“Sunshine, I... Starla's voice broke off as she entered the room and caught sight of him standing naked in the corner. She eyed him in an odd, detached way, as if he were an interesting piece of furniture.Talon and modesty were strangers, but the way she stared at him made him damned uncomfortable. In spite of the sunlight, Talon grabbed the pink blanket off the bed and clutched it to his middle.You know, Sunshine, you need to find a man like that to marry. Someone so well hung that even after three or four kids, he'd still be wall to wall.Talon gaped.Sunshine laughed. "Starla, you're embarrassing him.”

“Really? So you brought home a vampire? Cool. (Starla)I’m not a vampire. (Talon)’Not exactly,’ he said earlier. What’s not exactly a vampire? (Sunshine)A werewolf. With his aura, it makes sense. Wow, Sunny, you found yourself a werewolf. (Starla)I’m not a werewolf. (Talon)What a pity. You know, when you live in New Orleans, you expect to meet the undead or damned at least once in a while. (She looked back to Sunshine.) You think we should move? Maybe if we lived over by Anne Rice we might catch sight of a vampire or werewolf. (Starla)I’d be happy to see a zombie. (Sunshine)Oh, yeah. You know, your dad said he saw one out on the bayou right before we got married. (Starla)That was probably the peyote, Mom. (Sunshine)Oh. Good point. (Starla)”

“Hey, Sunshine, your friend’s awake. What’s his name? (Starla)I don’t know, Starla. I didn’t ask. (Sunshine)You look like a Steve. Are you hungry, Steve? (Starla)”

“and she was so simply his love, his girl, watching him approach as if she were memorizing him and his walk and those flowers and this moment, and he wanted to ask her what sound a heart made when it broke from pleasure, when just the sight of someone filled you the way food, blood, and air never could...”

“You know," she said, stirring her tea, "the fastest way to get him off your back is to sleep with him. And tell him you love him. Preferably while in bed."I smirked and the tea almost came out of my nose. "He'd run like he was on fire.”

“So I think I’m in love with Silent Starla, who isn’t all that silent after all. In group she hardly ever talks, and in the cafeteria she just sort of stares off in this dreamy way. She’s from Oak Park, Illinois, and when she left my room, she said, “We can go together, but I won’t fuck you without a condom. I like your eyes.”