Chapter 5
five
. . .
“You can’t hide under the blanket for the rest of your life,” Gloria said and threw another popcorn kernel at my head through the soft fleece. “I mean, you knew that he was probably a werewolf, so what’s the big deal?”
I shuddered. That werewolf had been a very, very big deal, a huge, ginormous big deal, and the fact that I had to go have another ‘talk’ tonight? No. Just no. “I’m sick,” I said, and I wasn’t lying. The flu feeling had only gotten worse after taking punches to my delicate stomach for hours.
“Right, but he’s in the foyer staring at Sam, says he won’t come in with those bags of groceries he’s got without your permission. He might have alcohol.”
I threw the blanket back and stared at her. She winced when she got a look at my face. “He brought stuff for Sam?”
“You look like that one time when you were sixteen and tried to fight off an entire gang.” She threw another kernel of popcorn at me. I caught it in my mouth that time and then clambered out of the bunk, groaning loudly, then kicking my way through the plushies to the door.
I stopped before I turned the handle. “Does he have his beard?” I asked, heart pounding too hard, because if I had to face that monster, either the eight foot one, or the mob boss one, I might need to drink something first.
“He looks like he was when he was at the coffee shop, very fit, and very bearded.”
I exhaled and went out, adjusting my sweatshirt and shorts as I went. When I got to the living room, I tugged on my sleeve cuffs as I watched Joe interact with Sam. They were both standing there in the hall of glass shards, staring at each other, not saying anything, just staring. Was he thinking about eating her, killing her, or what?
I cleared my throat and his eyes snapped to mine. “You brought some stuff for Sam?”
He nodded and stepped slowly towards me. “I did. Do you have a kitchen where I can put it?”
I glanced at Gloria, because her kitchen was either dusty yet tidy, because no one bothered cooking, or a disaster because no one bothered to clean up. She smiled brightly, and I led the way with a sigh. Danny was in the kitchen, talking on his phone to someone about scheduling a teacher for the studio, and when he saw us, he gestured to his phone and then went out the back door, where you could hear his muted voice going on.
“So,” Joe said, putting the bags on the counter, so strong he made it look like nothing. “Do you have a cooler? I need to get some fresh ice, too.” His voice was even deeper than I remembered, soft, careful, the kind of voice you wanted to read bedtime stories before he tucked you in. Ugh. I didn’t need to be finding him attractive. No way. He was helping Sam. I was fighting for her place. There wasn’t anything else going on, and that’s how it would stay. Too bad I didn’t find anyone else as incredibly desirable as he was.
I checked the freezer and found plenty of ice, and then rummaged around in the spacious old and dusty pantry for the orange cooler, then brought them together on the counter for him.
He had already put a pot of water on the stove with a large bone sticking out of it and had taken out an industrial blender and several vials and jars that he put to the side before he pulled a wriggling gray octopus out of a bag, with tentacles. The octopus had tentacles, not the bag.
I lurched away from it, staring at those pulsating suction cups in horror. “What is that for?”
“It’s excellent for several nutrients and vitamins that you can’t get in a bottle.” He one-handedly poured the contents of a green bottle into the blender and then dropped in the octopus. It was fine. I definitely wanted to throw up, but somehow I managed to hold it down. But when he pulled long strands of intestines out of a brown bag, I couldn’t do it.
I ran to the garbage, glad it had a bag, because I’d be emptying it as soon as I could stop throwing up.
His warm hand pressed against my back between my shoulder blades, the weight and warmth exactly what I needed, while he pulled my hair back with the other hand, reminding me of the man I’d fallen so stupidly in love with, the man I’d married. The sound of the whirring blender was punctuated by my own intense illness until I’d thrown up my intestines and we could throw them in the blender too.
Finally, when I came up for air, he moved away and started dropping whole eggs into his concoction, shell and all.
“Calcium and protein,” he said without me having to ask.
I held onto the table while I slowly lowered myself into a chair, but eggs weren’t what I wanted to know more about. Why had he comforted me while I was sick if he was so angry at me that he was making me suffer in a cage just so that he’d help his own daughter?
“She isn’t going to drink that,” I said.
“No? Maybe I made it for you.” He winked at me, and I fought the urge to throw up again.
“Does eating liquified octopus really constitute healthy behavior in…I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what to call you. It seems like you’re a…” I just couldn’t say it.
