Not the kind of problem that ended with me dead in a ditch. The kind that ended with me in situations I absolutely should not be in while Aurora was twenty feet away taking a shower.

"Aurora might have opinions about me touching her best friend."

"Aurora told me to ask you." She bit down on the lollipop again, crunching through it.

Fucking hell.

"Where you want me to touch you?"

Addison’s eyes flashed. "Hand. Keep it professional."

I held out my palm. "Give me your wrist."

She did. No hesitation. Just extended her arm like she was volunteering for a medical exam.

Her skin was pale against mine. Delicate bones under soft skin, with black nail polish chipped on three fingers. I wrapped my hand around her wrist at the pulse point and activated Euphoric Feedback at level three.

Warmth spread up her arm immediately. Nothing sexual. Just pleasant, comfortable heat like drinking hot chocolate after coming in from the cold.

Addison’s eyes widened slightly. "Oh."

"That’s level three. Baseline comfort. Good for numbing minor pain."

"Go higher."

I kicked it to five.

Her breath caught. The warmth turned into something that made nerve endings sit up and pay attention. Her pupils dilated and her grip on my wrist tightened reflexively.

"Fuck."

"You want more?"

She nodded, her voice gone breathless. "Yeah."

I shouldn’t. Aurora was in the shower. Belle and Naomi were back at campus expecting me to maintain some kind of boundaries. This entire situation screamed bad idea.

But Addison was staring at me with those violet eyes completely dilated and her lips parted around shallow breaths. And she’d just told me to dye my hair black, which meant she’d been thinking about how I’d look with different aesthetics.

Which meant she’d been thinking about me.

I bumped it to seven.

Addison’s knees buckled.

I caught her with my free hand on her waist, holding her upright while Euphoric Feedback hummed through her nervous system at intensity designed to make people lose their minds. Her whole body trembled against mine. Her free hand came up to grip my shoulder, fingers digging in hard enough to hurt through the shirt.

"Holy shit." Her voice came out strangled. "Holy fucking shit."

"Still want more?"

"Are you insane?" She pulled back to look at me, her face flushed and her breathing ragged. "That was seven?"

"Yeah."

"What’s ten?"

"Forced orgasm in about thirty seconds."

Her eyes went even wider. Then she laughed, this sharp bark of sound that held zero humor. "Aurora wasn’t kidding. You’re actually cheating."

I dropped the ability completely and released her wrist. She stumbled back a step before catching herself on the counter.

The bathroom door opened. Aurora walked out in a cloud of steam wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around her body and another around her hair. She took one look at us and raised an eyebrow.

"You two having fun?"

Addison straightened, her composure returning like a mask sliding into place. "He showed me the thing."

"And?"

"He wasn’t lying." Addison pulled a fresh lollipop from somewhere and unwrapped it with steady hands despite what I’d just done to her. "That’s some bullshit right there."

Aurora walked over and kissed my cheek. "Told you."

She smelled like vanilla shampoo and something floral I couldn’t place. Her orange hair dripped water onto my shoulder and she didn’t apologize or move away.

I wrapped an arm around her waist because she was right there and I could. "You ready for breakfast?"

"Almost." She looked at Addison. "You showered?"

"No. Slept in my dress like a functional adult."

"Bathroom’s free."

Addison pushed off the counter and headed that direction without argument. The door closed behind her with a soft click.

Aurora turned in my arms to face me properly. "She ask about the ability?"

"She asked. I showed her level seven."

Her eyes gleamed. "And?"

"She handled it." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Mm." Aurora’s hands slid up my chest to link behind my neck. "You know she probably heard us last night."

My brain short-circuited. "What?"

"Addison. She came back from the club around one. The bedroom door was cracked open because you kept saying you needed air." She said this like she was discussing the weather. "She definitely heard you making me scream."

I tried to process that information. Failed. "And you’re telling me this because?"

"Because she’ll bring it up eventually. Probably during breakfast. And I want you to be ready so you don’t choke on your coffee and die." She kissed my jaw. "Also because I don’t care if she heard. She’s gonna have to get used to hearing that a lot more often."

"And she’s okay with it?"

"Addison’s okay with most things as long as they’re interesting." Aurora stepped back and adjusted her towel. "She thinks you’re interesting. Which is high praise. She usually hates everyone."

"Great. So your terrifying best friend who threatened to scythe me if I hurt you thinks I’m interesting after watching me rail you last night."

Aurora’s smile went wicked. "Jealous?"

"Of what exactly?"

"That she saw you at your best."

I pulled her back against me and kissed her properly, the kind that made her make soft sounds in her throat. When we broke apart she looked slightly dazed.

"Nobody sees me at my best except my girls. Everyone else gets the functional version."

Her expression softened into something real and vulnerable. "Liar."

"Nope. You get the real thing. Everyone else gets what they need to see."

She studied my face like she was searching for the lie. Didn’t find one because I wasn’t lying. Aurora got the version of me that didn’t calculate every angle. The one that bought overpriced chocolate cake and meant it when I said she mattered.

The bathroom door opened and Addison emerged looking refreshed with her makeup reapplied and her hair down. She’d changed into black jeans and a band shirt that hung off one shoulder.

"You two done being disgustingly cute?"

Aurora laughed and pulled away from me. "Never. But we can pause for food."