Chapter 5 Naomi #2
Not that Rowan and I were friends yet. After all, we had just met. But with several hours of texting back and forth and about two minutes of conversing, I was definitely beginning to get a good feeling about the guy.
“I’m so glad you were willing to come out with me tonight,” Rowan said.
I liked that he was so forthwith. It was like a breath of fresh air.
I only wished that I could be the same way with him, unfortunately, the entire premise of us getting to know each other was wrapped around both of us being the same species.
“I’m well aware that it’s a much different situation for you to meet a stranger in the park than it might be for me.
I appreciate you trusting me, even though I had no right to ask that of you. ”
Huh, I hadn’t been expecting that. Although I didn’t hang with a ton of human males outside of work, I was online enough to know that a lot of them had no idea of the risks, dangers, and potential pitfalls the females of their species faced.
Admittedly, I was in a weird middle ground.
I was much stronger than the average human, I could heal far faster than any of them if injured, and I had both enhanced hearing and reflexes.
But because I couldn’t shift, I could get ganged up on, beaten to a pulp, overpowered, even shot, and that was not something I would walk away from like any other shifter would.
“I don’t mind,” I said quickly. “It’s been blazing hot this summer, and this place is pretty public, but I appreciate you thinking about my safety.”
“Of course!” he said as we began to stroll along. For our first two steps, his strides were so long that I was practically doing double time to keep up. But I didn’t have to say anything before the length of his steps significantly shortened.
Dude, there was no way he was that much of a gentleman, was he? Or was my personal bar for what made someone a good date or not all the way in hell?
Maybe both.
I decided not to linger on that and continued with the conversation. After all, when was the last time I’d had one with a possible romantic partner without the lack of my wolf hanging over my head?
“Is it difficult being nocturnal? During college, I pretty much only did evening walks with the dogs, and combined with studying, I usually woke up so late it was hard to find time to do anything I needed to if it involved a business.”
Rowan nodded along, his expression peaceful and relaxed.
Honestly, it felt a bit like it was rippling into me, which put me at ease.
With my anxiety waning, I felt like I was noticing things I didn’t have a chance to before.
Like the surprisingly thick and coiled muscles of his forearm under my palm.
Definitely a sleeper build if there ever was one.
But also, I couldn’t help but notice how cool he was. I knew I ran hot, sure, but clearly his clothes worked wonders not to retain heat, because he was cool to the touch.
What if my heat gives me away? God, my hands had to feel blazing compared to him. But as I studied his profile while we walked, he didn’t seem to indicate anything of the sort.
Clearly, I needed to cool down. The guy was probably anemic. Which would explain why he was rather pale.
“It’s got its ups and downs, but you know, I’ve been at it so long that I’ve gotten pretty good at navigating life while being one of the things that goes bump in the night.”
“That’s good, then. It feels like the world used to be a lot more amenable to that sort of stuff, but lately everything seems to close at ten and customer service hotlines are borderline unusable.”
“You’re not wrong on that one. Quality has long since gone the way of the dodo, if you do ask me.”
“Ah, and of course you’re familiar with the dodo, at your advanced age.”
From Rowan’s photo, I’d figured he was a couple of years younger than me.
I had no problem robbing the cradle, as long as everyone was an adult with a fully formed brain.
But during our text conversation, I learned he was actually in his forties, which was crazy to me, because he didn’t look a day over twenty-five.
Naturally, I’d taken to teasing him about being older than me.
“Nah, they were a bit before my time, believe it or not.”
“Give or take a couple of years?” I said on a laugh, batting my eyelashes.
The last dodo bird likely died somewhere around 1690.
Why I knew that was a mystery. Probably from all the nature documentaries I’d watched as a kid while all the shifter kids my age were out on various wolf adventures or runs.
“About five or so.”
“I knew it!”
He laughed again, and gosh, it was such a lovely sound.
Light and a little breathy, like we were sharing a mischievous secret.
It made me feel young again, even though I wasn’t really all that old to begin with.
Not even middle-aged for a shifter, and thankfully, us latent ones also tended to live at least a hundred years, give or take.
“So, which direction are we going?” he asked.
