by Roxie Ray
Tell her I feel horrible for misjudging her, please.
Nyx chuffed at me, but Abby went quiet while he told her.
She stepped toward Nyx and put her hands around his neck and gave him a tight hug. I wished I could talk to her.
Try.
Nyx’s word stunned me. Maybe I could talk to her the way he did. She pulled back and looked up at Nyx. I’d given him free rein to move around as he wished, but I took a bit of control and leaned our head down to chuff warm, smoky air in her face.
She giggled and waved it away. The sound made my chest ache in the best way.
I focused on her. Abby? Can you hear me?
She looked at me, at Nyx, in amazement. “Jury?”
Yep. I wasn’t sure this would work.
“It works.” We turned around and began walking slowly toward the house. I didn’t want to monopolize Nyx’s time with her, so I pulled myself back.
“I wonder why my dad couldn’t ever communicate with me like that?” she asked.
I don’t know. I wasn’t sure it would work. Maybe it’s a mate thing.
She sent me another warm smile, and I settled back to listen to her talk to Nyx. She told us more about her, and we learned about her degree in Early Childhood Education and her work at the learning center. She beamed when she spoke of her kids. It was a passion for her.
My heart thumped again. She was happy in Texas. But we were fated mates. I couldn’t exactly leave my family. What did that mean for us?
When we walked out of the woods, I was surprised to see the backyard full of people. I’d heard them moving around and their voices but hadn’t been paying much attention. It looked like the whole family was there, though, even Harley and Stefan.
Maddox walked over and handed me my clothes as Abby hurried over to her sister after giving us a finger wave. Nyx walked us back into the woods so we could shift. I pulled my clothes on as fast as I could, amazed at how content I felt.
Nyx hummed in delight. Having a moment of resetting with Abby had made everything seem better. When I walked out of the woods again, fully dressed, I found a full-blown barbeque happening. The grill from the manor had been brought up since Axel hadn’t bought one for the house yet.
Folding tables were set up with red and white checkered tablecloths. Bowls of potato salad and macaroni salad and broccoli salad and a bunch of other things called salad that weren’t really healthy at all filled one table. Several store-bought desserts filled another.
“It’s not all homemade,” Mom said. “But when Charlotte called to say it seemed to be going well between you two, I couldn’t stop myself.”
I chuckled and shook my head. Leave it to my mom.
The sound of a car driving over the gravel drifted to the backyard, and a few minutes later Stefan and Harley walked out of the kitchen. Harley looked tired, but it was no wonder. She looked like a sharp jab with a pin would deflate her. Even her face looked puffy. Abby made a beeline for her, and they settled into one of the folding chairs. Stefan brought another one over for Harley to put her feet up.
I watched them talk for a minute, marveling at the similarities between Abby and her sister, and yet Harley was like a big sister, and I wanted to drag Abby somewhere private and...
Oh, no. None of that. We had to do this right, or it would all fall apart.
They’d just put the meat on the grill, so we had plenty of time to stand around and talk while it cooked. My spirits continued to lift as Axel brought out a ball and we began a game of touch football.
It would’ve been full-on tackle, but Ava, Charlotte, and Abby wanted to play. Mom held her new grandson while Dad and Hailey watched the grill.
Harley and her big belly decided to sit by the field and be our cheerleader.
Halfway through the game, as I barreled down the yard toward Abby, I was so full of emotions I thought I might burst. Then I caught up to her and instead of touching her shoulders, I slammed into her, curling around her and landing on my back with her on top of me.
“Totally worth the foul,” I whispered as she looked down at me in shock.
“Foul!” Ava yelled. “No tackling!”
Abby’s face turned from shock to happy as she began to laugh. She clenched her small fist and hit my chest. It looked like she was trying to hurt me, but it kind of tickled. “Cheater,” she yelled.
I still held her close, and my lower body lit on fire. Damn. That hadn’t been my intent. Starting anything more with her besides just getting to know her would’ve been a bad idea.
We were barely past disliking each other, but this didn’t feel like that at all.
She scrambled away, so I dropped my arms to the grass and let her launch off of me. Her knee dug into my gut.
“Oomph.” Now that had hurt.
Stefan stopped beside me and held a hand out. “You’re lost, aren’t you?”
I watched Abby run uncontested to her goal line and sighed. “How did I ever think she was spoiled?”
Stefan put his hand on my shoulder. “Yep. Fully gone. Don’t worry. It gets better, my friend.”
I hoped he was right. Now that I’d let go of some of my prior judgments of her, I couldn’t wait to learn more about Abby. I wanted to know everything.
11
Abby
The football game had taught me a couple of things.
One, I’d been slacking off on my workouts. When I got home, I was getting back to the gym at least a few times a week. That game winded me far more than it should have.
Two, Jury tackled me, and it sent so much desire through me, I’d nearly kissed him. I’d managed to pass it off as laughter and kept away from him the rest of the game.
And three, I craved relationships like they had. And not even the romantic ones, which were plentiful. Charlotte and Axel, Ava and Maverick, Jury’s Mom and Dad, Stefan and Harley. They were disgustingly romantic with each other.
