Death and Relaxation by Devon Monk Page A

him.
    “Not good,” Jean said, popping the last bit of a carrot she’d dipped in chocolate into her mouth.
    I pushed back to stand.
    “We got it.” Myra’s hand landed on my shoulder.
    I let Jean and Myra stride over to check out the argument before it escalated into a fight.
    The Wolfes and Rossis closed ranks on opposite sides of the table and glared at each other in silence. This silence, filled with the ever-present tension between the families, was somehow much more worrisome than the quick shouting match.
    Myra walked over to talk to the Rossi clan while Jean approached the Wolfe family.
    “Still surprises me about Jame and Ben,” Ryder said.
    “Because they’re gay?” I said without looking away from the vamps and weres.
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shake his head. “Everyone knew that.”
    “I didn’t know it.”
    “You didn’t get hit on by Ben in high school.” He sounded like he was smiling.
    Finally, Ben and Jame brought Tonner and Sven back together. Ben’s hand was planted on Sven’s shoulder, and Jame had his arm around Tonner’s back.
    Tonner and Sven didn’t look like they were in a forgiving mood, but after a quick talk with Myra and Jean, money was exchanged between the two creatures and no blood was spilled.
    Jame and Ben both patted their stubborn relations on the back, and everyone went back to playing pool.
    Jean, I noted, had been invited to the Wolfe side of the game, so Myra lifted one eyebrow and gave her a challenging smile as she casually joined in with the vampires.
    The universal schoolroom you’re-in-trouble taunt of “Oooooooh” rose from both teams.
    Sometimes being a cop meant remembering you were just a regular person like anyone else in town. Even the irregular ones.
    “So why are you surprised Ben and Jame are together?” I said, picking up the conversation again. “Don’t think workplace romances are a good idea?”
    “Their families don’t exactly get along. Never have. I can’t imagine what major holidays are going to look like for them.”
    I lifted my chin toward the pool game. Sven and Tonner were laughing loudly as Ben flipped them both off with a flash of fang and then took his shot. Jame leaned against the wall next to his pack, watching his partner. After Ben’s shot and groan, Jame rolled his eyes and slapped a few bills into his brother’s palm.
    Someone, or maybe two someones, had just lost a bet. But in doing so, it looked like they’d restored harmony between the groups.
    “If anyone can make it work, it’s those two stubborn men,” I said.
    Jean was up, leaning over the pool table and shifting her butt just a little as she did so. As one, every Wolfe head tipped to the side, watching her butt like puppies watch a stick.
    I turned back to the table and picked at the remaining French fries on my plate. I was stuffed. I felt amazing. Full, grounded, satisfied.
    “Why haven’t I been eating lately? Eating is wonderful.”
    “That’s a good question,” Ryder said. “Why haven’t you been eating lately?”
    Terrific. I’d said that out loud. Another reminder that I’d been home, alone, talking to myself far too much lately.
    “No time?” I suggested.
    “No sleep?” he countered.
    I dragged my fingers back through my hair, and let it fall. He watched me, savoring every move, as if there was something about me worth savoring.
    I made a face at him, which broke the intensity in his eyes. He grinned and went back to pushing his remaining fries through a puddle of ketchup and Tabasco sauce.
    Thank gods. If he’d kept looking at me like that, I would have crawled over the table just to find out what Tabasco sauce and ketchup tasted like on his mouth.
    “Maybe you haven’t been eating because something else has been on your mind. Your dad?”
    Yeah, that. He wasn’t wrong. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t wish he were still here with me. With us. His death had been so sudden.
    I loved him. I always would.