“I like him,” she says later, when all we’re left with is a pile of bones, spicy lips, and a much-improved hangover situation.
“Who?” I ask, pretending I don’t know who she means.
“Your wolf.” She gives me a look when I make ahe’s-not-minenoise. “Heidi does, too. He’s a keeper.”
“I can’t keep him, and you know it.”
“Why not?”
“You know why not. This is just a short-term arrangement. Seventy-five-day pregnancy, a few weeks’ recovery. By the time the girls visit at the end of January, it’ll be back to life as usual, and that’s the way it needs to be.” I push up from the table and clear our dishes, but she takes them from me.
“I’ll do those. You sit.” She glances at me over her shoulder as she rinses them in the sink and loads the dishwasher. “Did I tell you Matthew apologized to us again for that whole handholding debacle?”
I shake my head. When he was in seventh grade, he asked Heidi and Nicole not to hold hands atschool events because he didn’t want to explain his two moms to his classmates. He didn’t want their family to stand out. They had a big family meeting about it, and it was all sorted out…or so I thought. “What prompted that?”
“He’s dating someone, apparently. A succubus. He says they’re in love.”
“Ooh.” I wince. It’s kind of a stereotype these days for young college guys to date succubi, catch feelings, and then have their heart broken when the succubus moves on. I hope that doesn’t happen to Mattie.
“Exactly.” Nicole nods. “That’s the reaction he’s been getting when he tells people, so now he gets what it feels like to have your relationship judged unfairly. Why it’s important not to hide your partner away just because someone else might have a negative opinion. He’s feeling bad that he asked us to do that back then.”
“He’s a sweetie.”
“Like his mom.” Nic means Heidi, but she has a soft heart herself. She gives me a pointed look. “You realize I’m telling you about this for a reason?”
I frown, a little confused. “I mean, I’m always glad for a Mattie update.”
She sighs, leaning back against the cabinets. “My point is that he’s an adult with grown-up feelings and ideas now. And so are your girls. They canhandle it if you tell them what’s going on in your life. They’ll understand. They want you to be happy.”
Right. They’ll understand that I kissed someone who isn’t their father? That they might have little wulver half-siblings running around out there in a few months? That their dad and I have this weird, cold partnership bound by legal contracts that define how much food I can eat and what topics we discuss?
“They need to focus on school,” I murmur, hoping to shut down the conversation. “They don’t need to be worrying about their family falling apart. I’m not going to let that happen.”
“Of course not. You’ll always be there for them. I’m sure Richard will be, too. I’m just saying…you don’t have to betogetherfor them to be okay.”
She means a divorce. My heartrate picks up so quickly that it makes my hangover nausea return. “I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
“Okay, honey.” Nic’s forehead is creased with concern, but she doesn’t push. She walks me home across the cul-de-sac and gives me a hug at the door. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“My doughnuts back?” I joke, thinking of the pink box still on her kitchen counter.
“Keep dreaming,” she shoots back, then hugs me again. “I’ll save you a cherry one.”
Chapter 13
Ian
My nerves are jangling as loud as the bells on the door of Dog-Eared Pages when I step inside. I’m so tense, my tail’s sticking straight out behind me.
I don’t know why I’m antsy today. I’m just here to pick up the contract. In and out. Keep it simple, stupid.
Who am I kidding? If I was going for simple, I would have timed my visit for thebeginning or end of her shift, not smack in the middle when she’s tied up with reading picture books.
I find a chair near the back next to an elderly-looking dragon.
“Which one’s yours?” he asks gruffly. He nods to a small, blue dragon in a purple T-shirt sitting in the second row. “That’s my granddaughter.”
“The one reading,” I say as Julia takes a seat on a plump ottoman at the front, a stack of three slim volumes on her lap.