But more than that, the easy way they moved around each other. Ava and her brother-in-law, Axel, standing off on the football field. Jury’s mom, Carla, with Hailey, Maverick’s little sister, talking about how much tastier their cakes were than the ones they’d bought for the impromptu gathering. Charlotte and Harley had cuddled up, with Charlotte holding little toddler Chase and talking about babies and being new moms.
They had a relationship, all of them. They were a family.
I’d never had that in my whole life. Not even my mom was like that. I didn’t have an easy relationship with her. We couldn’t get together for dinner without arguing or sniping at each other. We never had.
As I stretched in bed and thought about the barbeque the day before, I realized how much I dreaded going back to Texas. I’d planned to stay almost a week, leaving me two more days before my flight home. I was shocked at how much I wanted to stay.
Being near Harley was amazing. After we ate, we sat together and talked for a long time as the guys built a small bonfire. We stayed at Axel and Charlotte’s house until well into the night. Harley and I bonded for much of that time.
And Jury. My heart fluttered when I thought about him. He seemed like an entirely different person. For one, he carried heavy guilt for misjudging me. The day with him had made it easy to forgive him for acting the way he had. If I had a family like his, I’d be defensive of them as well.
I liked being around him. He’d checked on me repeatedly all day. Asking if I needed a drink or more food. He showed me to the bathroom and told me he had hopes of building a house much farther into the wildness on the family land.
It sounded like heaven, having a house in the middle of nowhere. As his fated mate, I wondered if he included me in those plans, but just because we needed to see each other often and had some weird dragon bond didn’t necessarily mean we had to live together or become a couple like the rest of them.
My stomach rumbled, pulling me out of bed and toward the eggs in the kitchen that I’d never eaten. I popped them in the microwave and got the soda out of the car. Ack, n
o ice in the freezer. I needed to go to the grocery store and get a few things to get me through the next two days.
After a shower, I got ready, taking more care than I normally did. In Texas, a swipe of mascara and some lip gloss would’ve done it. But here in Black Claw, I couldn’t stand the thought of going out without a full face on. What if I ran into Jury?
And just what did it matter? Either he’d have liked me for me, or he wouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have based my makeup routine on whether or not I’d run into him.
Yet I stood in front of the mirror and applied every layer.
After getting ready, I went over to Harley’s and spent the morning with her and Nana. When it was time for Nana’s nap, Harley and I went to the salon, where she gave me a trim and did my nails. I forbade her from doing my toes. I didn’t want her bending over like that.
Being at the salon was more fun than I thought it would be. Hanging out with ladies who just wanted to relax a bit and enjoy some pampering had been better than what I did in Texas. I usually just ran into a chain salon and got a trim and did my nails myself. I decided to find a locally owned salon and begin going in more often. Maybe I could make a few girlfriends that way.
Thinking about what I’d do when I went back to Texas made me sad again. Harley was putting her tools in a sanitizer before we left. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just thinking about leaving. I’ll be sad to go.”
“I know!” she exclaimed. “I was hoping to have the baby while you were here. Hopefully before you leave…” Time ticked away. She only had two more days to have the baby before I had to go back to Texas.
I put my arm around her. “Me too. But I’ll try to come back as soon as possible after.” I’d used my week vacation from the learning center and didn’t have the money to come back until I’d saved some more, anyway. But I could hope for a way.
After dropping Harley off at home for a well-deserved nap, I went to the grocery store to stock up on a few small things for the next few days.
“Abby,” a pleasant voice called as I looked at the selection of chips. I turned to find Bethany walking toward me. Her daughter wasn’t with her.
“Hello, Bethany,” I said. “How are you?”
“I’m great. Tiffany is with a friend from school for the night, so I was going to grab a bottle of wine. Do you have plans?”
I shook my head. “No, not for tonight. I’m visiting my sister and we spent the morning together. I was going to let her rest tonight.”
Her face lit up. “Let me take you out for a few drinks.”
The last time I drank flashed through my mind. “Is there somewhere within walking distance of the house?” I asked.
“No, but I’m happy to spring for a cab home.” She grabbed my arm. “I haven’t lived in Black Claw long, please say yes. I don’t know anyone here yet.”
I wanted to ask how she owned rental properties here but hadn’t lived here long, but maybe she’d tell me while we went for a drink. “I’m in. Okay. Tell me when and where.”
“There’s a little bar on the outskirts of town. The Dragon’s Breath.”
The laugh that burst from my mouth was unavoidable. “The Dragon’s Breath?”
Bethany chuckled, and I realized she had no clue how ironic the name was. I dialed back my mirth. “Yeah,” she said. “I thought it was funny at first, too.”
“Okay, I’ll GPS it. What time?”
“Eight?”
“Perfect!” I squeezed her hand. “See you then.”
When she walked away, I couldn’t help but be excited about the idea of going out with a new friend. I finished my shopping and headed back to the house to put it away. I still had several hours to kill, so I opted for a nap before redoing my face and eating dinner. The time ticked by as I played on my phone and wondered what Jury was doing. I hadn’t heard from him all day.
As soon as I thought about him, I got a text from the man himself.
Plans tonight?
I replied excitedly.
