Don’t you know it?Since when was I smooth? It must have been the adrenaline.
“Okay, you sit here, I’ll be right back. Do you have any fixin’s for it?”
“Fixings?” I repeated somewhat dubiously. “The fixings are already in it.”
“The world is cruel and life is short. I don’t judge a man for how he chooses to indulge with his frozen dessert.”
I managed a shaky half-laugh, but that seemed to be enough. Giselle hurried off to the kitchen, and it wasn’t until I heard her rummaging around that I realizedIshould have been in there serving her something, not the other way around.
I was being a terrible host.
I was tempted to go in there, apologize, and scoop her ice cream like the manly man I was, but right as I moved to get to my feet, she called out from the kitchen.
“And don’t you dare think about coming in here and trying to take over!”
Now that was uncanny. “Yes, ma’am!”
I stayed put. And it was nice to do so. Although I didn’t have the rapid heartbeat, sweat, or even the terror I usually had, I had blacked out. I couldn’t even remember getting to the couch.
Was I getting worse?
Or was I finally processing things I’d been blocking off all this time because it never felt safe enough to actually feel them?
That’s enough from you, Dr. Phil,I chided myself. Although I liked to think I was fairly in touch with my emotions, that didn’t mean I needed to sound like a talk-show conman.
“Here we are,” Giselle said as she returned, a bowl of ice cream in each hand and one of those Ensures under her armpit.
“That part of your new strategy?” I asked, pointing to it.
“Yeah. I’m supposed to have three of these a day. This is my second one.”
I looked at the clock on the wall—an increasingly rare decoration, from what I’d heard. “It’s seven.”
Normally that wouldn’t really be all that late, but Giselle was a teacher. And although I wasn’t one myself, I knew that they often had to go to bed ridiculously early. Either that or they chronically deprived themselves of sleep.
Ugh,I could not imagine trying to handle twenty kids while being short on sleep. It was different for shifters, since healing eased a lot of sleep deprivation.
However, that beingsaid, I really liked my sleep and waswaymore comfortable if I could get my full forty winks. And the last time that had happened was… about a year and a half ago.
Funny how that worked out.
Except, it wasn’t really funny at all.
“Here ya go,” Giselle said, her soothing voice chipper as she handed me the fuller bowl. It had about twice as many scoops as hers. “I’m not conceited enough to think that I can out-eat a shifter.”
“Fair enough.”
“You mind if I sit next to you?” she asked and suddenly her scent was a little saltier. Such things were a little different with each person, but if I had to guess what my nose was picking up on, it was apprehension, or even a tinge of nervousness.
“Of course you can,” I said, trying to sound chill. I couldn’t tell how nonchalant I was, but it seemed to be enough because that tinge disappeared and her scent bloomed with happiness and even a little excitement.
“Thanks for the ice cream,” she said cheerily as she perched next to me. It wasn’t quite snuggling up, but it was definitely adjacent. What, was I a teenager again, my adrenaline perking up at the presence of a beautiful woman beside me?
“I should be thanking you,” I said. “You’re the one who suggested it and got it for me.”
She shrugged. “My brother always needed something sugary and then something satiating after his panic attacks, so I figure it’s probably even worse for you with your wolfy metabolism.”
“Wolfy metabolism,” I repeated with a chuckle. “That’s one way to put it.”