Goodness, I’d forgotten we actually had a destination in mind. Whoops. It was nice to pretend to be normal for a little while.
“That way,” I said, pointing. “The cart is there all summer. I don’t know who the owner had to kill to get his spot, but it’s primo.”
“No doubt he has many tales to tell from the food truck wars.”
“Certainly, certainly. Generations from now people will tell legends around the campfire of the ice-cream slingin’ swashbucklers of Straight Scoopin’!”
“I can’t wait until a rival ice-cream truck opens on the other side of the park called Queer Spoonin’.”
I snorted. “That sounds like a quirky rom-com waiting to happen. I can see it now—a gruff veteran down on his luck trying to find the sweeter side of life, and a bisexual ex-convict who’s trying to prove she can be something.
They start as rivals before they come together against their common enemy: a mustache-twirling, evil business man who wants to buy the park and turn it into a parking lot! ”
I expected Rowan to roll his eyes—that’s what my brothers did when I started to get especially niche with my references—but he chuckled. “Depending on the rating, coming together could mean a couple of things.”
A loud laugh tumbled out of me. I clapped my hand over my mouth in embarrassment, but that really only lasted for a second because the proud look on Rowan’s face wiped away anything negative I could possibly feel about the interaction.
“It’ll be the new Fifty Shades.”
“A bold claim,” he mused, changing our direction slightly when I nudged him. It was yet another silly thing to like, but I couldn’t help but feel flattered that he was so cognizant of even the tiniest bit of input from me. “Not that I’ve ever read those, of course.”
“Oh, of course.”
I couldn’t believe the banter was flowing so easily between us, and I was almost sad when I saw the pastel lights of the ice-cream cart. But only almost, because I wasn’t kidding when I’d told Rowan that the custard, sorbet, and other treats they sold were utterly divine.
“Do you know what you’re going to get?” I asked as we joined the short line.
While the park wasn’t empty, it wasn’t exactly crowded either. It was a nice middle ground for this time of night.
I was well acquainted with pretty much all of the green areas in the city because of my job and because I really liked parks, and this one was the most human-social of them all.
It was split into four quadrants, with a large fountain and a square in the center with restrooms in each corner and small shops all around the edges.
Paths stretched out like a star around it, well-lit promenades at the center of each side.
It wasn’t the best for dogs, but a lot of festivals, special events, and concerts were held here.
We were in the southeastern quadrant, about halfway to the center, and the reason it was such a great spot was because it was close to the most popular entrance with the biggest parking lot. Down the street was a school, and a bowling alley was right across the road.
I had a conspiracy theory that the owner of Straight Scoopin’ had worked out some sort of back-alley deal with that place to serve extra salty nuts but not have any desserts on hand, but I needed more evidence before I verbalized that out loud.
“I was thinking of the blood orange sorbet,” Rowan said, drawing me back to the moment.
Oh right, I’d asked him what flavor he was going to get.
I was all over the place mentally. I was really out of practice with what came to a good date.
I had thought I’d landed that with Jason, but looking back now, he had basically been a discount, clearance, bargain bin of barely acceptable.
I was pretty sure that Rowan had already laughed at my jokes more than that wolf ever had.
Plus, CozyCardigan1913 could actually banter with me, and that was turning me on way more than I ever expected.
“Ooh, that’s a good one. I was leaning more toward the Moose Tracks.”
Rowan didn’t say anything for a long moment, and it was the only unnatural silence that we’d had since I walked up to him. Perhaps that was why I noticed it. But before I could ask what was up, his baffled expression turned to one of cautious concern.
“I didn’t know ice cream with meat in it was a thing.”
I could tell he was trying to say it as non-judgmentally as possible. But now it was my turn to be baffled, because what?
“E-excuse me? Meat?”
We blinked at each other.
“Uh, moose tracks? Is that not meat? I know I don’t get out much, but I’m pretty sure they haven’t changed what an Alces alces is.”
“…did you just use the scientific name for moose?” I asked incredulously, right before I burst into laughter. Gosh, when was the last time I’d laughed so much?
“You’re the one who recognized it,” Rowan said primly. “But I’m guessing I’m missing something?”