Yes, actually. The lady that owns the house I rented invited me out for drinks. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow?
If I’d known he was going to text, I would’ve held off on making plans, but he waited until after six, so it was his loss. I was going to go have fun with Bethany.
Jury invited me to go out to eat with him the following night, and of course, I accepted. If nothing else, it was a meal I didn’t have to go find or worry Harley about.
Finally, it was time to head to the bar. I wore jeans, and put my phone, ID, and debit card in the pockets. I wasn’t planning on getting drunk like last time, but I didn’t want to worry about my purse if I was tipsy.
The bar looked like any other country bar in the world. It needed a good cleaning, but the music was loud and drinks flowing. It’d be fine.
Bethany was already sitting at a booth. I hurried over and a server came by to get my order. “Long Island?” I asked.
She nodded. “They’re good here.”
I gave her my debit card to start a tab.
“The first drink is on my tab,” Bethany called. The server gave her a thumbs-up and kept going.
“I’m so excited,” Bethany said. “I haven’t been out for drinks with a girlfriend in far too long.”
“Me either!” I slid into the booth and grinned. “So, let’s get to know each other?”
She smiled back eagerly. I started by giving her a quick rundown of where I was from, how old I was, and so on.
“I feel like it’s an online dating scenario,” she said. We both burst out laughing.
“No, no such luck.” I smiled at the server as she handed me my drink and card back. When she walked away, I continued. “I’m into guys. Sorry.”
Bethany giggled and sipped her pink drink. “Me, too. We need a word for girls that’s like bromance.”
Oh, I loved wordplay. “Rogals?”
Bethany snorted. “That’s terrible. Sounds like that hair growth stuff.”
We continued trying to think of words and talked about ourselves. We had a lot in common in some ways. She’d had a drunken one-night stand with her lifelong best friend and had gotten pregnant when she was my age, twenty-two. They’d been thrilled. They still weren’t in love, but they did love each other and vowed to raise Tiffany together. But then when Tiffany was a little over a year old, Ricky was killed by a drunk driver. Hit and run.
I’d never lost my best friend to a drunk driver and wasn’t a single mom, but I knew loss. I knew what it was like to feel alone in the world. She had great parents who helped with Tiffany, so at least she had that.
We had a couple more drinks and kept talking about our pasts and our hopes for the future. Her grandmother had left her the houses on the street I was staying on. Her grandmother had been left a bit of money and had the houses built to rent out. Bethany had changed it up and turned a couple of them into furnished rentals with online bookings like I was staying in. That way she had some with long-term renters in them for steady income, and some like mine that gave her big bursts of income. The house I was in was booked all month and the total was four times as much as the other houses.
I told her something I hadn’t ever told anyone, and that was my dream of going back to school. Maybe the alcohol made my tongue loose, but I prayed to be able to afford to either go to a school close to my home or do online classes and get a real teaching certificate. I wanted to teach kindergarten or first grade.
We were talking about the way online schools had gotten easier over the last few years when he walked in.
Of course, Jury’s gaze glued to me the moment he came through the door. “Oh,” I whispered.
Bethany noticed me looking over her shoulder and turned. “Who is that?” she asked.
“You don’t know the Kingstons?” I asked as Jury stopped by the bar. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off of me, but to be fair, I hadn’t taken mine off of him.
“No, but you two obviously know each other,”
she said. Then she grinned big. “I think I’ll go take a potty break. Back in a few.” She winked at me and slid out of the booth. She was halfway across the room before I realized she was gone.
Maddox walked in not long after she got up and looked around the bar with a confused expression on his face. I couldn’t hear what he said as he joined Jury at the bar, but Jury shrugged. The bartender handed them both a beer and they walked to my booth. “Can we join you?” Jury asked.
I wanted to purr and wrap myself around him. Maybe I’d gotten a little tipsy after all. I wasn’t usually so bold, even with myself, with my sexuality. My mom had flaunted it so much that I tended to try to keep it heavily under wraps.
But I slid to the inside of the booth. “Please do.”
I wasn’t very practiced at flirting. Generally, I avoided men and tried to be as un-flirty as possible. But when Jury sat down, I tried to think of the ways I’d seen women try to lure men. I put my elbows together and hoped my breasts were being squished enough to make my cleavage more prominent. My breasts were woefully small, so the only way I was getting cleavage was like this—faking it.
“Hey, Abby,” Maddox said. I shot him a smile. His nose wrinkled and he looked around the bar. “What is that smell?”
“How are you, Jury?” I asked in a low voice. I knew Jury would hear it over the noise in the bar. I tried to bat my eyelashes and smile coyly, but he laughed.
“You’re so cute,” he said and put his arm around me.
I hadn’t been going for cute. I was trying for sexy. When he pulled me close to him, though, I forgot what he’d said and inhaled his cologne. “You smell nice,” I whispered.
“You’re adorable,” he said with another laugh. Seriously, was that what he thought of me now? Cute and adorable? I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be cute all the time.
Our gazes connected, then I was lost in pools of hazel. “You’re beautiful,” I whispered. Shit. Where had that come from? Men didn’t like being told they were beautiful.
