Then, getting Gil into bed was its own whole thing. He was twice as dramatic for the extra audience, and it was a good forty-five minutes before he was dressed and tucked in and Bruno could sit beside Clarice on the couch at last, keeping a careful space between them so he wasn’t being too forward.
“You probably have a lot of questions,” Bruno said. “About shifters, and instinct, and stuff.”
Clarice blushed. “Oh, yes, those things.”
“What were you going to ask?” Bruno wanted to know.
She shook her head and her barrettes bounced in her hair. The stray loop had been joined by several others. “No, it’s stupid.”
“I promise that no questions are stupid.”
“This one is,” Clarice giggled. “Certifiably.”
“Well, now I have to know,” Bruno teased her. “In order to judge for myself.”
“I wanted to know if Gil was right when he said youlikedme.” Clarice seemed to reconsider the bold question the moment she spoke. “I’m sorry, I told you it was?—”
Bruno took the opportunity to move closer to her on the couch and draw her into his arms to show her exactly how much he liked her with his mouth. She gave a little sigh of surrender and kissed him eagerly back, her arms creeping up around his neck. One of his hands slipped up under her shirt in the back. Her skin felt electric and she pressed against him, her fingers in his hair.
They would have made out much longer if it hadn’t been for a cry from the bedroom. “DAD! DAD! IT’S IMPORTANT!”
Bruno clutched Clarice tighter for a moment then released her with a sigh. “I’m sure it’s not, but…”
“I’ll wait,” Clarice said breathlessly. “Go see what’s wrong.”
Bruno hadn’t realized how much of his blood flow had gone to his pants until he stood up from the couch and he had to pause in the hallway and will himself under control before he could open Gil’s door.
“What’s important?” he growled.
“I need a drink.”
“You need to go to sleep, Gil.”
“I’m THIRSTY. I can’t SLEEP when I’m THIRSTY.”
Gritting his teeth, Bruno got Gil a tiny cup of water from the bathroom. “Gil, I really need you to go to sleep now.”
“WHY?”
Because he wanted to make love to Clarice, but of course, Bruno couldn’t say that. “Because I said so.”
As it had been for the history of all mankind, Gil found that reply deeply unconvincing. “There’s no school tomorrow. We can stay up late.”
Bruno regretted every time he’d ever allowed that. “Not tonight, we can’t.”
Gil pouted and punched his pillow, knocking a beloved stuffy onto the floor. Bruno picked it up before Gil could use it as an excuse to slip out of bed. “Go to sleep now, okay? Please? As a favor to me?”
Gil was not sympathetic. “I never get to do ANYTHING.”
And Bruno was never going to get laid if he didn’t go to sleep. “Gilbert,” he said seriously.
“I’m not being bad!” Gil whined.
“Of course you’re not beingbad,” Bruno hastened to say. He was going to have to watch his habit of using Gil’s full name only when he was in trouble. “It’s just really important to give your body the sleep it needs, even if you don’t know that it needs it.”
“I’m not TIRED,” Gil complained. “I don’t need SLEEP. I NEED?—”
“Ineed you to sleep,” Bruno said impatiently. He tamped down his frustration with effort. “Gil, if you lie here quietly and try to sleep without getting up or calling me again, we’ll have hot dogs for dinner tomorrow.” Bruno tried not to resort to bribery, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