“You can call me a werewolf if you’d like, and yes, for a cub who’s working on shifting, liquified octopus is a must. Just wait and see. Call her in.”
I shot another skeptical look at the gray sludge in the blender and called in Sammy. She edged in, looking nervous, and then her eyes fell on the blender. She walked towards it, frowning intently.
“What’s in that?”
“Protein shake,” I said blandly. “It’s also full of calcium.”
“Can I have some?”
Joe poured it into a large cup with a teddy bear on it that looked new. It certainly wasn’t the style of Gloria’s dishware. He capped it with a nice straw, making it look like something you’d get at a smoothie place, then he handed it to me, and I gave it to her, slowly, reluctantly, because knowing what was in that shake had changed me for life, or death, because I still felt like death.
She drank it, her eyes brightening as she sucked that liquified octopus through the straw. She drank until she was slurping up the bottom, then she looked up at him and held it out. “You’re good at making drinks.”
“Would you like some more?” he said with a soft smile, so gentle, so soft, so not like the eight-foot tall monster who had offered to lick my wounds, but could eat me in two bites.
“Yes, thank you.”
He refilled her cup and once more, there she was, downing that drink like it was her favorite watermelon blast. Joe turned to the boiling pot and dumped in a bunch of herbs that had been wrapped up in a red cloth. The scent of his broth was the opposite of nauseating, in fact, it smelled like his hand had felt, warm, comforting, delicious.
“Okay,” Danny said, coming in with a smile. “I’ve got the studio situation sorted for now. How long do you think we’ll be here?” he asked Joe, like he wasn’t a werewolf, just some guy making a smoothie in a kitchen somewhere.
“You can leave any time,” I said to Danny, because I still wasn’t sure why he was there.
He looped an arm around my shoulder and knuckled my hair. Was anyone more obnoxious? “Not until my girls come with me. Sammy, did you want to do some drills? I’ve got to keep my teaching chops in shape, and you’re looking a little less like death hit you with his best pound.”
Sammy nodded and gave Joe one last look before she went back outside with Danny.
“Do you want some broth?” Joe asked, his voice abrupt as he started putting away all his now empty bags of goodies.
“What’s in it?” I asked suspiciously, even as my mouth watered.
He smiled at me and then pulled out a bowl with a crab on it out of Gloria’s cupboard and put it down in front of me. He ladled the broth into my bowl and then got another bowl for himself and sat down beside me, weirdly familiar, and also weirdly weird.
“You aren’t going to tell me?”
“It will help with your flu symptoms.”
“Blended squid?”
“Honestly? Do you really want to know? It’s good for you, will give you more energy, help you with tonight’s struggle.”
I raised my bowl to my lips, staring at him suspiciously before he raised his and we drank at the same time. It was even better than it smelled, and it made me want to get a blanket and snuggle down in a cozy chair and read a book. There had always been a lot of books in Gloria’s aunt’s house, and when she’d been my foster parent, reading became another escape along with fighting so that I didn’t have to think so much. It had been a very long time since I’d had the time to really think or read.
When I’d drunk my broth, he refilled my bowl, his strong hands so precise, not spilling a single drop.
“Thanks,” I said, feeling awkward because he shouldn’t be taking care of me when he was some super powerful monster guy, also when I was the one who had run away without explaining anything. “So,” I started, glancing up at him.
He wasn’t looking at me, but at the kitchen door, his brows furrowed. When I spoke, his eyes met mine, and I was caught, once again, in the warmth and sweetness that was beyond my ability to resist.
“Yes?”
“Do I have to fight for her place in the pack for as long as she’s sick? How long will it take for her to get well enough that we can get back to reality?”
He smiled slightly, but there was a sad tinge to it. “You will only fight until the full moon. Six more nights, and then she will have her place permanently.”
Permanently? I didn’t like the sound of that. “Do all the pack members have to stay here?”
He smiled broadly. “That would be very awkward, considering the size of my pack. No, pack members are free to travel wherever they wish. I am not a particularly claustrophobic overlord.” He said ‘overlord,’ with a twinkle in his eye.
“So, you wouldn’t want to keep her?” Didn’t he care even a little that he had a daughter?
“How can I keep what I don’t have? I would like you to introduce us, though. Would you mind that?” He looked at me with so much soft vulnerability that I choked on my broth and then started coughing and hacking.
“Sure,” I said when I finally finished coughing.
He stood up. “Thank you.”
