I don’t know if it was the beer kicking in or my lust growing, but Max standing there, surrounded by a dozen guys, holding a drink and laughing with his buddies, never looked sexier than he did right there in that moment. This was him in his natural state and it was better than anything I could have dreamed up.
“So, how available is he?” Melanie had been interrogating Brinly about Lincoln from the second he was out of our sight. Brinly kept her focus on which song she would play, but Melanie just wouldn’t give up. “I know he said he had an ex, but was that recent? Do you think he’ll be vulnerable?”
I scrunched my face. “Gross, Melanie. That’s some goals you got there.”
“We don’t need to be married, but I’d be a fool not to go for it. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a man on that level.”
“Lincoln’s not that type of guy,” Brinly told Melanie. “He’s usually the type to be in a relationship for years, take some time to himself, and then be in another relationship. I don’t think he likes to sleep around.”
“I could be his girlfriend. I mean, the werewolf thing is being dealt with, right?”
Brinly looked clearly insulted by that. It was one thing for a werewolf to speak about their curse, but it was another for some human to say it was being dealt with, like it was something disgusting. Considering Brinly came from a long line of werewolves, and she knew no other life, it didn’t surprise me that this pissed her off.
“Has Lincoln controlled a shift yet?” I asked.
“Three months ago was the first time,” Brinly answered. “We were beginning to think it’d never happen, but when we least expected it, he made it through the night. He’s staying here just for a couple more months to practice and make sure he’ll be able to do it on his own.”
“Does everyone leave after they’ve learned how to do it?”
“You can, but you don’t have to. Paul’s cronies are still here.”
“Oh, I didn’t know they had all achieved that. Max must feel left out being in that pack and being the only one who can’t do it.”
“I tell him all the time that it’ll happen and he just needs to be patient. Lincoln was here a long time before it ever happened, so it’s not impossible for Max. He still has time.”
It was reassuring. I hated the idea of Max suffering for the rest of his life.
“Dammit,” Melanie said in a huff.
“What?”
“If he’s leaving in a couple months, that means I have to move quick.”
Brinly and I rolled our eyes at each other. It figured Melanie would tune out half the conversation just to think about getting laid.
“My, my, my, whadda festive bwunch we have here.” This Elmer Fudd sounding voice came closer to us, and as a group we all turned away from the jukebox and toward the source, which was a tipsy looking Kat. Or, at least, I thought she was tipsy from the way her arms swayed to the music and her stance looked completely off balance. That could have been her normal demeanor, though. I had seen her once before and she looked drunk then as well.
She had torn up jean shorts that were so revealing they may as well been underwear, and fishnet stockings tucked into these ugly looking combat boots that weren’t even laced up properly. Usually, I’m into the unconventional look, but it was a bit too sloppy for my liking.
Brinly exhaled, and I could practically hear her counting to ten under her breath before putting on a diplomatic smile. “Kat, this is Melanie and Cora.”
“I know, I’ve heard all about them. You’re the one who bagged Max, and you’re her little sidekick.”
“Sidekick?” Melanie was none too pleased with that statement. She walked out from behind me and toward Kat, making sure she stepped out of my shadow. Literally. “I’m no one’s sidekick.”
“Don’t worry,” she responded and gave Melanie a pat on the cheek, “I’m terrible with names, so I create my own. It’s just more fun that way. You feel me?”
Melanie jerked her face away, so Kat’s hand fell from her cheek.
Kat pointed a blue painted fingernail at me and said, “And you’re...” Already she forgot my name.
“Cora.” I brought her up to speed.
“I’ll just call you Cookie.”
“Cookie?”
“Cora, Cookie, it all sounds the same.”
“If it all sounds the same, why can’t you call me Cora?”
Quite randomly she laughed really hard. “Because I like Cookie better.”
“Okay...” I didn’t even know how to respond to that. Since she called Brinly, Pinky earlier in the night, I guess nicknames were just her thing. It could definitely be worse than Cookie. I just had to wonder why this woman felt the need to rename us all.
“How come ya’ll are hiding over here?” Kat asked.
“We’re not hiding, we’re talking,” Brinly informed her. “Sometimes girls do that.”
“Well, we’re having a rip-roaring time by the bar. Paul was showing me how to tie a cherry stem with his tongue. I imagine that kind of skill is very useful, eh, Brinly?”
Brinly faked a smile so hard, her lips practically disappeared. From what Brinly had told me, I’m sure Kat wished Paul would try that trick out on her.
“You two aren’t fighting, are you?”
“What? No,” Brinly answered Kat quickly. “Where did you get that idea?”
“He stormed away from your table like his pants were on fire and he’s been in an awful mood ever since.”
“Yeah, well, when is Paul ever not?”
“Touché, little Pinky,” Kat responded and then snatched a glass of whiskey from an empty table and drank it. I had to wonder if that was even hers. “You should never let a man walk away fuming like that. You never know how he’ll let out his aggression. Or with who.”
Brinly folded her arms across her chest, the restraint she showed earlier clearly becoming a harder task than usual. “I don’t really need relationship advice from someone who’s never been in one. Paul and I will be fine, just like we always are. You do you, boo.”
