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“Coming on a little strong for a Monday morning?”
Marcie shrugged, leaning back in her seat as she propped her old Doc Martens on the edge of her desk. “That’s why you like me. I’m feisty.”
I snorted. She wasn’t wrong. “You know, for a human, you sure have a lot of guts.”
Marcie laughed, folding one boot over the other. She was beautiful—light brown hair with muted blue eyes—but she hid it well underneath all the smeared eyeliner, the gold ring in her nose, and herdon’t-fuck-with-me attitude. Though we were polar opposites, I was jealous of her. She lived her life authentically. She was human and didn’t have the same expectation to marry the first decent guy she met and be sweet and submissive all her life, like all fae and elf women were expected to do.
“If those assholes try anything with me,” she said, “I’m slapping them with a lawsuit. I’m human. I have immunity, bitch. We’re an endangered species.”
I snorted. “The only species that need protection is us from you.”
Marcie chuckled under her breath. “How was your weekend, girl? Get into any trouble?”
I booted up my computer, checking to see if I had any work tickets yet. None so far, but it was still early. I opened my email and started deleting junk mail one by one. “Carter texted me . . .”
“He’s such a dick. Let me guess, it was the middle of the night and he wanted you to come over? I hope you told him to fuck off.” She pulled her attention away from scrolling aimlessly on her cell phone, lowering it to stare at me through narrowed slits. “Skye. Please don’t tell me you did what I think you did. I thought you said you were done with him.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek, refusing to meet her gaze. She already knew the answer. “It’s worse. I tried ignoring him, but then I finally gave up and texted him back saying I could come over, and he ignoredme.”
Marcie’s head tipped back, and she let out a long, dramatic groan. “Sweet baby Jesus, Skye. This is so sad. I can’t take it any longer. Can you please just block his number already?”
“I know. I need to. I promised myself as soon as I started dating again, I would. But here I am, four horrible months later, answering his every beck, call, and text.”
“That’s because you haven’t slept with anyone else yet. I keep telling you, the only way to get over someone is to get under someone. Have you downloaded any hook-up apps yet?”
I pushed my brows together. “I thought they were unsafe.”
“They can be, but that’s why you meet in a public place. Trust me, I know from experience it’s easier to get away.”
“Public space . . .” I swiveled in my chair to face her, my voice lowering to a whisper even though we were the only ones in the room. “You mean to have sex?” Marcie didn’t give a shit about anything, but exhibitionism seemed a little extreme, even for her. Not to mention illegal. Another reason why I couldn’t do it.
Marcie shrugged. “If you’re looking for a noncommittal hook-up, it’s a lot easier and a lot faster than going on multiple dates and vetting him to see if he’s safe enough to take home. And even if he is, you still risk the chance of him stalking you afterwards.”
There was no way. I couldn’t do it—I was the type of person who struggled to have sex with the lights on. How was I supposed to work up enough nerve to do it in public?
But then again, it does sound kind of fun.
“Aren’t you worried about being caught?” I asked.
“Not in downtown at the old manufacturing district. That place has some really good underground raves, but it’s quiet for the most part. You just pop into one of the alleys and do the deed. I’ve never been caught.”
It made sense. You wanted to be isolated enough that no one heard you, but somewhere like an alley where you could make a quick getaway if needed. Still, I hated the thought of my human coworker putting herself in a position where she could get kidnapped . . . or worse, killed.
Though Ms. Williams was prejudiced when it came to species that weren’t fae or elf, she wasn’t completely wrong. This city had a terrible drug problem, and where there were drugs, there was violence and gangs.
But the small splash of danger did pique my interest.When was the last time you did something exciting?The last time I did anything remotely exciting was when I asked Carter if we could try reverse cowgirl. He hated it, and we immediately went back to missionary, never to be brought up again.
If my “endangered” coworker was brave enough to handle a back-alley fuck, I could too, right?
“Do you ever worry about matching with, um, someone who is not your species?” Ms. Williams’s voice immediately popped into my head, and I had to hold myself back from sayingorcs and goblinsin her same pearl-clutching tone.
Marcie chuckled at my naivety. “I’ve never had an issue. You know what they say, right? Once you go green. . .”
“I wrinkled my nose. “I thought it was: stay away from green because they get really mean?”
“Whatever,” she sighed. “Stay in your fae-comfort zone if you want. But remember, Carter was in your comfort zone. And based on my experience—the green men at least know how to get a lady off.” She planted her feet on the ground, straightening in her seat. “It’s the demons you have to watch out for. They get inside your mind and fuck with you, and not in the way you want. But if you’re really worried, it doesn’t hurt to bring pepper spray or a taser with you.” Marcie’s office phone rang, interrupting our conversation. She sighed loudly and picked up the receiver, answering with her usual gruff hello.
Get over someone by getting under someone.If it was that simple to break the Carter curse, why hadn’t I tried it sooner? As Marcie gave her full attention to the call, balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear as she typed furiously on her keyboard, I pulled my phone out of my purse and held it under my desk. Taking a quick peek to make sure Marcie couldn’t see what I was doing, I opened my app store on my phone and downloaded the first hook-up app that popped up on my screen.