I stood up slowly, nerves prickling with paranoia. Was he trying to be charming so that he could put her in a cage? No, he was already putting me in a cage. No worries. I was so worried. “Now?”
“If you don’t mind. Do you always have her train when she isn’t actively sick?”
“Usually. It helps her so that she isn’t so squirrelly.”
“Ah. Squirrelly or wolfish?” he gave me a grin that sent my heart racing, and I wasn’t sure if it was the sight of his teeth or the knowledge of the tongue behind those teeth, or the monster behind all of him. Also, it might have been my libido wondering if his touch was as perfect as it had been so long ago.
I cleared my throat and edged away from him. I didn’t need to think about getting naked with my extremely attractive ex. “How does it work, this transformative process that you go through? How long will she be struggling with this whole thing? Is it a puberty issue, or is she going to be having issues with it for her whole life because I’m not…like you?”
“It’s good to see you again,” he said, which wasn’t an answer, but it was a distraction, the kind that hit me like the kick of a mule. He was happy to see me? But he was still angry.
“Ha!? You’re still mad at me.” I winced. I mean, we had been technically married, and I hadn’t told him that it was over, just snuck away before he could stick me in a cage. “It wasn’t my best moment.”
“Twelve years is a lot longer than a moment. She should be finished with her shifting and the accompanying weakness by the end of her thirteenth year, but then there are other issues that come with being a fully shifted werewolf. Training is very good, very important. Without it, she wouldn’t be doing nearly as well, so you did excellent in that regard.”
Why did it feel so good for him to validate me? And once again, he’d answered a different question than the one I’d asked. He was still angry at me, but he was in control of his beast and wouldn’t let anger get in the way of doing what he’d agreed to. Probably. He was interested in his daughter, which was probably be a good thing, particularly if she’d need more help even after the shifting stopped making her so sick. Wait, what?
I grabbed his arm and stared into his eyes, searching for the truth. “Honestly? She’ll stop being sick when she’s fourteen?”
He smiled back at me and covered my hand with his. “If she doesn’t die first.”
I flinched back, pulling away from him. “How big of an ‘if’ is that?”
“I will do my best to nurse her through the most difficult parts.”
“It’s going to get worse?”
“But think of it, after she’s finished with the difficult stage, she’ll be immune to every common illness you can imagine, as well as all but lethal injuries.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Great. What shall I introduce you as?”
“Her father, I imagine, unless some other werewolf is the man. There’s an ice cream shop three blocks away. We could walk down there, get a treat, and then walk back. That should be enough time for her to ask questions and get answers.”
I nodded, but my heart was racing. “I’m coming with you.”
“Of course. She’ll be more comfortable with someone familiar and safe.” Not that I could do anything against the monster he kept in his pocket. Shiver.
We went out into the back yard, where Danny and Sam were practicing kata on the patio that he must have swept, because Gloria wouldn’t ever bother.
“Hey, sensei, can I steal my Sambo away from you?”
Danny raised a brow and then gave Sam a stern look. “The great mother master has summoned you, young warrior. Do not disappoint the way of the knife hand.” He did a few fancy hand jabs in the air while Sam rolled her eyes and came over to us, still looking much better than before.
“What?”
“I have someone I’d like to introduce you to. Samantha Joy Jones, this is your father, Josiah Benton, a werewolf and a mob boss and a coffee shop owner.”
He chuckled and held out a large hand. “Your mother has a way with introductions. It’s good to meet you, Sam, or would you rather I call you Sambo or Samantha?”
“Samantha is fine,” she said with a good amount of starch. “It’s so nice to meet you. Why do you have an entire hall filled with cages? Do you put people in them and torture them?” Well, she got right to the point.
I was trembling, but I fisted my hands so it wasn’t as noticeable. “Let’s chat on the way to the ice cream shop. Joe’s told me that there’s one a few blocks away.”
She shot me a look. “And on the way he can punch you a few more times? You can barely walk? How does taking us to get ice cream help anything?” She looked back at him, her scowl firmly in place. This was her ride or die face, but I couldn’t let her tell him to shove his friendship, because she didn’t need him or his disgusting smoothies. She was already looking much better, and he’d said that it would get worse before it got better. I couldn’t handle worse on my own.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the side of the house where we’d leave out of the front gate. “Her name was Celeste, and you should have seen her when I was finished with her, although before she used her unfair wolf magic to undo all my damage. When you’re finished shifting, you’ll be able to heal like magic. Awesome, right? It’s awesome. I look worse than I feel, and ice cream? You’re seriously going to turn down ice cream the one time you’re allowed to have it?”
