Hot for Slayer

by Ali Hazelwood

“It was one-sided,” he tells me after he’s done chewing. “From you.” “What?”

“The dislike.” “I assure you, it was not.” “And I assure you, when I look at you, I feel anything but that.” A pause.

“We both sleep on the couch,” he declares. “Together.”

“We can’t sleep together.” “Are there laws against it?” “No.” “Then we sleep together.”

might not remember my name, or anything about who I am. But I could never be near you and not know exactly what you are to me.”

“Thank you,” the girl says solemnly. “I’m going to be a vampire when I grow up.” “And I’m going to be a vampire hunter,” says the boy. “And we’re going to get married.”

“I know your smell. I know your skin. Your hair. It’s all familiar. I have it all memorized. And I dream of you—of this. So many dreams, all so different, we must have done it a million times, in a million different ways. Tell me what you’re hiding from me, let’s get this over with, and then let’s do it a million more times.”