Kyle tilted his head, but a smile still played at his mouth.
“I just mean, you’re so nice and easygoing, and she’s so…” I tried to find the least offensive word.
“Bitchy?” Kyle offered, and I nearly choked on my beer. “Uptight? Crazypants?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” I said.
“Ever hear of opposites attract?”
“Please.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “She’s also hot, you know.”
“Is she hot enough to put up with that personality?”
“She’s not like that with me,” he said with a shrug. He leaned back in the booth, resting one arm over the back of the seat.
“So what is she like then?” At best, my interactions with Frankie were stress-filled moments of pure terror, and at worst, she was threatening to rip me from limb to limb. Kyle was so nice and laid-back. They just didn’t go together.
“With me, she’s happier, you know? She smiles, she teases, she jokes around.”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “Sorry, not buying it. Frankie doesn’t have one joking bone in either human or wolf body.”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“I’m not,” I said, sitting up straight. “I’m judging that book by the unadulterated threats she lobs at me every damn day. I live in fear of having my flesh rent from my body.”
“Maybe your scent offends her?” Kyle winked at me again, and I threw another crumpled napkin at him.
Before I could press the issue, our food hit the table, along with a bottle of ketchup and another of hot sauce. Kyle doused his burger with both, making it look like a bloody mess. For once, I realized how my food choices made Ronnie feel. But unlike her, I didn’t say anything. When we both hefted our double bacon cheeseburgers and took two huge bites, we groaned happily, eyes closed and jaws almost slack.
“I gotta eat here more often,” Kyle said around a mouthful of beef as he crammed two fries in with it.
“I know, right?”
We ate in silence for a while, finally slowing down when we were halfway through our burgers. I tried to ignore the niggling thought in the back of my mind that I was eating as fast as a six-and-a-half-foot werewolf.
“All right,” Kyle said after taking a swallow of beer. “I shared. Now it’s your turn. How’s your love life going? What was the guy’s name? Oliver? Oscar?”
“Owen,” I said with an eye roll. “And really, there’s nothing to tell.”
“Come on. If Frankie knew I told you she had a sense of humor, she’d kick my ass. You owe me.”
“See, she is crazypants,” I said, pointing a fry at him.
He arched a black brow, waiting for me to stop avoiding his question.
“Ugh,” I said, dropping my food onto my plate with a splat . “There really isn’t much to tell. I mean, Owen and I had something—maybe have something, I don’t know—but so long as Theo is around, it’ll never work.”
“You know how to pick ‘em, huh?”
“It’s not that. She left us alone for a long time, but when Owen started breaking his bond with her by sharing too much blood with me, I dunno, I guess she felt threatened and decided to take him back.”
“Seems petty for such a powerful immortal,” Kyle observed.
Theo’s words echoed in my head, and I squirmed. Kyle caught the movement and gave me a questioning stare.
“She, uh, might’ve said it was because of something else,” I said.
“Which was?”
“She said I was the selfish one, because Owen is immortal and I’m not.” I looked away from Kyle, finding it too hard to hold his gaze as the words left me.
He dipped three fries in his ketchup. “I get that. Maybe she thinks you’re the evil one, knowing that you’ll leave him eventually.”
“But not intentionally,” I argued as he munched on his fries. “She’s hurting two people intentionally.”
“Sure, but in her mind, she’s being merciful, you know?” He took a bite out of his burger. “When you die, there will be no getting over you, you know? Because it’s a
“I just mean, you’re so nice and easygoing, and she’s so…” I tried to find the least offensive word.
“Bitchy?” Kyle offered, and I nearly choked on my beer. “Uptight? Crazypants?”
“Pretty much, yeah,” I said.
“Ever hear of opposites attract?”
“Please.”
He waggled his eyebrows at me. “She’s also hot, you know.”
“Is she hot enough to put up with that personality?”
“She’s not like that with me,” he said with a shrug. He leaned back in the booth, resting one arm over the back of the seat.
“So what is she like then?” At best, my interactions with Frankie were stress-filled moments of pure terror, and at worst, she was threatening to rip me from limb to limb. Kyle was so nice and laid-back. They just didn’t go together.
“With me, she’s happier, you know? She smiles, she teases, she jokes around.”
“Nope,” I said, shaking my head. “Sorry, not buying it. Frankie doesn’t have one joking bone in either human or wolf body.”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
“I’m not,” I said, sitting up straight. “I’m judging that book by the unadulterated threats she lobs at me every damn day. I live in fear of having my flesh rent from my body.”
“Maybe your scent offends her?” Kyle winked at me again, and I threw another crumpled napkin at him.
Before I could press the issue, our food hit the table, along with a bottle of ketchup and another of hot sauce. Kyle doused his burger with both, making it look like a bloody mess. For once, I realized how my food choices made Ronnie feel. But unlike her, I didn’t say anything. When we both hefted our double bacon cheeseburgers and took two huge bites, we groaned happily, eyes closed and jaws almost slack.
“I gotta eat here more often,” Kyle said around a mouthful of beef as he crammed two fries in with it.
“I know, right?”
We ate in silence for a while, finally slowing down when we were halfway through our burgers. I tried to ignore the niggling thought in the back of my mind that I was eating as fast as a six-and-a-half-foot werewolf.
“All right,” Kyle said after taking a swallow of beer. “I shared. Now it’s your turn. How’s your love life going? What was the guy’s name? Oliver? Oscar?”
“Owen,” I said with an eye roll. “And really, there’s nothing to tell.”
“Come on. If Frankie knew I told you she had a sense of humor, she’d kick my ass. You owe me.”
“See, she is crazypants,” I said, pointing a fry at him.
He arched a black brow, waiting for me to stop avoiding his question.
“Ugh,” I said, dropping my food onto my plate with a splat . “There really isn’t much to tell. I mean, Owen and I had something—maybe have something, I don’t know—but so long as Theo is around, it’ll never work.”
“You know how to pick ‘em, huh?”
“It’s not that. She left us alone for a long time, but when Owen started breaking his bond with her by sharing too much blood with me, I dunno, I guess she felt threatened and decided to take him back.”
“Seems petty for such a powerful immortal,” Kyle observed.
Theo’s words echoed in my head, and I squirmed. Kyle caught the movement and gave me a questioning stare.
“She, uh, might’ve said it was because of something else,” I said.
“Which was?”
“She said I was the selfish one, because Owen is immortal and I’m not.” I looked away from Kyle, finding it too hard to hold his gaze as the words left me.
He dipped three fries in his ketchup. “I get that. Maybe she thinks you’re the evil one, knowing that you’ll leave him eventually.”
“But not intentionally,” I argued as he munched on his fries. “She’s hurting two people intentionally.”
“Sure, but in her mind, she’s being merciful, you know?” He took a bite out of his burger. “When you die, there will be no getting over you, you know? Because it’s a
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