Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Henri had said it best—werewolves admired strength.
And these crazy bastards would take me standing up for myself as an attractive trait.
I hadn’t cowered in front of a member of their community who was known to be a pain in the ass, and they admired me for it. It was annoying, but also a little funny. Talking crap to a Jenny Greenteeth and Spencer hadn’t been impressive enough, I guessed. That said a whole lot about Dominic though.
I snickered, casting a look at Duncan, who was on my left, his focus on the man on my right. His tail was down. I wasn’t sure if Henri noticed that or not, but I did.
“I was so confused,” I told Henri, shaking my head with disbelief.
He looked about as serious as a heart attack. All narrowed eyes, his mouth a hard line. “You understand why they were there?”
“Dominic offered to mate with me because I didn’t pee my pants or back down when he got confrontational with me. Now, there’s a bunch of werewolf men who show up for dinner? C’mon, Fluffy, I’m a werewolf in everything but magic and DNA.” And the nuts part. I paused as I thought about it. “Unless I’m wrong, and I should go ahead and feel like the biggest dummy on the planet.”
There was a short, steady hum in his throat. “You’re not wrong.”
Whew.
“I figured word would get around fast, but I didn’t expect it to be that fast.” That muscle in his cheek clearly popped over and over again, like it was spasming. “I bet it’ll be worse tomorrow.”
To an extent, I was horrified. Being the center of attention went against the way I’d been living my life since hitting puberty. Blending in had been my motto almost from the moment I’d learned how different I was from everyone around me—the magical and the non-magical. It was better to not bring too much attention to yourself, which came easily to me. I wasn’t very tall or short, very thin or curvy. At a quick glance, no one would do a double take if I walked by.
But now these crazy asses were interested.
All I could do was laugh. This wasn’t exactly what I’d wanted, but at the same time, it was exactly what I’d been ready to question Randall over before—how to meet people.
Be careful what you ask for. I wondered if whoever had come up with that saying was a magical being.
I laid back down and followed the line for the Milky Way splashed across the deep blue sky. I sighed. “Henri?”
“Yeah?”
My hand was clammy while I formed a fist. “Are any of those men from the kitchen decent guys?”
There was a clear pause before he replied, stretching the short word out. “Why?”
“Because.” There was no reason for me to feel bad. Uncomfortable, possibly. But this was for Duncan. “I’m going to wait like we talked about, but there’s no harm in doing background checks on some of those men.” I reached over and sank my fingers into my donut’s coat instead. The softness and the heat of his body was just the reminder I needed of why I was in this situation in the first place. “I don’t want to end up with a closet butthole.”
Henri sucked in a sharp breath.
“I don’t need an answer tonight, but think about it, would you?” I asked. “Please?”
He didn’t reply, but I knew in my heart that he was a decent enough man that he would keep an eye out for me regardless of whether he wanted to or not.
Maybe I could sneak in the suggestion to Matti, so he could pass it along the grapevine for me. I doubted he could really guilt-trip Henri into anything, but maybe his influence would do something. At least a wink or a thumbs-down. That wouldn’t take too much effort.
Or… I snickered.
“What?” Henri pulled that word apart by the syllables too.
“I was just thinking….” I tilted my head so I could get a good look at him. His attention was up on the sky, but I could see his cheek still glitching. Maybe I’d talk to him about having a magnesium deficiency one day. “My life would be way less complicated if you wanted to marry me, Fluffy.”
Henri didn’t even blink. There was almost no reaction on his face of any kind. It was only his cheek that stopped its shenanigans.
I wilted a little.
“Or not.” I only let my feelings hurt for a second before I laid back down so I could stargaze more. And maybe so he’d have a harder time finding any disappointment on my face. If it was there. “I’m messing with you.”
I’d been joking.
Hadn’t I?
So that my feelings wouldn’t project anything they had no business sharing, I focused on the way Duncan’s chest rose and fell under my fingers and told myself that I wasn’t embarrassed.