“Yeah, dickhead.” Rage chuckled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Cute.”
“A dog is cute.” Cole pointed at Rage. “A teddy bear is cute.” He then pointed at Damien. “A vampire is fucking hot.”
“No, a vampire is a bat.” Jess took her straw wrapper and tossed it into Cole’s face. “Which is kind of gross. They carry diseases.”
“So, Raven, I was thinking about you fighting other supernaturals now.” Damien grabbed his orange juice and chugged it down.
“Like who?” I figured he’d be bringing it up soon. I’d learned his weak spots, and he’d learned mine.
“I’m not sure yet, but I’m thinking of a few.” Damien glanced over at Cole. “Maybe a bat would like a chance to prove himself?”
“You want me to fight her?” Cole frowned and sat back. “I don’t want to.”
“Are you afraid my mate could kick your ass?” Rage smiled as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.
“It’s not that, but she’s one of my besties.” Cole took another sip and slurped. “It would be unfair because I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”
Just when there were times I thought Cole was a complete narcissist, he’d do something like that. He was a really good friend.
“Fine, what about Madison?” Damien asked and looked at Rage.
Ugh, Madison was good friends with Jordan. So she wasn’t my favorite, and I was fairly certain it was mutual.
“That is a good idea.” Rage tapped his fingers on the table. “But I want to be there. She likes to fight dirty.”
“Fair point.” Damien nodded.
“Why her?” Out of everyone here, they wanted to bring in Jordan’s best friend.
“Because she’s a strong vampire, but not overly strong like Cole or Jordan.” Rage grabbed an orange and began to peel it.
“But why a vampire?” They were focused on that particular race.
“You’ve fought a wolf and a bear already.” Damien counted them off on his fingers. “The next step is a vampire. They are strong and fast but fairly predictable, ability-wise.”
“So fae like me are harder to fight.” Jess smirked at Cole before turning her attention back to me. “There’s no telling what you might get. You could get an elemental, telepathic, healer, or one with photokinesis. Sometimes, if they are strong enough, they can even have more than one power, too.”
“Photokinesis?” I followed along until then.
“It’s the ability to project and control light and nature.” A proud smile crossed her face. "It's super rare and the most powerful. It means they can control the elements along with light and nature."
“And if you’re wondering why she’s smiling,” Cole said as he chuckled, “that’s because she’s one of them.”
That made so much sense. I’d been wondering why she was admitted here since her family wasn’t alumni, but I’d assumed it was an instance similar to mine. “See, I always knew you were a badass.”
“Right?” Her cheeks flushed. “So that’s why vampires are safer.”
“I’d like to think we are more unpredictable than that.” Cole huffed and pointed at himself. “I’m unique too, dammit.”
“You’re damn right there,” Damien mumbled even though it was crystal clear.
“I mean who does naked gymnastics around the house?” Rage flinched as if the memory was traumatic.
“Hey, I was cheering you both up.” Cole lifted his chin and rubbed his fingernails along his shirt.
“How was us seeing you naked going to accomplish that exactly?” Rage leaned back in his chair with his nose wrinkled. “I’m pretty sure that caused nightmares instead.”
“One, it confirmed you both weren’t gay. Because how else could you deny this delectable morsel?”
Rage scooted his chair closer to me and took my hand. “First off, that was not even a concern or question that either of us had.”
“Very true.” Damien gave him a thumbs up.
“But I was able to confirm it for myself.” Cole took another sip of his drink.
“Were you doing cartwheels or something more challenging like a back walkover or handspring?” Jess tapped her fingers on the table and stared upward like she was imagining it.
Dear lord. Why am I not surprised that Jess was encouraging him? “Is it relevant?”
“Of course it is.” Cole placed his drink on the table and lifted both hands. “It was definitely back handsprings and a back tuck.”
“Oh … were you a cheerleader in high school?” The words were out of my mouth before I thought better of it.
“No, smartass.” However, his blue eyes lit up with enthusiasm. “I’m just naturally talented and amazing.”
“So talented that when you did your cartwheel, you fell to the ground with a thud.” Rage chuckled and shook his head. “Only you.”
“Yeah, and both of you assholes laughed.” An evil smirk crossed Cole’s face. “But I’ve had the last laugh ever since.”
“Oh.” Damien threw a napkin on top of his plate. “How so?”
“You know the recliner that both you and Rage love so much?” Cole’s eyes twinkled.
Whatever came out of his mouth was going to be horrible, funny, or a combination of the two.
“Yeah …” Damien pushed his plate of food away from him.
“Well, after you dipshits laughed at me and left while I was on the ground, wallowing in pain,” he said, a smile spreading across his face, “I decided that it was only fair that I get even.”
“I’ve been wondering why you always get giddy when you find one of us in it.” Rage tensed beside me. “You know what … I don’t want to know.”
“Too bad.” Cole stood before glancing at both Rage and Damien. “After you left, I decided that it was only right for me to sit down and ease my pain in your favorite seat.”
“Oh, god no.” Damien jumped and pointed at him. “We promised to not get naked on the furniture.”
“No, no.” Cole cackled like a villain in a movie. “We promised to not have sex in the apartment, which Rage has already violated.”
“She’s my mate, moron.” Rage pulled me closer. “We said no randoms.”
Yeah, this is definitely not a conversation I wanted to be part of.
“Anyway, I limped over and found myself sitting buck naked in the recliner.” Cole waggled his eyebrows. “I even managed to fart.”
“Dude, really?” Rage huffed.
“Oh, usually vampires don’t do that.” Jess leaned forward on the table with her head in both of her hands.
“Right, it was hard to accomplish.” Cole sat down now that he had a riveted audience. “And the fart clung to me, so the only other option was to spread my cheeks wide apart.”
“No.” Damien stood, his face pale. “Did you butthole our couch?”
“Hell, yeah I did.” He stood and turned around so his ass faced us. “I had to spread them wide eagle, much like women do on their backs, and rubbed it around until the itch was gone.”