I pull out of the clinic parking lot.
The rumors might be right. That nurse, Wren, might actually be into me.
I’m pretty sure she was checking me out earlier.
She called me big and then seriously looked at me, her eyes on my arms…thighs, and then back to my arms. I saw the way her gaze lingered. The way her breath hitched.
She likes me.
I liked how her face went bright red after I caught her doing it. The way she couldn’t meet my eyes afterward. The way she just stood there, frozen, looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
And fuck me, but I found the whole thing cute. Endearing, even. The way she got all flustered and tongue-tied. The pink spreading across her cheeks. Those dimples appeared when she tried to smile through her embarrassment.
I shake my head and force my eyes back on the road.
Because here’s the thing: Wren is someone I could actually be friends with. Someone I want to be friends with. She likes coffee. She likes Lucky Charms cereal, for fuck’s sake. She’s kind to everyone. She doesn’t look at me like I’m a bomb about to go off.
She’s genuine. And she likes me.
Why does she have to like me in that way?
I sigh.
My phone rings. I glance at the screen mounted on my dashboard.
Drake.
Crap!
For a moment, I seriously consider not answering. I could claim I was driving. That I didn’t hear it. That—
The phone keeps ringing.
I growl low in my throat and hit the answer button. “Yes.”
“How’s it going?” Drake asks.
“It’s not.”
Silence on the other end. Then: “Come again?”
“I’m nowhere with any of the employees who have access to the storage facility,” I tell him. My jaw clenches. “I’m terrible at making friends, Drake. I don’t know how to do it. I tried really hard. I just… I…I’m no good.”
“What about the human male, Ethan?”
“No. He doesn’t like me at all. He likes Wren and well…”
“She’s into you. What’s happening there?”
My dragon moves inside me, and I tell him to fuck off back to sleep. “Nothing.”
“I thought she liked you.”
I grunt. “She does.”
“Well, then?” Drake’s voice carries an edge of impatience. “We’re running out of time, Grim. You know that, right? Your vaccination is due in just over two weeks. Mine is two weeks after that. We need those doses swapped out.”
“I don’t need reminding,” I snap.
