“You do that Helen", Mallory dared. "And tell him we said to f*ck off while youre at it".”

“Do you need to reschedule? There are some other things I could take care of while I’m in town.”Mallory waved him off. “No, today’s fine. It’s going to be on the exam, so I might as well do it.”“Oh, my God, you are Harry Potter,” I said, pointing a finger at her. “I knew it!”She rolled her eyes, then looked at Catcher.”

“I'm taking fifteen, and we're moving this discussion upstairs.""You can have here! I will not listen.""You will listen," Mallory said, "and you'll tell your book club exactly what you heard.""But is like Twilight in real life!" Berna protested. "Sparkles!”

“I slid Mallory a glance. “He’s (Jeff) your test? He thinks anything with breasts looks good.” "Since you don’t qualify, that’s why I asked him over.”

“Catcher snorted. “If we’re not playing naked Twister, we’re wasting our waking hours.”“Yep,” Mallory said as she tugged him down the sidewalk, “that’s the love of my life. He’s a romantic at heart.”

“Mallory!" Catcher's voice boomed down the stairs.Mallory fixed her mouth into a tight line and walked me into the kitchen. "Ignore it," she advised. "Much like the bubonic plague, it'll go away if you give it enough time.""Mallory! You weren't finished! Get back in here!"I glanced up the stairway. "You didn't leave him handcuffed to the bed or something, did you?""Jesus, no." I incrementally relaxed, until she continued. "My headboard's a single piece of wood. There's nothing to handcuff him to.”

“You cannot seriously think you’re going to fight this guy. He could kick your ass with one arm tied behind his back, much less with all his voluminous vampire powers. He’s probably stronger than you, faster than you. He can probably jump higher. Hell, he can probably glamour you into making out with him right there on the mats.”We simultaneously looked over to where Ethan, half naked, was toeing off his black leather loafers. The muscles in his abdomen clenched as he moved. So did the lines of corded muscle across his shoulders.God, but he was beautiful.I narrowed my gaze.Beautiful but evil. Wicked. The repugnant dregs of foul malevolence. Or something.“Jesus,” Mallory whispered. “I want to support your quest for revenge and all, but maybe you should just let him glamour you.” She looked at me, and I could tell she was trying not to laugh. “Either you’re fucked, or you’re fucked, right?”