Kat shrugged. “Just trying to help a sister out.”
“I appreciate it.” Oh, she so didn’t. Her eyes looked like daggers ready to kill, but Kat was completely oblivious to it. Whiskey will do that for ya.
“I better get back to my boys. They can’t survive without me.” Kat’s dark eyes dashed toward Melanie and me. “Pleasure meeting you, dolls. Ta-ta.” She then skipped her way across the pub and back to the men at the bar.
Once I knew she was gone, I shook my head at what had occurred in front of me. “Wow, Melanie, someone who actually makes you look classy.”
“She does not!” Melanie snapped, and then her eyes practically spun when she realized what she had just said. “I mean... go fuck an uncle.”
“Any uncle in particular?”
“Your own.”
“This is how your family talks to each other?” Brinly asked, and I could tell she was appalled. “How the hell do you guys talk to people you can’t stand?”
“My family is who I can’t stand,” Melanie replied.
I glanced back at the group of boys to make sure Kat wasn’t throwing herself at Max. Each of her arms were draped around Corbin and Travis as she cackled in Paul’s direction, while Max kept his distance as he sipped from his mug of beer. We exchanged looks and a smile. I liked spending time with Brinly, but I really wanted to go talk to Max.
The thought made me a little sad, because Brinly didn’t seem bothered one bit that she wasn’t spending time with Paul. Someone she knew longer than I knew Max and someone, I imagined, she loved.
At what point in a relationship does being near each other just not matter anymore? None of my past relationships ever got to that point, where the love and chemistry just fizzled. My boyfriends usually left my life with a bang, either through infidelity or relocating for work.
“It doesn’t bother you that Kat is all over Paul like that?” I asked.
Brinly closed her
eyes and said, “I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s sit down and enjoy our drinks, okay?”
“Whatever you want.”
The three of us returned to our booth and I decided I was done sipping on beer. My stomach was starting to feel a little unsettled and I did not need more nasty beer swishing around inside me like a ship burrowing through a stormy sea.
With a glass of beer pressed to her lips, Brinly said, “So, when were you going to give details on you and Max? And don’t even try to play dumb with me, I saw you two making out under the stairs this morning.”
My jaw dropped. “You were spying?”
“I was leaving the kitchen and I saw you get dragged away from down the hallway. Don’t worry, you’re not breaking any rules by stealing a kiss or two. Max’s a great catch, you two will be good for each other.”
“Thanks.”
“It finally makes sense why he’s been single this entire time.”
My heart was aflutter. “You mean he hasn’t been with anyone?”
“Nope. I thought it was the werewolf thing, but you showing up makes it a lot more clear as to why. It really pissed Kat off to know there was one body she couldn’t crawl on top of.”
He hadn’t slept with Kat. What a relief.
My face flushed when the revelation that Max had been holding out for me finally sunk in. I knew how I felt about him, how much I missed him, how many times the sight of his face took over my brain when I was least expecting it, but I never anticipated he was on the same level as me. Someone thought I was just as special and worth waiting for as I thought he was.
“He must have been preoccupied with learning how to control his turns,” I said with embarrassment. The idea that Max deprived himself of company for nearly a year just because of me was just too much power for me to take credit for. “He didn’t even want to get involved with me because of what he is.”
“All wolves say that. It’s what guys do. They think they’re going to kill anyone who isn’t a wolf like them. I’ve seen the relationships work, though. It’s possible.”
“Like me and Lincoln,” Melanie said, finally chipping into the conversation. “We’re going to be that exception, I just know it.”
“You’re awfully sure of yourself,” Brinly said with a raised eyebrow.
“Why shouldn’t I be? I saw him checking me out.”
Brinly scoffed. “When?”
“Earlier.”
“I don’t think you’re his type.”
“He not like white women or something?”
“No, I didn’t say that. Just that...” I could feel it, Brinly wanted to say Lincoln was too good for her.
“Just that what?”
Brinly stopped trying to come up with the word and just grinned. “Why don’t you get us some more drinks? It’s on me.” She pulled a few dollars out from her bra and handed them off to Melanie, who took it gladly and headed to the bar.
“You literally paid to keep her mouth shut,” I said. “You really are royalty.”
She waved her hand at me as we returned to our booth and sat down. “Don’t say that. It’s just a formality.”
“Formality, my rear end. Your lineage is royal purebred werewolves with abilities like no one else. You’re even in a relationship with someone who is from another important bloodline. You’re damn royalty.”
“Papa told you about Paul?”
“In his own discreet way. I assume he doesn’t turn, just like you.”
“He doesn’t have to, but he does. Paul’s different than me, he embraces what he is and he gets joy from going out into the woods with his buddies and doing whatever the hell it is they do when they’re wolves. It makes him a better leader for his pack, so I don’t question it. It’s also one of the few things that make him happy and that’s hard to come by these days.”
“But you’re...” I shrugged slightly, trying to find the words. “You’re happy, too, right?”
“Paul’s a great guy. Why wouldn’t I be?”
There must have been a side of himself he showed to only Brinly, because I was still waiting to see what made him a great guy.
