The smile comes back, but it’s darker now. Half-hearted. “She’s kinda perfect for you, you know,”Ariel observes grudgingly. “I might actually like her if she didn’t look at me like she wanted to takemy head off.”
“I tortured her a little so that he wouldn’t torture her a lot,” she says defensively. “I had a role toplay.”
“You don’t have to lecture me.”
“That’s not why she hates me. You do realize that, don’t you?”
I grab a beer and take a swig. “Who knows what’s going on in that head of hers? Anya’s definitelyfucked with her.”
“It’s not like you to play coy,” she says pointedly. “It’s charming—but out of character.”
“She hates me because of what she thinks is between us. I think that’s your strongest point of entryright there.”
“You’re underestimating how stubbor
