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Vi looked over her shoulder at me, her expression guarded. “Ren told me to make something human-approved for her to sample, but I think she was just being nice. I want to challenge myself… I think I might’ve bragged too close to the sun on this one.”

“Luckily for you, we can’t follow.” I shrugged, playing with a lock of my hair. “You want to impress her?”

“Maybe.” She laughed. “Is that silly?”

“No,” I returned with a flirty smile. “I feel the same way about you.”

The blush that dusted her nose and the tips of her ears as she quickly turned away to pull down a few liqueurs—seemingly at random—made my mouth water.

I wasn’t sure if it was from attraction or hunger.Horngriness? Like hangry, but more like I wanted to take her freaking clothes off and suck the taste of her scent right off her skin.

Okay, okay, Elsie.

Back on task.

A slightly strained silence sat between us while she worked on fixing a pair of layered cocktails. Seconds ticking by like hours, my foot jiggling anxiously under the bar, until, finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“What’s your favourite colour?” I blurted out.

“Yellow, why?” she asked, her dark eyes meeting mine with a lopsided smirk that made my jiggling leg stop in its tracks.

Ren is such a dumb, stinking, annoying know-it-all.

I knew, at least in part, that Ren’s upper hand was due to how closely they worked. Being able to talk in between clients was a lot of additional hours I just didn’t have when I needed to be on stage.

And then there was their walk to pick up coffee.

I really was falling behind when it came to time spent.

“No reason! Just curious!”

Her brows knitted together as she slid a tall, thin cocktail glass toward me. The drink had three layers visible like a sunset—yellow, orange, and reddish pink.

“Can you tell me if that’s any good?” she asked, flattening her bangs nervously.

“You aren’t going to have one too?”

“Nah, I’m not really into plasma.” She shrugged. “Go on, I wanna know if it’s gross or not.”

“Right,” I said slowly, sliding the glass my way.

I took a sip, and the taste of raspberries, oranges, and salt met my tongue with the burn of alcohol like a whispered afterthought. It wasn’t just good—it wasdelicious.

“Starting a bit early, aren’t you, Els?” Ren quipped as she slipped past Vi, her hand grazing the human’s lower back possessively.

Vi didn’t flinch from her touch, her gaze heated as her eyes tracked the vampire’s movements.

I pushed away my irritated feelings and fixed a smile onto my face. It was good that she was getting closer to Ren. It meant that I'd have more time to get closer myself... I hoped, at least.

“Vi wantedmeto try her drink,” I said pointedly to my covenmate. “It’s amazing, by the way.” I beamed at Vi, and she returned it with a smile of her own.

For a moment we just looked at each other, her warm brown eyes studying mine. Whatever she was looking for, she must’ve found as she leaned her arms on the bar, getting into my space.

“What’s your favourite colour?” she asked.

“What?”

“You asked me, so I’m asking you,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “So, what is it? And for the record,glitterdoesn’t count.”