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Pear and freesia.

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.

It was time to get a fucking grip.

elsie

. . .

“Els?”Dana’s eyes met mine curiously as she slid onto Vi’s vacated stool.

I turned away from her, scowling into my salad.

“I don’t understand what I did wrong. We were just talking, and then she, like… totally hightailed it out of here.” I sighed, moving lettuce around to keep my hands busy, my voice hardly above a mumble. “It was like I scared her, or something.”

“You’re coming on way too strong,” chimed Juniper. She leaned over the railing from the loft above, the metal digging into her full chest. “Like you always do.”

My mouth popped open in surprise as I looked up at her. “That’s not?—"

“You know,” Juniper continued like I hadn’t spoken at all, waving her manicured hand airily. “Pushy.”

“I’mnotpushy!” I snapped, narrowing my eyes at the redhead.

She was always such a freaking busybody. Juniper’s way or the highway.

Her opinion whether you wanted to hear it or not.

It was so frustrating sometimes.

Dana winced, gently putting her hand on my shoulder. “To be fair, Els, youcanbe a little?—"

“I amnotpushy!” I repeated hotly, redirecting my outrage at Dana.

Sure, I got a little excited sometimes. Maybe too excited. But it wasn’t like I let things get out of control. I was reasonable! I respected people’s boundaries!

“Amante, would you let me finish?” Dana pressed a finger to my lips as I opened my mouth to argue with her some more, cutting me off. “What I wassaying,” she continued, with a pointed look, “is that patience is not your strong suit.”

I sighed, grabbing her hand to hold in my lap in a tangle of ivory and onyx.

As much as I hated to admit it, Dana had a point. I did,sometimes, have a habit of rushing into things in my excitement. But was I doing that with Vi?

No, it couldn’t be.

We’d only been talking.

Fine, I’d been touching her, but justbarely, and it wasn’t like I’d been inappropriate. Right? A brush against her back that still had the tips of my fingers tingling. A gentle stroke of her hair as I moved it away from her face, my fangs singing with the desire to sink them into the column of her gorgeous throat as I leaned in for a kiss…

Oops.

Okay, fine. Maybe I did go too far.

“I think you made her short-circuit, Dana,” called Juniper, brushing some invisible lint off the sleeve of her black sweater.

“You’re such a jerk,” I mumbled. “This conversation no longer concerns you, Juniper, thank you very much! You don’t even know Vi!”

“Andyoudo?” she shot back with a laugh. “Please, Elsie. Do you even know when the poor girl’s birthday is? What about her favourite colour?”

I opened my mouth to argue, but as much as I hated to admit it, Juniper had a point. Vi had been working here for all of a week. Other than knowing I wanted to sink my teeth into every inch of her—she was realistically a stranger.