Oh.
Well, that was sweet.
My gaze softened toward him. “Alright, I’ll figure it out. You can go home, Abby.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m going to tell Zoe about werewolves, though.”
“You might as well. I don’t think fate is going to chill until all of our friends have hooked up at this point. Let me know if you need anything, but I’ll call in the morning to check on you if I haven’t heard from you by then.”
“Mmkay. Thanks.”
We hung up.
I wanted to call Zoe right away, but it was going to have to wait.
The kitchen counter was nearby, so I set my phone down. After a beat of hesitation, my makeup remover wipe, too.
My other arm was wrapped around my cake dome too tightly to add that to the pile.
I took a step toward Finn the Wolf.
He glared at me, but didn’t snap his teeth or growl again.
So I took another step.
And another.
I probably shouldn’t have just blindly trusted Abby that the wolf wouldn’t hurt me, but hehadsniffed me and poked me to make sure I wasn’t hurt after I fell. So he cared about my well-being, at least a little.
Sinking down to my knees, I studied the wolf.
His glare was losing heat.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Emmy. My parents are really wealthy and really into education, so I started college when I was sixteen, and graduated with a degree in early childhood education stupidly fast. I taught kindergarten grade for eight years before I got burned out and took a year off. My friend Zoe found us jobs as professors at the end of that year. Now I teach people how to teach kids.” I watched him closely.
The wolf relaxed a little more.
“Here are some facts about me, in case that helps you feel better. I’m twenty-nine. My car is full of sticky notes and markers. I keep a box full of little gifts and trinkets from my students in my closet because I remember them and miss them desperately. I haven’t signed a contract to keep my current job next semesterbecause I miss teaching kids. I’ve never had a boyfriend before, because I never met a guy I liked enough to want to trade my free time for,” I went on.
“I like making cakes, and doing Pilates. I don’t like neutral colors because I think they’re super boring, so I told my best friend your house was Cabin Chic, but now that I’m actually inside, I’m thinking it could really use some colorful rugs and yellow paint,” I finished. “Or pink. Actually, yeah, just pink. I love pink.”
Finn’s wolf stared at me.
I stared back. “In the spirit of honesty, our friends told me about your last mate, and I’m sorry. No one should have to deal with that. I’m glad you survived.”
He scowled.
“I really am. And I’m not like her. I couldn’t hurt someone if I tried. I don’t even kill spiders, and I’m terrified of them. It feels too cruel. If you want to just go ahead and bite me to get the mate thing over with, I understand.”
His scowl started to fade.
Slowly.
There was a solid two minutes of silence while he stared at me.
I slipped my fuzzy, light pink sleeve off one of my shoulders and slid my hand free. Holding it out, I offered him my wrist.