Her eyes brightened for a moment, then faded. “Why does he get to say I can have ice cream, but you can’t? You know what ice cream does to me.” Oh yes, I knew.
“Right, but…” I glanced over at Joe, who was following at a respectful distance. “Are you sure it’s okay for her to have sugar and dairy? She doesn’t handle them very well.”
“Absolutely.” He took a small vial out of his pocket. “It will help the medicine go down more easily.”
“That wasn’t the shake?”
“Nutrition is different from medicine, although nutrition is overall more important. What classes are you taking in school this year?” he asked her.
“The normal ones.”
“I don’t know what the normal ones are.”
“That’s because you aren’t normal. My mom isn’t a pathetic loser. Dr. Soares is going to take her out for dinner, and then they’ll probably make out.”
His brows rose as he glanced from her to me, but he seemed much more amused than threatened. “What a lucky doctor, but I don’t think that your mother is a pathetic loser, however many men she does or doesn’t go out to dinner with. Do you do any martial arts competitions?”
She made a face at him and held up a scrawny arm. “Do I look like I do sports? I’m in the chess club.”
He smiled at her, a genuine smile that couldn’t help but win over a wild animal. “I also enjoy chess.”
“Makes sense for a mob boss, all that conniving manipulation and scheming you guys do.”
“Sammy,” I warned, but she only gave me a glance before returning to this guy that she would push as far as she could, to see how far he’d let her go before he pushed back. She didn’t understand the levels of scary he could be.
“Ah, that explains it. I wondered why I liked chess so much, and now I know that it’s helping me with my conniving mob bossing. Did your mother ever tell you exactly what mob bosses do, because it’s a little mystifying to me?” He gave me a sidelong glance before refocusing on her.
“You keep people in cages and torture them until they give you all their money and drugs and precious things.”
“Ah. All that because I shaved and put on a suit?” he asked me, raising a brow.
“You tell me. Why do you have a hall filled with cages? Why were you wearing a custom-tailored suit? Why do you have mansions?”
“I am centuries old.”
I stopped walking, and so did Sam, but Joe kept strolling along like there was nothing interesting about that. I exchanged glances with Sam, like, what the heck? And she was like, how should I know? , and then we hurried to catch up to him.
“You’re centuries old?” I asked.
“About seven of them, give or take a century. I try not to keep track, because it can be difficult to focus on the present if you’re holding onto the past. Over the sum of my life, I have collected many things, including cages.”
I stared at him, feeling like one of those cages had landed right on my brain, smashing it into non comprehending goo. “You’re too old for me.” Why had I said that? Stupid.
“You were much too young for me,” he said agreeably. “We all make mistakes.” Burn. Yep, I had been a mistake to him. “I keep cages because werewolves can become dangerous enough that they have to be killed or caged, and I usually prefer not killing those who could be productive members of society with some training. I would never put a human in a cage.”
“You put me in a cage last night,” I snapped, overwhelmed, tired, and still not comprehending the sum total of what he’d said, because centuries? How did that compute? It didn’t.
“You put yourself in the cage, and it didn’t have a door.”
That was true, but he’d forced me so that I could fight in Sam’s place. Whatever. How could I argue with a centuries old mob boss chess player?
“You said that your father was in the military,” I said, frowning while I tried to tie this new information into everything I thought I knew about the man.
“He was, and so was I, a knight fighting for the King of England when he wasn’t fighting for someone else who paid better. The power of loyalty is incredibly lucrative, because if you can get people to be loyal to you, you can pay them much less.”
“You don’t pay your coffee shop employees fair wages?” I asked, glad to find something accessible to be horrified by.
“No, I don’t. I pay them living wages, but I expect more from my employees than most coffee shop owners. Now your turn to answer a question, Samantha. What kind of books do you like to read?”
She stared at him with big eyes. “I like dragon adventures. Are dragons real?”
“There used to be more dragons around, but they aren’t as plentiful as they were in the old days. Your turn.”
Her eyes brightened at the thought of real live dragons, then she pursed her lips. “Why did you marry my mom?”
“Because I loved her.”
I flinched like Celeste had smashed her elbow into my eye. Had he really loved me? How could he say it like that, all casual?
