richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"Just a little blood," Xander was saying. "I won't take much. I just want to see what dhampir
tastes like. Nobody here cares.”
"Xander," growled Lissa, "leave her alone.”
I slipped out from under his arm and smiled, looking for a funny retort rather than one that
might start a fight. "Come on," I teased. "I had to hit the last guy who asked me that, and you're
a hell of a lot prettier than Jesse. It'd be a waste.”
"Pretty?" he asked. "I'm stunningly sexy but not pretty.”
Carly laughed. "No, you're pretty. Todd told me you buy some kind of French hair gel.”
Xander, distracted as so many drunk people easily are, turned around to defend his honor,
forgetting me. The tension disappeared, and he took the teasing about his hair with a good
attitude.
Across the room, Lissa met my eyes with relief. She smiled and gave me a small nod of thanks
before she returned her attention to Aaron.