Page 140 of Let Us Prey

Maybe I’m cursed.

When she rejoins us, Cori reaches over and takes my hand. “Okay. Now that’s settled, we need to tell you what else you should do after you ice it.”

“Already on the Amazon, Coco. Medical ass lotion, arnica, and aloe are on the way.” He clicks his screen off before addressingme. “Apply the lotion first after you shower. Once it has some time to sink in, you can use the arnica for bruises. The aloe is in case you do something more ‘slappy’ than ‘thuddy’ later on. It’ll help with redness versus bruises.”

I blink at his unusually serious tone, but I nod. “That’s all after the ice?”

Cori squeezes my hand and grins. “Look, Dolly, we’re all shifters. Sex activates the primal—the animals inside of us—and we all experiment with shit. They made our bodies take pain differently, and for some people, impact play is extremely pleasurable. You will not weird Rufus and me out by getting kinky with one or more of your guys.”

“Fuck knows. They’ve all been around long enough to develop a catalog of kinks and shit,” Rufus adds. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up teaching us something.”

“Teach you guys things?” I shake my head, not believing that for a second. “What in the hell could I teach you?”

“Girl, you’ve got all the drool-worthy dirties to play with,” Rufus grins. “Tails, twins, older guys, wings, fangs, claws… and that’s before we get to your fluffy little tail.”

“Ooh!” Cori claps her hands. “I bet they like to chase. Do they chase you, Dolly?”

Panic grips me as I’m flooded with emotions surrounding my experiences with my men. My skin heats—both from arousal and embarrassment—and my friends look at one another and high-five with hoots of laughter.

“They totally do, Coco. Look at her face. The big bad boys like to hunt the pretty bunny.”

“Rufus!” I hiss. He’s talking at max volume, and Patrice is approaching with a variety of ice packs. Her expression changed the moment he said ‘hunt’ and if she runs her mouth, I’ll be dealing with another bullshit slut-shaming media campaign.

“What?” he bats his lashes at me. When Patrice clears her throat behind him, he whips his head around to glare. “Gods, Patrice. Make some noise when you sneak up on people.”

Cori takes the ice packs from her with an apologetic ‘thank you’, but she blessedly waits until the aquatic shifter is gone before handing it to me. “Sit on this while Rufus and I let the others know we’re extending the lunch break. You need to sit on this for a few minutes before you get up and flip all over the place again.”

I nod, positioning the ice gingerly. It’s cold as hell, but the soft exterior of the gel pack she chose helps. “The floor is killing me. We need to get someone to make mats. Speaking of which, I still think we need to ask Chess if the set design students can help for their exams. Our number is more complex than we planned, and we’re going to need so much time to get the choreography right.”

“Even if the three of us are the only ones singing,” Cori grouses. “I can’t believe Professora Balena refused to offer extra credit to the vocal majors because ‘only opera is true music’. Musicals are life.”

The honey badger rolls his eyes, but he finally nods. “I hate giving up creative control, but you might be right, Dollypop. Spanks for the input.”

My face flames and I kick a foot out at him, catching him in the knee. “Stahhhhp.” He and Cori chortle like thirteen-year-old boys, and I huff in irritation.

“Seriously, Dolly. We really are here for you. I know you’re taking that sex ed class with Zhenga, but from what I hear, it’s taught from a data perspective. Ru-Ru and I can share personal experience,” Cori says softly.

“Tips and tricks about vaginas and dicks; that’s our superpower!”

Rubbing my hand over my face, I sigh in resignation. “I’m never living this down, am I? You two are gonna torture me about my sex life until the day I die.”

“You’re stuck with us forever,” they say in unison.

Looking at their cheesy grins, I can’t help thinking about how lucky it was that I poked my head into the theater last spring. I wouldn’t have survived this year without them, and even when I’m struggling with my past trauma, they’re patient and kind. Rufus and Cori are my ‘ride or dies’, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

“You realize I’m a magnet for trouble, and people are always trying to kill me, right?” I say with a fond smile.

Rufus snorts as he pulls his phone out. “Hell, Dollybear, I have entire branches of my family tree trying to kill me. I call that a Tuesday. Your haters are cubs’ play in comparison.”

“I don’t have enemies like Michael Corleone over there, but my orientation pisses a lot of douchebag jocks off. Last year Ru-Ru spent more time beating their asses than their meat.”

My eyes widen, and I look at Cori in shock. “I didn’t know that. You’re always so… confident in who you are.”

“Apex has always been shitty, Dolly. You’re the target this year, but that’s nothing new. The assholes pick new victims every year—though, I’ll admit, your ex-BFFs took the bullshit to a whole new level.” The polar bear shrugs and winks at me. “I learned to give them the finger and move on.”

“Oh, you gave them the finger, all right...”

Cori and I kick him and he yelps. We look at one another and burst into giggles as he pouts and rubs his thighs ruefully.

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