It made my lame “Still faster than a human” comment look as pathetic as it was.But at least I didn’t try to draw anything.“How long until it comes off?”I asked, handing Jason’s pen back.
“Too long,” Noah said curtly.
“The healer said the bone has to knit back together,” Jason explained.“Then he can try Changing and see if that takes it the rest of the way.”
“So two to four weeks,” Andy added, coming back with my beer.“It has to reach the soft callus stage, whatever that is.”
“Yeah, if not, he risks shattering it in his Were form, too, and then he’s gotta heal them both separately,” Chayton put in.“And that could take months.”
“Shit,” I sympathized.
“Uh-huh, it’s why he still has the other wounds.He’s having to heal them the human way, ‘cause he can’t risk Changing yet.”
“Here, let me pour it for you,” Andy said as I reached for the beer, and he pulled it back and waggled the glass he’d brought along.
“I’m fine with the bottle,” I told him.“And it’s already been almost a week, right?”I said to Noah.“You’re halfway there.”
This attempt at encouragement did not appear to help.
“He’s halfway there if he stays off it and doesn’t reinjure it again,” Jason said.“I had to practically sit on him yesterday—”
“Don’t,” Noah said tightly.
“—to, uh, keep him from going anywhere.”
“Where on Earth would you need to go?”I asked.
Noah didn’t respond, and neither did anyone else, except for Andy, who was frowning at me.“But it’s a Pilsner.You gotta think about the foam.”
“Says the bartender’s son,” Jace said, coming in wearing swim trunks and scrubbing his wet head with a towel.
I was thinking more about not having to hold a heavy glass when a bottle could be propped up beside me, but didn’t say so.No Lupa would admit to being that weak.“The bottle’s fine,” I repeated.“Noah?”
Nothing.
“The beer’ll heat up too fast that way,” Andy argued, “while the stem on the glass will help to—”
“My last beer was out of a lukewarm can with unflavored yogurt for a chaser,” I said impatiently.“I think I’m good.”
He looked personally offended.“That’s no way to enjoy a fine—”
“Give her the damned bottle!”Noah exploded.“And shut the hell up!”
Andy tightened his lips but handed over the beer.“Bad timing?”I asked carefully.
Noah didn’t reply, or even glance at me.Just glared out of the window some more.Since it overlooked the cheerful little table and nearby chaises, I wondered if he’d been watching me drool onto my bathrobe.
So much for what was left of my dignity.
Andy cleared his throat.“Bad week,” he said.
“I feel that.”
The boys exchanged glances, except for Noah, although he seemed to know what they were doing.“Don’t,” he warned again.
“Don’t what?”I asked.I’d just come to check on how he was doing and maybe float an idea that had occurred, but it seemed like I’d walked into something.
“We have to tell her sometime,” Jace began, only to stop when Noah growled at him.
