THE KING OF THE GOLD SYSTEM GAMING

LUNAR PRINCESS VIBES

The car jerks as Herson’s head whips to me, his eyes wide. I feel a sliver of satisfaction as his mouth opens and closes—even though I’m mentally kicking myself for saying that. I don’t know why I say the randomest things when I’m around him…and now I’m thinking about his cock when I seriously don’t need to be.

“Although, I’m not really sure there is any scientific evidence backing that statement. Not that I’ve Googled it or anything, but it’s food for thought,” I continue to babble, even though I wish I would just shut-up.

Herson clenches his jaw. “You’re spending too much time around Stephanie.”

“I’m always like this.” I shrug, pretending to clean under my nails.

Herson doesn’t say anything else for the rest of the ride, and I can’t tell whether he is miffed with me or just embarrassed by my comment.

The car rolls to a stop outside Lee’s opulent apartment complex, and I waste no time unbuckling my seat belt and popping open the door.

“Well, thanks for the ride. I’ll be sure to give you a four-star rating.”

“What time will you be done?”

I halt, one foot on the asphalt, and turn back to him. “What do you mean?”

“Your little Crime Night, when does it finish?”

I frown. “I don’t know. Depends on how much we drink. Why?”

Typically, if we have a particularly tipsy Crime Night, I end up just crashing at Lee’s instead of waiting to sober up and drive back. Occasionally, Syd will drop me off at home, but then I have to deal with getting my car the next day, and that always ends up being a pain. If it is a pretty sober night, I drive myself home, but there is never any telling how a Crime Night will turn out. That is the beauty of them.

“So I can drive you home.”

“Why? I’ll just have Stevie or Syd take me.”

His eyes give me a quick once over before he turns away from me. “Fine.”

“Okay, bye.”

I shut the door, half expecting him to take off and leave me in a cloud of dust, but instead he just waits. When another second passes and he just stares at me through the window, I give up and turn around to walk into the building.

I really do not understand that man.

“Evening, Miss Panther,” the doorman greets me when I walk inside.

“Evening, Bill,” I smile back before making my way to the elevators. I come here often enough that I am practically an honorary resident. It is a stunning apartment complex, almost as nice as the one The System lives in.

I eventually reach Lee’s floor and stand outside her door, taking a deep breath and centering myself before punching in the code and walking inside.

“Your favorite human has arrived,” I chime in with a smile.

“Hi,” Stevie’s voice trills back.

Lee’s head pops around the corner from her kitchen, and she gives me a massive grin before bounding over and crushing me in a hug.

“I missed your face.”

“I missed yours, too,” I say, squeezing her back.

“Come, I need help making a drink. I’m out of ideas.”

“What would you do without me?”

“Dunno.” She cocks her head. “Buy premades, probably?”

“Fair.” I open her fridge and scan it before taking out a carton of watermelon juice, a can of club soda, maple syrup, and lime juice. One of our rituals for Crime Night is making different alcoholic concoctions; sometimes they are failures—like our coconut rum hot chocolate—and sometimes they are total wins—such as our peach schnapps-spiked boba.

“I didn’t think you’d come for a second there,” Lee whispers.

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. “I considered it.”

“Panther.” Empathy fills her voice, and I give her a stern look.

“Don’t. I’m fine.” I reach for the vodka and begin to mix all the ingredients together before pouring the pink concoction into two glasses with some ice. I hold one out to Lee. “I just want to enjoy a little murder, okay?”

“Okay.” She takes the glass from me with pursed lips, giving me a once over. “We decided on unsolved crimes tonight, by the way.”

“Fun.” I give her a wink before taking the lead and heading into her living room.

While my aesthetic might be e-girl pink, Lee’s aesthetic is justaesthetic. Everything about her apartment is pretty, from the meticulously cared-for aquarium below her giant TV, to the opalescent coffee table, to the moon-shaped lamp. It gives lunar princess vibes.

I drop onto the couch, snuggling myself into the corner as I take a sip of my watermelon concoction. It isn’t half bad.

“Syd’s not here yet?”

“Nope. I think you were right, she was probably coming,” Stevie smirks.

I snort and Lee lets out a muttered, “Oh my God.”

“Let’s start, and we can catch her up.” I reach forward and grab the remote to flip to the right channel and pull up our show.

“I’m fine with that. To the murder,” Lee cheers, holding her drink out.

“To the murder,” Stevie echoes with her own wine glass.

“To the murder,” I smile, finally feeling at ease.