Excerpt and Giveaway: Through the Veil by Colleen Halverson (@cbhalverson, @entangledpub)

               Finn looked up at me. “Are you jealous?”
               Heat rose in my face, and I placed my elbow on the table, allowing a curtain of my hair to fall between us to block Finn’s view.
               “Don’t flatter yourself, Finn.”
               “You are jealous!” He chuckled a little to himself.
               “Shut up.”
               “You fancy me!”
               “I hate you.”
               Finn laughed. “Oh, no, I don’t think so. I think you like me, Elizabeth Tanner.”
               I whirled on him. “Do not.”
               “Do too.” Finn folded his arms in a challenge.
               I let out an exasperated sound. “Just shut up.” I said, grabbing my pencil and erasing my last conjugation error so hard I tore through the paper. “Unlike you, I don’t play mind games. I don’t like you, and I don’t want anything to do with you.”
               “What do you mean ‘mind games’?”
               I shook my head, throwing down my pencil. “Oh, please, don’t…don’t be like that.”
               “Like what?”
               I stared at Finn. “Since we had,” —I lowered my voice, not sure if we were alone in the cavernous library—“sex—you’ve barely said two words to me except to growl at me about Irish vampires.”
               “That’s not—”
               “We had sex, okay? It happens.” I picked up my pencil and began scanning Arranmore again, but all the words blurred together. “I mean, you don’t have to get so moody about it. It was just…it was just sex.”
               There was a long pause, and I could feel Finn’s eyes boring into me.
               “That wasn’t just sex, Elizabeth.” His soft voice reminded me of the feel of his tongue running down my flesh. I stifled a shiver, my pencil dragging trenches across my notebook paper. Frustrated, I slammed it on the desk, and Finn jumped.
               “Then what do you think it was?” I glared at him. “Because I’ve slept with enough frat-tastic douchebags to know not to wait around for a phone call from asshats like you. So, thank you for the ‘just sex’ and for treating me like I gave you a bad case of the clap afterward. That was awesome. Best. Really.” I picked up my pencil and scribbled a few more notes.
               “Is that what you think?”
               “That you’re a douchebag? Yes.”
               Finn’s voice lowered to a thin hiss. “I didn’t go into your room that night to try to sleep with you.”
               I whirled on him, pointing my pencil in his face. “You’re such a goddamn liar, Finn. You don’t think I’ve got your number? I wanted to fuck you. So we did. End of story, so just stop acting so weird about it.”
               Finn’s face fell, all the blood draining from it. “I’ll stop acting weird if you stop acting weird.”
               “I’m not acting weird!”
               “Then why are you yelling at me?”
               “I’m not yelling—!” I stopped myself mid hysterical scream and whispered, “You really are the worst, aren’t you?”
               Finn flashed me a sly smile, but then his face grew serious again. “I’m sorry for hurting you. It’s been a long time since…” He swallowed hard. “Since I’ve been with someone. I forgot myself and…my manners.”
               I laughed. “You really expect me to believe that? Irish supermodel alpha warrior dude has trouble getting laid? Yeah. Okay. Whatever.”
               “It’s not…I mean,” Finn ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “Believe what you like.”