their heavy flirtation.
    “She seems happy.” Mel sounded surprised.
    “Yeah.”
    “Who would have thought? I mean if I lost Craig because of some a-hole playing games with lives, I can’t say I would turn around and marry him.”
    “She’s having a hard time accepting it, but you can’t change your heart. We don’t have a choice in who we love, unfortunately.”
    “I guess you’re right.” She nodded, sliding into the back seat.
    The next couple hours were filled with lots of laughter and many trips down memory lane. We particularly fell into a fit of laughter when the guys not so discreetly came into the Mexican restaurant shortly after us. We’d suspected they were following us but wanted to see how long they could keep it up. In the end we all filed in together at the grocery store.
    “Okay, we need lots of steak and eggs,” I stated, grabbing the cart and heading that way.
    We passed multiple aisles of goodness along the way, which resulted in a few detours.
    “Chocolate!” Mel yelled. “I definitely need some of every variety.” She proceeded to toss one of every candy bar into the cart, along with a bag of Hershey kisses.
    “You’re going to get sick from all that candy.” I scrunched my nose. Chocolate didn’t hold the same appeal it once did for me.
    “Yes, Mother,” Mel droned.
    “She’s right, love. Your bumper will be a brute Salisbury after all that.”
    “I don’t care. It’s my last day and I want to gorge myself.” Mel stuck her chin out defiantly and walked ahead of us.
    “Oh! Lex, you have to, have to please, please, please make your Christmas treats again! I’ve been describing them to Jack and he’s dying to try them. Plus, I can’t bake worth a darn and have been craving them.” Gabi stuck out her bottom lip to properly plead her case.
    I chuckled. “Were they that good?”
    “If they’re anything like Gabi says, I will pay you to bake them regularly,” Jack said.
    “They were a chockle of delimptious heaven.” Craig shook his head in agreement.
    I was taken aback by their sudden enthusiasm. I knew I had no treats left over that night, but I didn’t think anything of it.
    “They were amazing, babe. I could go for a batch myself.” Kellan came behind me, pressing his front to my rear, and put his hands on the outside of mine on the cart rail. He turned the buggy down the aisle to the baking supplies. “Grab whatever you need and I’ll pay for it.”
    “Really, guys?” I thought back over the recipes I’d invented.
    “Yes, really. I want some of everything. Those cupcakes were heaven on earth, so you have to make those