I doubted the brothers were different kinds of shifters, but Lucas’s feline nature was familiar, comfortable, and kind in that way that said we could hang out together doing nothing and just be... company. Protection in numbers. That kind of thing.
Dean’s sharp eyes and sharper teeth made me shiver and want to run, and that tiny quivering kitten inside me hoped that he’d give chase.
“Awesome,” he answered. “We should, like, have dinner sometime, too.”
Julia turned and looked at him like he’d just suggested we get together for a nice cannibalism party, and he scowled at her. “Next week sometime,” he continued, looking back at me. “I know this great pizza place, it’s Dean’s favorite.”
And now I was confused. Like, seriously confused.
Was he inviting me to dinner, like, as a date? Or along with his brother?
I was pretty sure that as his technical superior, it was wildly unethical for me to date Lucas. Even if I hadn’t been, he wasn’t exactly... well, he didn’t make me want to run in hopes he’d give chase. Maybe that was a terrible, awful way to choose a date, but I definitely had a type, and that type was slightly intimidating broody guys.
Not that Geoff had ever made me really nervous, but he’d driven a muscle car and worn a leather jacket. I just hadn’t realized until later that it was all an act trying to impress people. It had worked damn well on me.
“Or I mean, if you don’t like pizza?—”
“I love pizza,” I interrupted. Maybe Lucas just wanted to be friends. That was easy enough to go with and maybe make less awkward. I motioned to the department. “We could... we could all go. Make it a thing, pizza Wednesday or something.”
Lucas didn’t even hesitate for a second, beaming at me. “Awesome. That sounds perfect.”
Behind him, Julia cocked her head, then nodded. “I could do pizza Wednesday. It’s not a chain place, is it?”
He turned and scowled at her. “Sure, I’m gonna drag everyone out to Papa John’s. Have a glass of garlic butter with your pizza.”
Everyone laughed at that, and she shrugged. “I mean, not gonna lie. That is the best thing they make.”
And suddenly we were all discussing the best pizza places in town.
Yeah, this would be okay. Lucas was not asking me out.
If he had been... damn it, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was come between two brothers. Even if I wasn’t the type to date one and then leave him for the other, I never wanted to cause any problems for a family.
CHAPTER 6
DEAN
Come out tonight.
We’re going for pizza.
Mezzanotte, dude.
Okay, by the third text from Lucas, I was already imagining melty golden cheese, pepperoni crispy on the outsides, scooped after baking in the brick oven so the grease pooled succulently in the middle. Mezzanotte had the best sausage I’d ever tasted in my life. That’s what you got when you went to a werewolf restaurant—perfect, fresh, delicious food every time.
But I was willing to ignore my growling stomach, right up until we got the group text from Craig. Riley’s phone buzzed too, and they frowned down at it.
He was cancelling. He had family stuff. Again.
Riley looked at me with a wry smile. “We can still practice?” they suggested.
But there wascheese.And maybe I was hoping Landon would be there, which was... not the smartest thing I’d ever done. He didn’t seem interested, and I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but I still couldn’t shake the way I’d felt staring into his eyes and?—
There was something there.
Or maybe there wasn’t, and I was building it all up in my head because he was a place to put my desire that was every bit as untouchable as I’d left it for the past three years. Fuck, maybe that was why I couldn’t stop thinking about him—if he wasn’t interested in me, he wasn’t a real possibility, so my fantasy was safe. I could think about him without feeling guilty for actually doing anything.
I sucked in my cheeks and looked at Riley with narrowed eyes. Sure, we could practice. It wouldn’t hurt.
