“Ironic, is it not, that the great Divinicus Nex cowers in fear from that which should be her fated prey? A decidedly diametric circumstance."What? It's irritating when the monster hunting you has a better vocabulary than your own. Maybe it could do my eulogy?”

“Ayden and Blake stared each other down. "Oh. My. God," Luna blurted from Ayden's back seat. "It's a love triangle."We all looked at her like she'd sprouted an alien from her head. "it's just like in a book. Two guys after one girl and-"I groaned. "That's ridiculous, Luna, this is not a love triangle.""Says the girl in the middle of a love triangle. Luna ignored my protests and prattled on. "Not one Hexy Boy but two. I've got to call Danica. Oooo," she squealed and clapped her hands,"We could have teams. Team Ayden and Team Blake. With T-shirt and buttons and-""I could make a website," Lucian offered."No!" My voice pitched with panic. "No teams. No shirts. No-""I'll get you some headshots," Blake said, turning his profile towards Luna and Lucian. "I've been told the left is my best side. What do you think?""Aurora's right," Ayden said. "This is buts. Blake you can follow us-""Dude, you know no one would pick Team Ayden. You're just jealous.""That's not true. My team would be way bigger than yours.""Dare to dream, little man, dare to dream.""Care to make a wager on it?""Absolutely.""Fine. How about-""You two shut up!" I shoved myself out of the car.”

“What do your parents do? Do they travel a lot?"My brow wrinkled. "No, they don't." I was tired of the interrogation. "Do yours?"He blinked. "What?""Do your parents travel a lot? Are they still married? How many in your family? How old are you? What classes do you have? Boxers or briefs? What's your GPA? Do you always go around knocking strange girls off their feet and then hammering them with a barrage of personal questions?" I finished with a cocky smile.Tristan hid a grin behind his fist. Mr. Exotic levelled me a steady stare, a sly smile gaining momentum. "Do you always end up straddling the guys that do?"Tristan choked. My smile froze. Crap."And as for boxers or briefs." One hand went to his belt buckle. "I'd be happy to..."Double crap. I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder towards my house "I've gotta go.”

“My eyes ran away from his. "I don't know what you're talking about.""Your blush says otherwise.""It's - it's just hot in here."His grin deepened. "Yes, it is.""Oh, shut up.”

“Stop her!" Matthias bellowed as he thundered downstairs.Blake's mouth twisted sideways, hand tightened on the knob. What little breath I'd regained, caught. Heart sputtered to a standstill. Then he swung the door open with a sweep of his arm."After you, milday."My legs didn't hesitate. I vaulted off the porch and hit the driveway running."What the bloody hell did you do that for?!""I'm her knight in shining armor. Seriously, dude, your chivalry needs some work. Ow!”

“He likes you. You like him, you're just scared. Well," she glanced over her shoulder and dropped her voice, "unless you tell me he's some freaky psycho-killer..." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Then I'm not letting you mess this up for yourself. Your creepy hermit status is officially over.”

“Uh, do you mind?"I glanced down and saw something far scarier than any demon. A guy. My age. And I was on top of him. Straddling his hips. Oh, jeez.”