“So, you two finally got the booth to yourself?” Max said, and startled me from the abrupt manner in which he appeared, standing by the edge of the table and staring down at the two of us while enjoying a beer right out of the bottle. “What’d you do with Melanie’s body, bury it in the lake?”
I don’t know why, but after what Brinly told me about Max his presence now made my heart beat just a little bit faster. God, I really did not need one more reason to feel weak at the knees around him.
“She’s up getting me a drink,” Brinly informed him. “Really it was just a way for me to get Cora alone, so she could give me all the juicy details about what’s going on between the two of you.”
I blushed as soon as Max’s flirty eyes landed on me. “Oh, really?” he asked with a slick smile on his face. “Anything I might find interesting?”
“I couldn’t say. Strictly confidential. You know, girly stuff.”
His eyes never left me as he answered Brinly. “Maybe next time.”
I peeked up at him, and because he was standing and I was sitting all I could see were long black lashes swept over his blue eyes, lazily gazing at me the same way he had before our first kiss. For that five seconds, I forgot Brinly was even there.
The jukebox churned out a new song and as soon as it hit Brinly slammed her hand down onto mine, her eyes huge, her mouth ajar. “I love this song!” she exclaimed. “We have to dance to this.”
“You say that like it’s my natural reaction to a good song,” I replied.
“Don’t be such a stick in the mud. Come on.”
She grabbed me by the hand and yanked me out from the booth and toward the dance floor. I quickly looked back at Max, hoping he would rescue me, but he watched, his hand brushing against his chin with a big shit eating grin on his face.
The dance floor was empty, other than the two of us, and as soon as Brinly began to dance, I felt like a fish out of water.
Apparently, there was already a signature dance attached to this song because Brinly was twirling, pointing her toe, shaking her hips and doing weird hand gestures that went along with the beat. Meanwhile, I awkwardly swayed back and forth like a faulty video game character that was headed toward running into a wall. There’s no worse combo than a girl who can’t dance trying to copy someone who can.
Brinly took notice and said, “What are you doing?”
“Malfunctioning, apparently.”
“Here.” She stopped moving and went into position, asking that I tried to replicate it to the best of my abilities. I say abilities, but really I have none.
I copied her stance and followed as she did each dance step slowly. I tried, but I looked like a wet noodle. Brinly ended up laughing pretty hard, and after giving up on the instructions she patted me on the shoulder and then took both my hands and began maniacally dancing with me, swinging my arms back and forth and giving me a spin. There was no set dance she was doing, just moving her body to the music. That I could do, no problem. We powered through the whole song, hopping and laughing. I did the sprinkler and got her to join in with me, and even though the dance was ridiculous, she couldn’t stop cackling as we did it. I had never seen her laugh so hard.
When two songs had passed, we realized we were nearly sweating our asses off. “I’m as hot as a Tater Tot,” I told her.
Brinly fanned herself and in agreement said, “Let’s get some air.” Without the slightest hesitation, I followed her as she galloped out of the bar. The second she pushed open the entrance, I felt the cool night air hit my face like a splash of water. It was such a needed relief.
When we walked outside we ran into Paul and Travis who were in the middle of smoking, and from the pungent aroma in the air I knew it was pot. I quickly looked to Brinly to see if she had any kind of disgusted reaction over her boyfriend toking one up outside of a public place, but she looke
d unfazed by it, like this was normal.
Don’t get me wrong, I hung out with plenty of people who were higher than a kite when I was younger, but Brinly was so elegant, practically royalty even, that her having a pothead for a boyfriend struck me as odd. It didn’t click for me.
“Hey, babe,” she said as we came closer to the boys.
I kept my distance. It smelled like someone ran over a skunk out there and I didn’t want the odor seeping into my clothing. God, pot smelled terrible.
“Party not keeping you entertained?” Paul asked, but his tone sounded more like he was making a statement. Outside with just the moonlight, he looked even paler than usual. What did Brinly see in him?
“We wanted to get some fresh air. It’s a bit hot and stuffy in there.”
“Didn’t realize the air would be worse out here,” I added quietly.
Paul’s eyes peeked past Brinly and toward me, and the look he gave me was unpleasant, to say the least. He looked like he wanted to make me vanish with one stare. “Sorry it’s not up to your standards,” he said coldly.
“I’m Travis.” Paul’s friend stuck the doobie he was manhandling into his mouth and offered his hand out for me to shake. His fingers felt like long sticks, cold and hard. He didn’t let go of me after we did our initial shake, and gazed at me as a cloud of stench emanated from his joint. “You have really nice eyes,” he said. “Like two blue... eyes.”
“You’re a real charmer,” I told him.
Brinly cleared her throat. “She’s with Max.”
He reacted to what she said like they were orders and let my hand go promptly. It was weird to hear someone refer to me as being with Max. We had only kissed. Were we a couple? More importantly, how did everyone know? I knew Brinly had seen us, but it seemed to common knowledge. Was it that mental connection all werewolves had that allowed them to hear Max’s thoughts? I couldn’t imagine he was going around telling everyone, so that must have been it.
Lunar City (Lunar Rampage Series Book 2) Page 19
