Remy glanced over at Triana, where she sat in the booth across from him scanning the menu. He couldn’t miss the fact that she seemed more subdued than usual. Her heart was beating a little faster than it usually did and she was putting off a weird vibe.
Then again, maybe it was the weather. It was making everything seem off. He looked out the big windows that overlooked Lake Pontchartrain. The rain and wind had gotten stronger throughout the day, making him think it had probably been stupid to drive all the way out to the far side of the lake for dinner. But he’d wanted to take Triana someplace quiet and private so they could talk. On the other hand, coming to a restaurant that was a thirty-minute drive from her mother’s shop might not have been the best idea, considering the topic he planned to bring up tonight.
He hated to do it, but after the conversation he’d had today with Max, it was obvious that he needed to be honest with Triana and tell her where things were—or rather weren’t—heading. The mere thought of telling her he wanted to stop seeing her was enough to make him want to throw up. He prayed she’d handle the breakup well. If not, he didn’t know what he would do.
If he was lucky, Triana would be the one to suggest she wasn’t interested in seeing him after they got back to Texas, so he wouldn’t have to handle the chore.
What a completely gutless piece of crap he was.
Since he wasn’t very hungry, Remy didn’t really pay too much attention to the menu. His stomach was feeling a little tender anyway. A side effect of those burgers he’d eaten today at lunch, he supposed. He’d probably just get whatever Triana ordered. That turned out to be a seafood plate with shrimp, crabmeat, and steamed vegetables. It wasn’t something he would have normally ordered, but it would do for tonight.
After the waitress left, an uncomfortable silence descended over the table. Remy searched for something to say, wondering where the easy connection that had existed between them the past few days had gone.
“Have you missed working with your team in Dallas this week?” Triana finally asked.
Remy’s mouth edged up as he thought of his pack mates. Now that she mentioned it, he actually did miss them despite the fact that they could be irritating as hell sometimes.
“Yeah, I guess I do,” he admitted. “I thought I’d enjoy some time away from the insanity that’s our lives on the Dallas SWAT team, but now that I’m here, I kind of feel like I’m missing a part of myself, you know?”
She smiled. “Not really. I mean, I love my job at the crime lab, but outside of a few close friends, the only time I see most of them is during the annual Christmas party. I can’t imagine being so close with my coworkers that I’d think of them as family. It must be pretty awesome.”
He chuckled, feeling a weight dropping off his shoulders as the tension that had been filling the space between them melted away, reawakening their vibrant connection. Maybe he could put off the serious part of the conversation until he dropped Triana off at her mother’s shop.
“It is.” He couldn’t count how many times his pack mates had covered his ass on the job, even taking bullets for him when necessary. “There’s something special about knowing people will always have your back but will still call you out when you’re screwing up.”
She laughed. “I can’t imagine you ever screwing up.”
“We all screw up,” he said. “The thing that’s important is having people around that you trust enough to get you out of trouble when it happens.”
She considered that for a moment. “If the rest of your team is like Max, Brooks, and Zane, they must be pretty incredible. You must have a million stories about them.”
That was an understatement. But if he told her any, he’d have to censor some of the best parts. He couldn’t have her figuring out the whole Dallas SWAT team was made up of werewolves.
Remy rested his forearms on the table and grinned. “Well, if you want to hear a funny story, I should probably tell you about Cooper first. He met his future wife in line at the bank right before the place got held up.”
“No way!” Triana’s eyes widened. “What happened?”
“He arranged a date, then kicked the crap out of the bank robbers.”
“Whoa.” Triana smiled. “How’d their date go?”
“Exceptionally well,” Remy told her. “They met in June and got married two weeks ago.”
“You’re full of it,” she said, smacking his arm. “You’re making that part up.”
As the waitress set down their plates, Remy promised her he wasn’t joking. To prove it, over dinner, he went into greater detail about Cooper’s whirlwind romance with his wife, Everly.
Triana laughed and asked lots of questions, saying it sounded insane but that she believed Remy. Before long, he found himself telling her about all the guys meeting their significant others, while leaving out all the werewolf stuff, of course.
A little while ago, he had wondered why he’d even brought Triana all the way out here in such crappy weather, and now he was beginning to think the tension he’d felt was all just a figment of his imagination. Hell, even his appetite was back. He’d absolutely demolished the plate of seafood in front of him.
“Wait a minute,” Triana said with a laugh. “I think I’m picking up a theme with all these stories you’re telling me. Is it me, or do most of them revolve around your teammates getting themselves into crazy situations with women they just met?”
Remy shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Relationships do seem to be the central theme of most of the insanity that’s been going on lately.”
She sipped her wine thoughtfully. “Speaking of relationships, do you mind if I ask you something personal?”
Remy’s gut clenched as he wondered where she was going with the question. Nowhere good that he could think of. But it wasn’t like he could say no, not without coming off weird.
