“Every week.”
She laughed. “You say that so easily.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“Oh yeah? Is this you desensitizing me?”
“I don’t have to, because you are the step kid of freaking Behren Young. Why didn’t you tell me who he was?”
She frowned. “I told you the Pack he left. You didn’t ask his name.”
“Do you know who he is?” Dodger asked, resting his elbow on her window frame and holding onto the oh shit bar as he relaxed back into the seat.
“Yeah. He’s my dad. The only dad I’ve known.”
“No, I mean do you know who he is to the werewolf community?”
“An outcast?”
“I guess. That was his choice though. He would probably still be running Michigan if he hadn’t settled down with a human.”
Softly, she said, “He’s happy. He told me the other day. It took a while to find that peace in him, but he doesn’t have regrets. He’s open with it. I believe him. I see him and my mom. They flirt like high school kids. I used to be so grossed out by them but now I like it. They make each other happy. He’s always whispering in her ear and making her giggle. He doesn’t walk past her without patting her butt. His arm is always around her shoulders, and he is always holding her hand, and they’ve been together forever. The newness never wore off for either of them.”
He was watching her face as she spoke, and she flashed him a smile as she turned into the gas station.
“It was pretty special being raised by them,” she said softly.
“When did he start teaching you to shoot?”
She snorted. “Age six. He used to put me in the competitive shooting leagues. You’ll never guess what my targets used to be.”
“Drawings of werewolves?”
“Yep.”
He belted out a laugh. “Even though he’s probably going to kill me, I respect him. I’d do the same if I had a human daughter.”
“I asked him to Turn me once,” she said as she pulled into a parking spot on the other side of the gas station.
“What?” he demanded.
“When I was a kid, I thought it would be so cool if I could be a werewolf like him. He’s my hero.”
“I bet he told you hell no.”
“He told me I had to wait until I was thirty years old. I remember the conversation so clearly.”
Dodger’s frown was so deep and his eyes so bright under his dark eyebrows. “No,” he clipped out. “Just no.”
“I didn’t say I’m asking him. I doubt he even remembers. I think he thought I would forget or rethink it as I got older.”
“And you did rethink it, right?”
“Yep. I’m good as a human.”
He blew out a long breath. “Stressing me out by noon, woman.” He tilted his chin toward a picnic table under a canopy to the side of the gas station. “Want to eat out there?”
“Whoo, a gas station date with a werewolf. My life is so interesting now.”
