Chapter 13 #2
And you don’t need to be making it harder, I scolded myself. I’d never confessed what my planned revenge had been.
“You’re lucky I’m such a forgiving person,” I said then. “You would not have survived the embarrassment I had in store. Trust me.”
She snorted.
I puffed out my chest. “Was that a smile I heard?”
Fuck, I want to make her smile.
“You can’t hear smiles.”
I took a sip of my sports drink and swished it around in my mouth. “I can. It’s one of my many talents.”
“Oh, along with humility?”
Damn, I loved that smart mouth. This girl never took any shit from me. And it’s kind of fun to be put in my place.
“Hey, I’m not arrogant—I’m honest. And direct. Huge difference.”
YVAINE
A beat passed.
I almost heard my heart drop to the wooden floor, as hard as his question.
“It’s my”—sniff—“little brother.” I sniffed again. “He has cancer.”
The words came, faltering but so raw. I talked about Ian, about the fear that took permanent residency in my chest, the helplessness I tried to bury every day because I owed it to him to live fully. It poured out of me like water bursting through a well-built dam.
And he just listened.
Then distracted me, subtly, skillfully, from something I had zero control over.
“You never told me what you do for a living, apart from being an active nun in the Comet church,” he said at some point. There was genuine curiosity beneath the usual abruptness.
“What’s wrong with being a nun? Their life is drama-free, and they get to meditate.”
“They just masturbate the frustration away, you mean?”
“I’m ignoring that.”
He laughed.
I grinned, running my finger along the wood dent in the floor from the time ten-year-old Lachlan fell and bumped his head, then stopped at the corner of Ian’s door. “No, I’m studying to become a neurologist. What about you?”
“So, wait, you’re an actual doctor?”
“Why so surprised? No, I’m only a doctor in the fantasy world I created in my head.” I smiled, wiping tears off my face.
“Ha, ha. You’re on fire today. But for all I know, you could just be some crazy shaman girl or one of those self-proclaimed doctors who reads tarot.”
I burst out laughing at his ridiculous logic. Rudolph was brisk and sharp, much more layered than I’d assumed.
“Fuck off, man!” he growled suddenly, catching me off guard.
“Hey! Don’t say that!”
“Sorry,” he muttered. I heard muffled laughter in the background. “My idiotic friends are here. Give me a sec.”
A mix of curses, groans, and what sounded like a full-blown pillow fight—without pillows—followed.
“Hello again,” he whispered, and I chuckled.
With that, we restored the chat. Still smiling, I stood up from my spot against the door, paused to listen—Ian was still sleeping—and walked back into my old bedroom.
“I’ll take over my father’s business one day. Until then, I mostly play wereball, hang out with my friends…and the ladies, of course.” He said it like it was a joke.
It wasn’t funny at all. Arms above my head, I grabbed my left wrist with my right hand and stretched to the side. “Of course you do. Of all the hobbies you could invest your time in!”
“Are you jealous again?” He sounded delighted.
Hands in balls, I dropped my arms. “Why would I be jealous of an STD machine like yourself?”
“Ouch! Aren’t you supposed to know that a sharp tongue can cut my fragile heart? That doesn’t make you a very good doctor.”
“Only the shamans would know,” I retorted as I lifted my legs up, wiggling my toes. I giggled, picturing Rudolph doing the same.
“What?” he breathed.
“I just imagined you wiggling your toes in bed.”
He sighed, long and worn out. “All I heard was that you’re imagining me in bed.”
“You don’t need a bed to wiggle your toes!”
“Why would I wiggle my toes anywhere else?”
“It’s comforting! Give your feet some love.”
“Why? They’re feet.”
“They carry your obnoxious, big ego around all day. It must weigh more than an elephant.”
“Well, there is one part of me that was once compared to something belonging to an elephant…”
“Immature.”
“You still laughed! And it’s true!”
“Your big ears?”
“Exactly,” he deadpanned.
I grinned.
We traded insults for a while, with Rudolph making fun of me while I got more and more annoyed, but it was always the funny kind of annoyed.
“Rudolph?”
“Mm-hmm?”
I fiddled with my fingers.
“I’m sorry we made up that profile with your number,” I admitted, and his deep laugh wrapped around me.
“It’s okay. Innovative way to get my attention, smart bunny.”
I rolled my eyes, ready to retort. “Nah, the truth is that you suffer from a severe form of male idiocy and are in desperate need of a lesson.” I paused, basking in the sound of his laughter. Is this guy never offended by anything? “But hang in there. One day, we’ll find a cure for your condition.”
He made some noises of protest. I shook my head and covered my mouth for no reason. It’s not like he could see me smiling.
“What’s your real name?” I blurted out. “I’d like to know the person who knows so much about me.”
He didn’t reply, so I kept going.
“You know I’m not a stalker. Or some crazy girl obsessed with you.
The opposite. I’m just…an older sister trying to accept the fact that I’m going to outlive my little brother.
Trying to save other kids and comfort other families who can also understand this pain.
So why won’t you tell me?” I bit my lip.
“Or are you afraid that I’m going to judge you?
You know, I do that already,” I teased. “And I’m sure I don’t know you anyway. ”
Dark Diamond was a massive pack, with over ten thousand members, and it was quite far from Comet. I’d only heard the nicknames of the most eminent wereball players.
His breath shifted, uncertain. I didn’t understand why.
After a silence that stretched on longer than it should’ve, he finally said, “My name is…Lucien.”
“Oh…okay.” I tilted my head, puzzled and surprised that he’d actually told me his name. It didn’t ring any bells, as expected, and my wolf didn’t stir. Besides the wereball crew, I’d only heard a few other names anyway—wolves Makena had hooked up with, or ones Tiziano had insulted.
But Lucien wasn’t one of them.
“Nice name, but I’ll stick with Rudolph.”
He growled playfully, and I laughed before a question pushed its way past my tongue.
“Do you think we could, um, maybe stay in touch?” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. “Not as friends friends. Frenemies.”
“How about frenemies with benefits? Benefrenemy?”
“Platonic.”
“You’re missing out, but sure. I’ve never been platonic friends with someone I really want to fuc—um, fucking annoy.”
“I’m serious! I kind of like talking to you…” A blush crept up my cheeks. “Just once in a while, though. I couldn’t survive your cyber-pervert jokes on a daily basis, and—”
“Sure, Bunny Doc. I’d like that.”
And that was how I got my new nickname, and a new friend.
Bunny Doc and Rudolph.