Chapter 14 #2
“You’re right,” Isidro whispers. “We came on too strong, and fucked up. Harlan is freaking the fuck out. We’re bonded as pack. He’ll be worried that you’ll reject him before he can show you he’s not the Boogieman who lives underneath your bed.”
“I check for those, every night,” she says halfheartedly. “In my experience, the best looking ones do the most damage.”
“If your pack wants to make it right, they’re going to have to do better than a woe is me attitude,” I say. “Silva and pity don’t go well together.”
“Pity is only good for drinking binges at my bar while a person is telling me that their ex cheated on them,” she says. “Afterward, I pour them into a rideshare with a note pinned to their shirt that says ‘you deserve better.’”
“You sound like a delight,” Isidro says, hiding a smile.
“It gets the job done. Sometimes I try to be inspirational, and say ‘the only way to get over someone is to get under someone else.’”
“No, please,” he laughs. “You do not.”
“Oh, but I do. I love being a bartender. I get to keep everyone’s secrets, and half the time, they forget that they told me,” she says, smirking.
Isidro sobers as he stares at her, realizing the implications of her words.
“You gonna keep my secrets, mamita?” he asks.
“I suppose I have to,” she sighs, turning her gaze to watch the sun as it continues its descent in the sky.
Soon, the sun will set, and we’ll need to get going. I can’t force myself to move, even when my butt begins to fall asleep.
Silva’s stomach grumbles, making me chuckle.
“Can I feed you, baby?” I ask her, hugging her tightly.
“Yes, I suppose I should eat,” she mutters.
“Do you forget to eat often?” Isidro asks, watching us.
“Just when I get busy,” she says mildly.
I know better than that but keep my peace. She doesn’t need people nagging her. It’s honestly the last thing she needs. I’ll just keep making sure she gets food, even if I’m cooking it.
“Hmm,” Isidro says instead. “I know you’re scent matched to Harlan and probably Kyren too, but I’d like a chance to get to know you better. I’ve been intrigued by you ever since I heard Shep sound terrified of you.”
“Poor Shep,” she says, still staring at the creek. “I should ask Lexi to bring him cookies the next time she’s near the shop.”
“Why won’t you go?” he asks.
“He might think I poisoned them,” Silva says, pulling her gaze away to stare at Isidro.
“Fuck, that’s some thousand yard stare you got there. Make many men piss their pants, Silva?”
“Only a couple,” I snort, remembering the kids who broke into her place.
Silva turns to look at me before it clicks. “Those were special circumstances!”
“You’re both ridiculous,” Isidro groans. “If anyone was going to scent match to Kyren and Harlan, it would be someone as unhinged as you are, Silva,” Isidro says.
“It figures that I’d collect a pack like Pokémon,” she mutters.
“Gotta catch them all, hey, Spitfire?” I ask, smirking.
Isidro looks like he’s going to shit himself before bursting out into laughter.
“You two…are so in sync,” he wheezes.
“I guess we are, huh,” she says, pressing a kiss to my jaw. “We should get out of here before it gets dark.”
“I have a flashlight,” I say, not worried.
Helping her up, I also stand and pull on the backpack as the three of us begin to walk back to the vehicles.
“Circling back to courting you,” Isidro drawls.
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Silva asks.
She squeezes the hand that I’m holding, and I have to stifle a smile. Silva is giving him shit.
“It is,” he growls lightly. I’m trying really hard not to laugh, but it’s very difficult.
“Please, go on,” she says.
“I want to take you on a date,” he says. “Can you please not be difficult so I don’t have to kidnap you to do it?”
“And not invite yourself into my car to talk to her,” I drawl.
“Try again,” Silva retorts. “I don’t see anything in your delivery that warrants a yes.”
“Could I please take you out to dinner?” he asks, sounding pained.
“You should get your colon checked out,” she says conversationally. “You sound constipated.”
“I am not!” he yells out, making me sputter out a laugh. “You’re impossible, Silva.”
“I really am. I figure you should get the full experience before courting me,” she says, smirking.
Walking out to the cars, I can almost hear Isidro stewing.
“Silva,” he tries a third time.
“Yes, Isidro?” she asks innocently.
God, she’s so fucking mean and I love it so much.
“Do you need any yard work done?” he asks, and I realize he’s pivoting entirely. “Are your drains clean, or do you need to pressure wash your sidewalks?”
“Um.” Silva looks at a loss as she gazes at Isidro as if he’s grown two heads. “I’ve been putting off painting the house, but only because I haven’t had time to do it myself.”
Yeah, no. There’s no fucking way she’s doing that on her own. Silva believes she’s Wonder Woman and Handyman wrapped into one. Her house is too big to paint by herself.
“I’ll do it,” Isidro volunteers. “I’m clearly jumping the gun. I’ll show you I’m worth having around.”
Her features soften, because that’s not what she meant by giving him a hard time. Silva hasn’t ever dated, and so she needs a damn good reason to do it. Isidro doesn’t understand that, but I do.
“I’ll follow you back?” I ask Silva, breaking up the moment.
Isidro can stew. I know he’s trying to angle to drive with Silva, but that’s not going to happen. I think it’ll be good for him.
“Yeah. There’s a good burger place twenty minutes out of town if you want to eat there?” she asks.
The invite includes Isidro, even though she hasn’t said it. She’s simply trying to ignore the elephant in the park until she can wrap her mind around it.
“I’m in if you want to avoid people,” I say easily.
“Yes please,” she says, unlocking her truck. “Oh, about that paint job, Isidro. I’m thinking Granada Vanilla bean for my front door, a Winter Ice for my accent areas, and then a White Dove on the rest of the house.”
Isidro looks like a deer in the headlights as he nods. Deciding to give him the rundown that those are colors of paints he’ll be able to find at the hardware store, I clap my hand on his shoulder and lead him away as I wink at Silva.
I’m not so secretly glad that she’s making these guys work for it. Silva is too special to bow to biology for the sake of it.