Chapter 13 #3
“I like steak,” he said.
She sighed, embarrassed, but left with no choice but to tell him the truth. “Steak isn’t in my budget.”
He gave her a confused look. “You think you have to pay for my groceries?”
Now she was confused too. “Well, um… yes? You’re living at my house, so I think that means I’m supposed to provide you with food.”
He laughed, and she blushed. “Little witch, you can’t afford to feed me. You can barely afford to feed yourself, and you eat a fuck of a lot less than I do.”
Her blush deepened. “I have plenty of money.”
“If you did, you wouldn’t live in a house that’s an ice box and falling apart around you,” he said.
She wanted to argue, but what was the point? He wasn’t wrong. Still, dull embarrassment washed over her and Briggs inhaled deeply before he said, “Shit. I’m not trying to embarrass you.”
“It’s fine,” she said.
Before he could reply, a woman with dark hair and a killer body sidled up to him and tapped him on the arm. She was short, Cece figured she might have been just over five feet, and ridiculously gorgeous.
Immediately self-conscious, Cece tugged at the hem of her jacket as the woman looked Briggs up and down, her perfect nose twitching prettily. “Hi there.”
“Hello,” Briggs said.
“I’m Brittney,” she said. She bounced lightly on her feet before smoothing her hair.
“Briggs.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.”
“I’m Cecelia,” Cece said loudly.
Brittney glanced at her and said a quick, “hey” before her attention turned right back to Briggs. “You’re a polar bear shifter, yeah?”
“Yes,” Briggs said.
“Thought so. We don’t see many of you in the city. Are you just visiting?” She smiled at him, her perfect teeth gleaming, before she curled her hand around Briggs’s bicep, and Cece suddenly decided she hated the tiny supermodel.
Hated her.
“No, I live here,” Briggs said.
Cece couldn’t hear any interest in his voice, but he also wasn’t growling at Brittney or looking at her like she was some sort of irritating bug, like he did with Cece.
She squeezed the grocery cart handle in a tight grip, staring at the packages of steak with grim determination and trying to ignore her growing annoyance as Brittney giggled. “That’s awesome. Would you like to have coffee sometime?”
“I don’t date bunnies,” Briggs said.
“You sure? I’m a lot of fun,” Brittney said. “I would love to - what? Ouch! Shit!”
Cece’s head whipped up, and she stared in shock at the giant green leaves edged in yellow that were currently slapping the shit out of bunny shifter Brittney.
“What the hell?” A woman stood just behind Brittney, staring in disbelief at the potted snake plant in her grocery cart that had grown to an impressive size.
The plant’s leaves had stretched out of the cart and were rhythmically smacking Brittney with loud whacks, sending the bunny shifter stumbling into the meat counter.
“Ouch!” she squealed as a leaf slapped her on the back of one thigh. “Help! Someone help!”
The plastic pot that held the snake plant cracked open as the plant continued to grow, and Cece watched in utter fascination as thick brown roots slithered over the cart and headed straight for Brittney.
“Little witch, stop,” Briggs said.
Cece tore her gaze from Brittney as Briggs bent until he was face-to-face with her. “Stop, Cece.”
“This isn’t me,” she said.
He stared at her hands, and her eyes widened when she followed his gaze. Her hands glowed bright green, and she suddenly felt the magic rushing through her, lighting up her nerve endings and filling her with a fierce joy.
“Oh fuck!” Cece said and let go of the cart.
She took a few steps back, willing her magic to calm the fuck down as Brittney made another shrill cry.
White whiskers were sprouting from her face, and her ears were stretching upward and growing dark brown fur.
She slapped at one of the leaves before trying to tear another one in half.
“Control it, Cece,” Briggs said.
“I’m trying!”
“Try harder,” he said, his voice perfectly deadpan, as behind him the snake plant leaves wrapped around Brittney’s body and the roots climbed her legs.
Cece burst into laughter, and the magic coursing through her veins trickled to a stop.
The snake plant immediately shrank back to its normal size, and the woman reached into her grocery cart and poked at it, as if it might bite her.
A man wearing a white shirt and green tie, with a name tag that read ‘Manager’, joined them. “What’s going on?”
“That plant attacked me!” Brittney said shrilly, her nose twitching wildly. “You’re selling killer plants in this store.”
“Ma’am, I can assure you we are doing no such thing,” the store manager said.
“It tried to kill me,” Brittney said. “Everyone saw it.”
“It’s true,” the woman with the plant said. “It grew really big and attacked her.”
Briggs was busy grabbing various meat packages and tossing them into the cart, and as the manager and Brittney began arguing animatedly about killer plants, he said, “Time to go, little witch.”
“Hell, yes,” Cece said, and followed him toward the checkout.