Bad Taste (Part II) // Colby Brock

249 - Rebecca

We didn't keep anyone up, unfortunately. Colby waited until I was practically asleep to join me in bed, and when he did, he was very specific about restraining me with his arms around my waist. I figured we could wait another night—or a few—before we subjected our friends to our escapades. In the meantime, I could focus on something much more important (arguably).

I'd called Angela as soon as I woke up to sit with me and a couple of our friends as bodyguards so we could discuss what to do about her designing; she wasn't big on the whole thing and had borrowed ideas from me plenty of times in the past. Now that I was meant to be low-key in the community, I'd decided to continue giving her ideas on a more permanent basis. We talked about it and decided she'd give me a cut of everything she sold that we made together or that I made and she had completed. She also set me up with a reliable company—or tried to—to work on the basement of the studio. I said I'd consider it.

After she left, I called Jax and sat in the red room with my legs hanging over the arm of Colby's chair as I talked to him. The office I used to have was his as soon as I had an office downstairs, and we'd work out a way to implement him back into the studio with the others—including the newbies. He wanted a little party, I thought that might be good to test out my resistance to blood. So we set out on little quests to get everything done, and I'd completed all but one task by the time Colby finally woke up.

I was on the phone but had been listening upstairs since I left him in bed; the sheets were moving, his clothes were moving, and if I listened super hard, I could hear the brush of his lips together. I finished my phone call—and final task for the party—then looked up just in time for him to walk through the door. Nobody cared much, but I heard Kevin muttering about how late he'd been asleep.

"It's nearly midnight," I said as he lifted me from the chair easily. He set me down on his lap. "You okay?"

"Fine," he lied. I gave him a look. "I was just getting in some extra sleep."

I narrowed my eyes but decided there was nothing he could possibly be hiding from me, and moved on. "Okay, well, while you were sleeping, I've sorted a bunch of shit out for designing. Angela and I have a legal deal so I can make things for her and get a cut, and Jax has been officially given my old office... once I'm out of it. He wanted to be invited back through a party so I thought that might be a good idea to do—you know, for what we talked about?"

"What did you talk about?" Corey asked, interrupting our conversation. I glared at him for a moment. Did I really want to tell everyone that I needed to work on my resistance? It couldn't be unreasonable even if I hadn't slipped up...

"I want to work on my resistance to blood," I said.

Colby motioned vaguely toward Sam and Kat. "It'll be best to ease up on having Kat around when Rebecca's starting to get thirsty." Katrina looked away uncomfortably, but didn't say anything.

I nodded. "And if I'm going to be working in a studio with a bunch of humans, Jax as my only barrier... yeah, I'll need some resistance."

"Jax isn't the strongest," Mike agreed absently.

"Did you see him?" Colby asked. He looked slightly disoriented as he peered at me, though I couldn't figure out what was going on with him.

"No, I called him. We figured everything out over the phone."

Colby blinked in surprise. "Productive."

"I know. Only when I want to be." I smiled and turned my attention back to my phone for my emails. Almost everything was sorted out for the party—next weekend at the studio—as well as legally for Angela and I's agreement. It wouldn't be long before I could settle into normal life.