“Bunny Doc?—”
“You know what’sincredible?” I rolled over and whispered into the phone, “My mate’s hair.It lookssooooosoft. Socaressable. I bet his wolf is just a giant, fluffy pillow. Do you think he has long fur? Like a majestic teddy bear?”
Another breathy laugh. “You’re wasted.”
“I amslightlyinfluenced.”
“You should stop. How much did you drink?”
“Don’t police my consumption! I just had this much…” I gestured with my fingers, forgetting he couldn’t see. “…of whiskey and one Irn-Bru, which isn’t even alcoholic.” I pushed my lower lip out and peered at it. “I was drinking with the neighbors. You know, my brother lives downstairs. And Gaius, Sillas, and?—”
“Who?” His tone dropped hard, all friendliness gone.
“Who’s who?”
“Who. Did. You. Say. Was. There?” he snapped. “Yvaine. Are you deaf, too?”
“Okay,rude, Rudy!” A fit of giggles erupted out of me at my own pun, while Rudy the Rude remained silent, listening to my laugh.
Sobering up a little, I paused.
“Rudy?”
No answer.
“Still there?”
Nada.
“Lucien?”
“Yeah,” he clipped out.
I let out a cleansing sigh.
“Today, I saw, like, two thousand million photos of my mate with girls.Looootsof them. At parties, events, arenas. I loathe it.”
He muttered something I couldn’t catch.
I hiccuped. “Shouldn’t he delete that stuff now that he has a mate?”
“Yvaine, he probably hasn’t even looked at his account in weeks.”
“My friends were right! My mate is just a petty, hobby-less womanizer! Mr. One-Night Stand, hit-and-run, having fun, onto the next one?—”
“Yvaine!”
The command in his voice halted my tirade. It shut me up in a way similar to a surgical incision: clean and effective.
“They could just be from team stuff. PR. You think he gets to pick who he stands next to at charity events?”
“Sure, kissing his lube girls and cheating. Very team spirit. Fundamental for aplayer.”
He cursed. “Why do you think he’d cheat?”
“Just because!” I said with a muddled voice. “I need to go now.”
My mood had clouded, and I had to do something about it. I needed my sunshine back.