“Then you should have gotten rid of all your cages.”
“I didn’t know that she hated cages so much until after she left. She didn’t tell me about that.” He glanced at me, sadness in his eyes that I hadn’t trusted him with my secrets.
I snorted. “And you didn’t tell me that you were a seven hundred-year-old werewolf.”
He smiled gently. “I don’t make it a policy to start introductions so openly. I can see how it would save a lot of headache in the long run, but in the short run, there’s so much running, and screaming.”
Sammy grabbed his hand to get his attention. “So, if you’re a werewolf, and I’m a werewolf, does that mean my kids will be werewolves too, or am I only half a werewolf because mom’s not? I thought that werewolves were supposed to infect people, but it’s genetic? Was your dad a werewolf? Is he still alive? Can you eat pizza? Can I eat pizza, or did I inherit my lactose intolerance from my mom?”
He laughed. “Slow down, Samantha. Your mom and I can eat pizza, so once you shift, you should be able to as well. Why don’t we get sorbet instead of ice cream, just to be on the safe side?”
He opened the door of the ice cream shop that we’d reached more quickly than I realized, probably because seven centuries. I followed him into the bright and cheerful interior, door bells jangling above us.
“You didn’t answer my questions,” she complained.
He smiled at her, not even slightly bothered by her twelve-year-old angst. “It’s my turn to ask, anyway. Let’s order sorbet and talk more outside.” Where the nice teen with a snarl perfectly suitable for a werewolf couldn’t hear us.
We were the only people in line, so it didn’t take long for us to order, get our cups, and then go outside. He insisted on paying, because it had been his idea, after all. I didn’t argue, because seven centuries.
“Is your dad a werewolf?” she asked him once we were outside.
“No. He’s respectably dead, along with my mother. I was infected by a creature I was sent to hunt, a beast worlds away from most werewolves you see today. He was ancient, almost unkillable, but I was a very persistent young man, and finished the kill before crawling into a cave to die. It was going to be a beautiful death, full of glory and honor, and the bards would sing tales of my epic battle, but alas, I came out of the cave without a scratch.”
“Did you still get paid for killing the monster?”
He glanced at her and took a spoonful of strawberry sorbet, then shook his head. “Being a new werewolf is very disorienting. It took me years to remember important life skills such as collecting debts, and by the time I did, the man who had hired me was long dead, and tales of the monster only stories to scare their young into good behavior. I became that monster I’d slain, which should be a lesson to you, young Samantha. Life is often like that, bringing you what you try most to run away from.”
Was he talking to me? What cage was I going to run into while running away from him? Probably the one of having a werewolf daughter.
We walked and ate in silence for a long time, enjoying the cool breeze and the delicious treat while I tried to process the idea of having married a seven centuries ancient werewolf. Nope. It still didn’t compute. Did he ever wear a codpiece? I tried to visualize Josiah in something with puffy sleeves and tights, but then I got distracted by the cod bit and had to hide my face in my sorbet before he saw me blushing. Ugh. I was too old and stressed out for this.
“How were you infected?” I asked after we crossed the street, because that seemed relevant. “Can Samantha infect anyone else?”
“That’s right. She bit you, but as her mother, you’re mostly inoculated, since she shared your blood with you for nine months, but others are more easily infected. Carrie and her mother are being held very comfortably right now while the child is being examined for infection.”
I dropped my delicious lemon sorbet, and it splatted all over everyone’s shoes, but mostly Joe’s. “Cynthia Rowling is being caged?” There was something horrifyingly satisfying about that, but mostly horrifying.
He smiled slightly. “Not caged, held, and it’s a place that is so much like an ordinary hospital, she won’t even realize that she’s unable to leave until the tests have been run determining whether the child is infected or not. If she is, we’ll give her the usual pamphlets to study so that she can make educated decisions.”
I swallowed hard. “So, you’ll make her fight for her daughter’s place in the pack?”
He looked surprised and held out a spoon of strawberry sorbet to me, since I’d lost mine. I opened my mouth and took it automatically. “No, you are fighting for her child’s place in the pack, along with anyone else your daughter infected. Your choice to leave and not inform me about my daughter created a chain of events which you are paying for. It’s like justice, only more poetic.”
