From somewhere behind me, I hear Esme’s voice. “I’m calling right now.” In my haste to get to Alice, I crash right into Sarah. The impact makes my teeth close around my tongue; I swallow the blood that’s pooling in my mouth. “Please…” Despite my inability to produce words beyond this,  she nods as is [...]

“Whoa,” Edward says, gesturing to her hair. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen your real hair color, I’d forgotten what it looked like.” She laughs. “Yeah, you and me both.” “Where’s Jasper?” he asks, hugging her. “I imagine he’s Texas with his family.” “Imagine?” “It’s not like I watched him get on the plane.” [...]

I turn the corner and, though I don’t plan to eavesdrop, when I hear Edward talking to Esme, my feet stay rooted in place. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I offered to help with dinner because I wanted to get out of the living room. I’m willing to try, but I should warn you—I’m a complete [...]

December 31, 1999  (five minutes before midnight) Carlisle stares into space, his expression somehow blank yet simultaneously intent. It’s exactly how Alice looks when she’s lost in thought. When he turns back to me, he catches me staring at him. “I’m sorry,” I say. “Something about your face just then made me think of my [...]

“Look, I know you at least tried to move on after you left. I expected that—hell, I’d even hoped for it. I love you enough to want you to be happy, even if it means I have no place in your life. But if this…” He waves his index finger between us. “…is going to [...]

December 25, 1999 The spring on the box’s lid makes it hard for me to pry it open. Impatient, he takes the box and opens it for me. I look at him, thinking he’ll tell me he loves me or drop to one knee. He doesn’t. Instead, he just sort of thrusts the box back [...]

“Why are you even with me?”  I ask. His answer seems automatic—almost canned. ”Because I love you.” “I want to believe you.” “But you don’t.” “No, I do. I just don’t think it means the same thing to you as it does to me.” “I don’t understand.” I open my eyes and meet his gaze in [...]

“I’m not sure how to—and that’s the thing. You want answers, and so does he. No matter what I say or don’t say, I’m violating someone’s trust–”

“Why? Because you had sex with him?”

Lifting his hand from my leg, he moves as far away from me as the backseat of a Lincoln Town Car will permit. “It’s seems unbelievable, I know–” “So Carlisle was in Fly Club at Harvard? Small world. In that case, you’re right—we are brothers. It’s quite possible we’ve already met. Do you know what [...]

“1995 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild.” With one hand under the bottle and the other on its neck, I present the wine for his approval. After a cursory glance at the label, he nods. “Thank you.” I retrieve my knife from my pocket and cut away the foil from the neck of the bottle. Alec hands me the [...]