I brought both hands to the sides of her face. My thumbs sat along her cheekbones. My fingers curved around her jaw. I held her there, close enough that our noses almost touched.
The candlelight caught in her purple highlights and turned them into something richer, deeper, like she was made of the same impossible colors as the fake city outside.
"Addison. I killed an alpha monster with a stick two weeks ago. I committed a federal crime seventy-two hours ago and my punishment was getting career counseling from the strongest hunter on campus.
My girlfriend has a group chat called Managing the Milk Vampire where three women coordinate my schedule and compare notes about my penis."
The laugh that came out of her was nothing like what I'd heard before. Short and raw and almost confused, like her body made the sound before her brain gave permission. Like she'd forgotten how it felt to laugh about something that mattered.
