“Oh, just makes sense that you’d be the uh, muscle. Look at you. Do you blend anywhere you go?”
As if to make her point, a bubbly waitress with fake boobs practically bounced over to their table. Never taking her lustful gaze from Monster. Hell, Carys could’ve had two heads and one of them gnawing on a human femur, and Rachel—as she’d introduced herself to Monster—wouldn’t have noticed.
As if to say, point made with her body language, she leaned back with her arms crossed over her chest. One eyebrow raised and a smug smile on her lips.
“What would you like, handsome, besides my number?” She asked while touching his arm.
Monster grasped the wrist of her questing hand as if it were dirty and removed it from his person before clearing his throat.
“I’d like you to take my woman’s order first.” He practically growled the words, and Carys tried really hard not to read too much into him calling her his woman or how he seemed completely disgusted by Rachel’s touch.
Carys also noticed he didn’t seem pleased, and not just with the waitress, but with himself for some reason.
Rachel turned to Carys with a glare. “What do you want?” She asked none too friendly.
“How about another waitress?” Monster groused.
“It’s fine, sweetie pie,” Carys oozed with a sugar-sweet tone. “You can’t blame her, can you? You’re a fine man.”
She turned to Rachel. “Right? He is fine.” She broke eye contact and studied the menu, but continued to speak in that sweet but conversational tone. “And since I’m absolutely famished, I’ll let whatever little display that was pass. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be accused of having a hangry outburst.”
Carys laughed as if it were all a joke to her, but inside, she was secretly fuming. She was tired of being treated as anything from an afterthought to someone contemptible by everyone, including waitstaff. Everyone but Monster, that hopeful voice inside her added.
“However, after the appetizer, if you touch him again, well, it won’t be my stomach’s fault when I react poorly and, oh, I don’t know, scoop an eye out with a spoon. Then they’ll start throwing around words like premeditated and unhinged.” She added a silly giggle and quickly pivoted to add to the unhinged part. “Oh, I’ll have a tea and the hummus plate to start. What about you, sweetie pie?”
She closed her menu and sat smiling and staring at Monster, whose mouth was slightly agape and a look of lust flooding into his blue eyes.
Not looking directly at Rachel, she could feel the anger coming from her at being talked to that way.
“I’ll have tea too.”
“Anything else?” Rachel asked stiffly.
“What do you think?” Carys asked Monster. “I want that supreme vegan pizza, but I can’t eat the whole thing. Want to split it?”
Carys loved her cheese. It was the one reason she wasn’t vegan—however, it didn’t love her. She didn’t like vegan cheese, but she also didn’t want a bad stomach tonight.
Monster nodded, then spoke to Rachel. “We’ll take that, but can you do half with no cheese? I don’t like the vegan cheese.”
“Leave it off the whole thing, please, Rachel. I’m not a huge fan either.”
Rachel nodded, gathered the menus, and left.
“So, I wouldn’t have pegged you for the type to have tried vegan cheese.” Carys said, her curiosity piqued. She’d never met a wolf who had a very extensive palate.
“Prez’s daughter is vegan and his ol’ lady is like a part-time vegetarian, I think. But the kid makes food for us all the time. The cheese has a weird texture.”
“Agreed. There are a few that are pretty good, but by and large, it has a long way to go before it converts any of us die-hard cheese lovers.”
“Yeah, well, when you meet Cass, don’t mention that. She’ll show you videos of dairy cows and sad calves until you swear off dairy.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his words just as Rachel returned with their drinks and the appetizer.
He said, when you meet her, not if. She knew it was probably just a word choice and not to read anything into it, but she couldn’t help herself. She was already thinking of ways to keep Monster in her life.
They stopped talking for a few moments to enjoy the appetizer. Carys found she didn’t hate the silence. Normally, she had a need to talk and talk and talk, never letting the silence just exist. She hadn’t understood until then … she’d never been comfortable enough with someone before, so the silence felt wrong, but it didn’t with him.
That thought should’ve brought some measure of comfort since it was a first, but it had the opposite impact. She felt scared and unsure. If she already felt that comfortable with him, she was already invested more than she should be. She was setting herself up for heartbreak.
