Page 83 of Love Bites Extra Hard

I sighed. “Stop talking so much sense. I’m trying to hate him.”

Zora snorted. “Not very convincingly.”

I swatted at her, and she grinned.

“Let’s talk about something else,” I said, leaning back again. “Zora, you decided to try for a baby after your period started?”

She made a face. “Yeah. I’m deep in the pit of testing urine and learning about timing everything. I feel like it shouldn’t be this complicated.”

“I’m sorry.” I draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in close.

“I’ll survive.” She tilted her head against mine.

“Do you think sirens have a hard time getting pregnant?” Blair asked. “I remember asking my mom about siblings, and she dodged the question. She didn’t seem against it, though.”

“My mom never wanted more kids,” Clem said with a shrug. “So I’m not sure.”

“My parents definitely didn’t,” Zora said.

“Mine either,” Izzy agreed.

They all looked at me. My throat swelled.

My mother and I had been close. Too close, maybe. A little codependent.

But I still missed her, badly. And loved her, fiercely.

“She tried on and off to have another one,” I admitted. “It just didn’t happen, and she and my dad weren’t close, so they weren’t constantly trying.”

“Fuck.” Zora made a face.

“You were an accident, though,” Clem pointed out to Zora, wincing when she realized how that sounded. “Not in a bad way. Shit. I just mean that you weren’t planned, so itispossible for sirens to get pregnant fast.”

Zora nodded, relaxing a little. “Good point. And honestly, even if it takes a while, Bane and I need the time to get to know each other. Everything happened pretty quickly.”

“You, making your mind up fast?” Blair teased. “Never.”

Zora grinned. “I know. I’m ridiculous.”

“You guys are cute together, though. And he’s clearly obsessed with you,” Clem pointed out.

“An imprint will do that,” she said, though her gaze drifted over to the monster king, softening immediately when she saw him.

“Lovewill do that,” Blair corrected. “I can’t believe I was afraid of it.”

“Not all love is healthy.” I looked back at the lake, my mind flashing back to Wendell.

Sometimes, it was downright deadly.

They’d just gotten lucky.

Or maybe they’d just found the right guys.

I wasn’t there yet. I didn’t think so, at least. I’d fallen right into my pattern of being ensnared by someone who pretended to be something they weren’t. Talon had acted like he would let me call the shots, while suppressing who he really was and how he really felt.

I didn’t want revenge.

I wanted to go back to the way I felt before I knew he was lying to me.

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