I didnotjust try to ask him how long he’d been a werewolf, did I?
Dain lifted a brow in what I assumed was disbelief.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe I’d said it either.
After a second, he snorted, looking amused, and said, “I don’t mind sharing. I was twenty-five when I was bitten.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I—”
He held up a hand to stop me. “It’s fine. It’s a fair question, and if we’re really going to date, I suppose things like that aren’t off the table.”
“You’re not upset?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m good.”
From his expression and the look in his eyes, I was pretty sure he was telling the truth. I blew out a relieved breath. Phew. I’d almost ruined our night. Our first night together.
The last thing I wanted to do was scare him off.
“Do you have any siblings or anything?”
I nodded. “Four older sisters and a younger brother. My parents had their hands full when we were young.”
“Wow. That’s… a lot.” His head tilted to the side. “Coming from a big family, I suppose you want to have kids someday too, huh?”
My eyebrows rose. Wow, asking about kids already, are we? “Maybe one day. I’m in no rush.”
He hummed.
After a few seconds, I asked, “What about you?”
“Maybe one day. I’m in no rush.” He smiled at me and winked.
I snorted. “Touche´.”
He chuckled lightly, and the sound sent butterflies swirling in my belly. I hadn’t heard Dain laugh very often—he was generally a little grouchy, although he did try to smile at patrons at the bookstore, but it was easy to tell when the smiles were fake. So hearing that lovely sound here, knowing I had some small part in bringing it out of him, made me a tiny bit giddy.
He said, “In all seriousness, I think I want kids at some point, but not anytime soon.”
I nodded, happy we were on the same page about something so important. “That’s cool.”
He met my eyes for a moment before he glanced down at his food. “Have you ever lived anywhere else?”
I shook my head. “I… like the cold here.” I shrugged. “I’ve traveled to other places, went on vacations and things like that over the years, but I’ve never called another place home.”
“Me neither.”
“Is that something you want to do? Travel?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind seeing other places, but the thought of having to travel through the territories with all their different rules and all the different monster threats makes me…” He dramatically shuddered. “I’m happy to stay put.”
For some reason, that didn’t quite ring true. He clearly wanted to go to other places, but he seemed kind of… scared to step outside of his comfort zone.
I couldn’t really blame him. Some of the other territories in Gauhala were very strict or had strange and sometimes even cruel laws. Gauhala in general wasn’t really what I meant, though.
“What about going to Brinnswick?”
His eyebrows rose. “That would be pretty awesome. I’ve heard so many stories from Anton, Jed, Keryth, and the rest of their family. It sounds like a really pretty place.”