“That’s not justice!” Samantha cried, spinning around to face him. “You’re making my mom get beat up because I accidentally bit someone? How is that fair? And you never told her that you’re a werewolf even though you knew that she could get pregnant. Also, it’s not like you were casual acquaintances if you got married. How can she make a real choice if she doesn’t have all the information? You say that you loved her, but what does that even mean to a monster?”
He held out another bite of strawberry sorbet to me. I took it in my mouth, the cool ice dissolving on my tongue in a swirl of deliciousness that offset the exhaustion I felt, knowing that I had to go get beat up again for the next six nights. Still, it could be worse. I could be pregnant with Sammy. Talk about misery. She had not liked sharing my blood.
Joe spoke softly. “I have lived long enough to know that you can’t change the past, however much you might wish to. I should have approached your mother differently.”
“Or left her alone, since you’re a monster, and she’s not.”
He smiled and raised a brow at her. “But why would a monster put someone else’s feelings above their own?”
“It wasn’t like that,” I put in, because she couldn’t think that some creepy seven-hundred-year-old werewolf had gone out of his way to seduce an innocent young woman. “I wanted to seduce him, but he’d only be with me if we were married, because he’s old-fashioned, or just old, I don’t know, and so I rushed him to the altar, or the courthouse, anyway.” I opened my mouth for the next bite of sorbet he gave me. “I didn’t let him talk about his past, because I didn’t want to talk about mine. We just lived in the moment.”
She scowled at me. “Why are you letting him feed you like a little baby bird?”
I pulled away from the spoon, startled, because that monster from last night, the one that offered to lick my wounds, wasn’t the same person feeding me sorbet. Why was I eating from his spoon like I would have done years and years ago? I didn’t do that kind of thing with people, not even Danny, although sometimes he stuck things in my mouth without waiting for permission, usually spicy hot things that he loved so much that he had to share with me whether I liked them or not.
“I like strawberry sorbet?” Lame excuse. I sighed heavily because the time for lies and excuses was over. “I’ve always been a sucker for him, I mean, he smiles and looks so soft and cuddly, but strong and reliable at the same time, and he makes the best everything, not just elixirs, but food, you’ve never tasted food until you’ve had his cooking, even a simple broth becomes a work of art in his hands, not to mention octopus.” I definitely wasn’t mentioning that, or intestines.
“That’s the basis of your relationship? That’s why you couldn’t help seduce him to the courthouse and live in the moment, because he’s a good cook? No wonder you never went for Danny. He’s the worst cook ever. I bet Dr. Soares can cook.” She said that last bit while looking at Joe, like it might bother him to think of some other guy cooking for me.
“Danny’s like a brother to me, and Dr. Soares only asked me out to dinner to talk, not for some kind of romantic…” This was so embarrassing. There was no way that Joe cared about that after all this time.
“Here we are,” he said, stopping next to a truck across the street from Gloria’s dilapidated house, a nice old truck that looked reliable and comfortable. The kind of truck that you’d use to haul fire wood or furniture. “I’ll see you on the moon rise when Jane comes to pick you up.” He turned to Samantha and held out his hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Samantha. And while I don’t like to brag, your mother’s right about my ability to improve upon most recipes. My strawberry sorbet is far superior, so maybe you can persuade me to make you some.” He smiled at her and then got in his truck, driving off and leaving us there watching it get to the corner and then signal for longer than legally required before turning right.
She looked up at me. “He seemed in a sudden hurry to leave. Seven-hundred-years old?”
I shrugged. “He’s got a lot on his plate. Think how good you could be at something if you practiced for that long. It’s not just the cooking, though, it’s the weapons and the martial arts. He collected styles like some people collect shoes. He taught me so much, always knowing exactly what I needed to get to the next level, and then with the food, I guess I just couldn’t help myself.”
“He’s into martial? He seems way too calm and relaxed.”
“I get the idea that the calm and relaxed comes from a lot of effort. Mine certainly does.”
She laughed and grabbed my hand. “You’re delusional, mom. Adorable, but delusional if you think that you’re calm and relaxed. I think that he still likes you.”
“No, he’s angry at me.”
“You can be angry at someone and still like them. Like you and Danny, although I’m so glad that you guys aren’t romantic. He’s so gross. Do you think that Carrie will get sick like me? Am I bad to kind of want her to get a little bit sick?”
I laughed and pulled her into a hug. “So bad. I wish you’d bit her mom instead.” I tickled her ribs, and she giggled and tickled me back. Laughing, we went inside, where I would crash until moonrise.