And there was plenty ofthisto share, dammit.
She had so much going on right now, she wasn’t sure why her head hadn’t exploded.
Seriously, there was just too much going on.
With a sigh, she hunched her shoulders.Spying the pavilion a short walk away, she stepped onto it the minute she approached the two stairs that led to the raised platform and plunked her ass on the top one.Grabbing her cell, she dialed the number that would connect her to the one normal point in her world.
And normal wasn’t a word that would usually describe Persia.
“Where the fuck have you been?Jesus Christ, I feel like my mother.She’s always asking me why I haven’t called her, why I haven’t visited.El!You bitch, you’ve turned me into my mom!”
The nonstop wail had her lips twitching, then yet more guilt slammed into her.“I keep on saying it, Persia, but I’m sorry.You wouldn’t even believe what’s happened these past couple of weeks.”
“Bros before hos, sista,” she complained.
“I know, but it’s not even about the bro.I-I can’t…” She blew out a breath.“I was almost kidnapped,” she admitted softly.Hearing Persia’s swift and rough intake of breath, she whispered, “It was Jaime, Persia.He was behind it.Him and Enrique.Can you believe it?”
“Wait a minute.You mean to tell me your guards tried to kidnap you?”
Persia’s shriek didn’t make her feel any better.
Running a hand over her forehead, rubbing at her temples, she said, “Yeah.They did.”
“What the hell?And you didn’t think you should tell me about this?”
El blinked.“How could I?”
“What do you mean?”She mocked, “’How could I?’You just fucking tell me, El.Jesus Christ.Was this before or after you met the current squeeze?”
“He’s more than that, Persia.”She gnawed at her lip, and wondered how to make Persia see that.Did she lie more?
Was it worth her while in the long run?
She’d told her parents she and Ryan had been dating for months so that they wouldn’t ask too many questions.Making a human understand a mate bond was just too hard.
As everything happened so quickly, to humans, it just made no sense.
And hell, it made no sense to her.
Apparently, she was no longer human either so yeah, if she was blown away by all this, then why wouldn’t her friends and family be?
“I kind of lied to you about Ryan, Persia.”
“Huh?”
Now, her friend sounded more than pissed.She sounded Arctic.
Before she said anything about Ryan, she whispered, “I’m a shitty friend, Persia.There’s no excuse.I’m just… I have a whole lot of baggage to deal with, and that is without a doubt the lamest excuse ever, I know, but it’s true.”
A shaky breath came down the line.“You were just almost kidnapped, El.That’s all the reminder I need that you live in a different world to me.Unless, that’s what you were lying about?”
“No!”El barked.“Jesus, I have no reason to lie about that.God, it was horrible.”She shuddered.“I-I met Ryan a long time ago—six months ago to be precise.But I met him on the dating site I told you about.”It was easier to maintain a lie if they stuck to parts of the truth, and shehadmet Ryan on a dating site.She just hadn’t realized that half the members on there were Shifters.
“You met him six months ago?”Persia sounded confused.“Why would you lie about that?”
“Because, I don’t know, it felt weird going on a dating site,” she admitted, even though that was bullshit.“I was just going on a few dates, nothing serious, and then, ya know, things suddenly were...”She licked her lips, deciding to settle on another half-truth.“He saved me, Persia.He stopped Jaime getting to me.”
Persia sucked down a sharp breath.“Wow.”
