Page 113 of Love Bites Extra Hard

“Have you seen Stella and Evan?” I asked Izzy, as we finished putting up the last of the streamers.

There were way too many, but Clem was always the most enthusiastic about birthdays and decorations, so none of us would say that to her.

“Oh, yeah. They’re freaking adorable.” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, they’re all over each other. I thought I’d seen that guy smile before, but the way he smiles with her? It’s stupidly cute.”

“I thought you caught them having sex in your office a few days ago,” Zora pointed out.

Izzy grimaced. “Yeah, that was not cute. I was keeping it on the down-low for Talon’s sake, though.”

“Oh, dragons are pretty laid-back about sex. Talon told me about this one party where their whole friend group was hooking up. I’m sure he knew who Stell was sleeping with, and where.” I shuddered. “I’d rather not have that kind of information about any of you.”

“Agreed. The mental image of Zora and Bane screwing in that conference room can never be burned from my mind,” Izzy drawled.

“Hey!” Zora grabbed a roll of tape and threw it at her. Izzy dodged it, barely, but was too close to the pool. She stumbled, and went down hard. Her head hit the ground before she plunged into the water, and blood clouded around her.

“Fuck,” Zora breathed, and we both ran for the water at the same time.

Izzy couldn’t drown, obviously. And supernatural genes meant quick healing, but she was still bleeding.

Zora jumped in, and I dove. Glitter covered our skin as we went, thanks to the chlorine our sisters had already flooded the water with.

We both got to Izzy at the same time, and she swatted us away weakly with a sparkling arm as we dragged her back to the surface.

“What happened?” Blair called from the side of the room, as we hauled her onto the edge of the pool.

“Zora tried to kill me,” Izzy complained.

“You deserved it,” Zora growled back, though I could see the worry in her eyes as she pulled Izzy’s hair away from the wound. Between the platinum hair, blood, and glitter, she looked like something out of a horror movie. Or a comedy.

“This thing is pouring blood,” I warned. “Should we call Kara?”

Kara was the vampires’ doctor.

“I’m fine,” Izzy grumbled. “Just grab a towel or something to take care of the blood while it heals, or Porter’s going to flip out.”

“Good point.”

“I’ve got it!” Clem grabbed a blue towel off a chair nearby and jogged over with it. She handed it over, and I pressed it to Izzy’s wound while Zora held her hair out of the way.

“Thatisa lot of blood.” Blair crouched down with us, grimacing. “Porter’s going to panic even with the towel there.”

“It’s cool. I like to keep him on his toes,” Izzy said weakly.

She was starting to look a little dizzy, though.

“Let’s lay her down,” I suggested, and everyone agreed.

“I don’t need to lay down.” She tried to push us away, but failed spectacularly. A few minutes later, she was on the ground. “Actually, that does feel better. Am I still bleeding?”

I didn’t bother lifting the towel to check. “Yes.”

“I’m going to text Porter just so he doesn’t lose his shit when he walks in and sees this,” Clem said, hurrying over to the lounge chair she’d left her things on.

“Too late,” Zora called back, as the guys came walking back in. They were all chatting about something—and they all stopped when they reached the inside of the room.

A few rumbles told me they’d caught the scent of blood.

“Izzy’s fine,” Blair called out.

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