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She sighs. “I’ve seen you getting close with Galina the last couple of months?”
I shrug. “She’s…pretty cool.”
Ari rolls her eyes. “Dude, they’re all pretty cool. That’s why I’m friends with them. You really should come out with us some night, or just…you know, hang?”
“I will take that under advisement.”
She’s about to say something else, but then her phone lights up face-down on the table. Ari grabs it way faster than anyone has ever picked up a phone to read a group text message with their friends, ever.
Color me intrigued.
Ari’s face heats in the glow of her phone. Her bottom lip slips between her teeth before she grins and puts the phone down.
Her brow furrows. “I hate to do this—”
“Booty call?”
She blinks. “What?”
I grin at her phone. “That was totally a summoning.”
She frowns. “To?”
“A dick appointment.”
Ari turns bright red. “Bella!”
“Well?” I giggle. “Am I right?”
“No! Just…” She shrugs. “Galina just needs me for a thing.”
I roll my eyes. “Uh-huh,” I say dryly. “Sure.”
She frowns across the table. “Can we please do this again soon?”
“Only if you tell me how your dick appointment goes.”
She groans, shaking her head. “P.S.…” She grins at me as she stands. “You, uh, might want to do something about your neck before class tomorrow.”
Fuck.
My hand flies to the bruising around my throat from Damiano fucking mauling me. I put a dent in my concealer hiding it today, and I wore a high collar.
“That bad?”
She winces. “Only if you’re not trying to make it look like you’ve got a Rorschach test on your throat.”
Great.
“Were you mauled by a fucking bear?!”
Shit.
I thought I’d managed to cover the marks on my neck before I left for class this morning. I even went for an even more trad-goth look today, with extra pale foundation applied heavily from my hairline down to the collar of my uniform blouse, plus heavily black kohl-smoked eyes.
I smile sheepishly at Galina.
Honestly, “marks” aren’t the best way to describe the battle wounds I’ve had all over my throat since two nights ago. The galaxy of bruises, ranging from a delightful shade of mauve to a yellowy-green spot, make it look like I lost a fight with a horny vampire.
