I hung up and looked at ra.
"Food’s here."
She paused the movie and stood up.
Walked over to her dresser and grabbed a pair of black joggers.
Pulled them on over her panties.
Then swapped her tank top for an oversized grey t-shirt.
"I’ll get it."
"You don’t have to—"
"It’s my dorm. I know where the entrance is."
She grabbed her keys from the desk and headed for the door.
I watched her walk away.
Watched the way her ass moved in those joggers.
The fabric hugged her hips perfectly.
Damn.
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
I sat alone in her room surrounded by band posters and hero ranking charts.
The bed still had a wet spot from earlier.
The air still slled like cinnamon and sex.
This is my life now.
Apparently.
I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.
ra was the most beautiful and fun girl I’d been with in either life.
That wasn’t an exaggeration.
My past life had plenty of hookups.
Plenty of pretty won who wanted the playboy for a night or a week.
But ra was different.
She was smart.
Funny.
Direct in ways that made conversations feel real instead of performative.
And watching her lose control when I drained her?
Yeah.
That image is burned into my brain forever.
If I was a normal man in a normal world I would be content with dating ra.
Getting stronger together.
Maybe seeing where this went.
But I’m not normal.
This isn’t a normal world.
And I have a quest that requires to collect at least six more girls before the tir runs out.
Even if I didn’t have the quest hanging over my head like a guillotine, I was a greedy man.
Always had been.
One woman was never going to be enough.
Not in my past life.
Not in this one.
Sorry ra.
You’re amazing.
But you’re not the ending.
You’re the beginning.
The door opened and ra walked back in carrying three large pizza boxes and a bag of breadsticks.
She kicked the door closed behind her and set everything on her desk.
"They gave us extra garlic knots for free. Apparently the driver recognized the Angelo na and decided to kiss ass."
I stood up and walked over.
Opened the first box.
Buffalo chicken.
The sll hit imdiately and my stomach growled loud enough for ra to hear.
She laughed.
"Hungry?"
"Starving."
I grabbed a slice and bit into it.
Hot cheese and spicy chicken and tangy sauce.
Good.
Really good.
ra grabbed her own slice from the second box.
at lovers.
We ate standing up at her desk for a few minutes in comfortable silence.
She finished her first slice and reached for a second.
"So. Can I ask you sothing?"
Here we go.
"Shoot."
"What happens tomorrow?"
I swallowed my bite and looked at her.
"What do you an?"
"I an. We just. You know. Did stuff. And now we’re eating pizza in my room like we’re dating or sothing."
Are we dating?
I have no idea.
"Is that a problem?"
"No. I just. I want to know what this is."
Complicated.
That’s what this is.
I set my slice down and turned to face her fully.
"What do you want it to be?"
She looked away.
Her tail swished back and forth behind her.
"I don’t know. I’ve never done this before."
"Done what? Hooked up with soone?"
"Had a relationship."
Oh.
She wants a relationship.
With .
The guy who’s planning to seduce six more girls over the next two years.
Great.
I could tell her the truth.
That I liked her but I wasn’t looking for anything exclusive.
That would be the honest thing to do.
And she would probably tell to leave.
And then I’d lose heroine slot one.
Which the system would not appreciate.
Or I could lie.
Tell her I wanted to see where this went.
String her along while I worked on the other heroines.
That’s the smart play.
The pragmatic play.
I reached out and pulled her closer by her waist.
She ca willingly.
Her hands rested on my chest.
"I like you."
True.
"I want to keep seeing you."
Also true.
"But I’m not good at this. Relationships. Commitnt. All that."
Definitely true.
Her yellow eyes searched mine.
"So what are you saying?"
"I’m saying let’s just see what happens. No pressure. No labels. Just. This."
The non-answer answer.
Works every ti.
She bit her lip.
Looked down at my chest where her hands rested.
"Okay."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. I can do that."
She looked back up at .
"But if you hook up with soone else you have to tell ."
Shit.
That’s fair.
And also a problem.
"Deal."
I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.
She smiled.
Then kissed .
I kissed her back.
No drain this ti.
Just her mouth and the taste of buffalo sauce and the way her tail wrapped around my leg again like it belonged there.
When we pulled apart she grabbed another slice of pizza.
"Co on. We’re missing the best part of the movie."
We climbed back onto the bed with the pizza boxes balanced between us.
She hit play.
The undercover cops were in the middle of a cafeteria fight scene.
Super strength guy was throwing tables.
Invisible guy was pantsing people.
Peak cinema.
ra laughed at sothing one of the characters said.
I ate my pizza and watched her instead of the screen.
The way her face lit up when sothing funny happened.
The way she unconsciously leaned closer to as the movie went on.
This could be good.
If I don’t fuck it up.
Which I probably will.
Because that’s what I do.
My phone buzzed again.
I ignored it.
ra reached across the pizza boxes and grabbed my hand.
Laced our fingers together.
"Thanks for staying."
"Yeah. Course."
She squeezed once then let go to grab more food.
The movie kept playing.
Outside her window the sky had gone dark.
Campus lights flickered on across the courtyard.
Sowhere in this city the original protagonist was probably studying.
Training.
Being earnest and pure and everything I wasn’t.
Good for him.
He can have his pure love story.
I’m building sothing else.
I looked at the quest tir in the corner of my vision.
Fifty-six hours remaining.
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