by Chase Connor
“I just want to know why he acted the way he acted.” I shrugged, trying to play it all off.
“Because he’s a damn werewolf, that’s why!” She jabbed her fork at me. “You mind my advice and just push that out of your mind, Robbie. Andrew is no good, and you don’t need to put up with his shit.”
“This from the woman who described him as a ‘sweet boy’ just last week.” I rolled my eyes playfully. “I mean, he seemed pretty contrite the other morning.”
“Nothing like a fist to the face to do that.” She snorted.
We ate in silence for several minutes before I heard the front door open and close. Oma looked up expectantly as my stomach fluttered again. I took a big bite of biscuit as footsteps sounded in the main part of the house. My mouth being full when Lucas entered would keep him from trying to kiss me in greeting in front of Oma, and I wouldn’t be expected to have anything intelligent to say upon his approach. Lucas entered the kitchen, looking just as delectable as he had the past few times we had…hung out?...and it made me wish that we had met at his house instead of him coming to Oma’s.
“Well, good morning there, Lucas.” Oma cocked an eyebrow at him and then shot a glance at me.
Stuff it, old lady. I thought to myself.
“Good morning, Mrs. Wagner,” Lucas responded. “Thanks for inviting me over.”
“You’re welcome, Lucas.” Oma started to stand.
“I can fix my own plate.” He gestured for her to sit. “Good morning, Rob.”
I smiled around the mouthful, gesturing at my bulging cheeks with a finger, before giving him a nod. He winked back at me. Oma grinned at that and went back to eating her food. As Lucas prepared himself a plate of biscuits and gravy, I ate my food slowly and thoughtfully, trying to keep my mouth full but not eat quickly or appear anxious. Oma kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye as she ate her food.
“Guess Jackson didn’t need you in the store today?” Oma asked. “How’s that old bastard doing?”
I frowned at my grandmother.
“Grandpa’s fine,” Lucas responded from his spot at the stove. “Thanks for asking. He said to tell you to wait at least three days after tomorrow before you start digging or planting. You should be good to plant then, though.”
“Tell him thank you so much for his damn expert advice.” She waggled her head. “Always tellin’ me how to run my damn garden like I ain’t been doin’ it since he was learning to play with his pud.”
“Oma!” I gasped around the mouthful of food.
Lucas just chuckled.
“Well, he’s an asshole.” Oma waved me off with her fork before popping the last bite of her food in her mouth. “If he ain’t tellin’ me what to do one way he’s tellin’ me another. Hope he falls in the shower with them rickety ole legs of his.”
Lucas guffawed as he slid the ladle back into the gravy skillet and headed over to the table. Oma raised from her seat, her plate suddenly empty.
“You boys finish your breakfast.” She said suddenly. “I’m gonna go in here and get a fire going and get my feet toasted up.”
Lucas sat down in the chair next to me at the table, giving me a wink as Oma rinsed her plate off and deposited it in the sink. A few seconds later, Lucas and I were alone at the table, and I didn’t have the first clue what to say to him. Which was odd, all things considered. We’d had meals together. Done…other things together. Surely, I could figure out something normal to say?
“Did you sleep well?”
That wasn’t it.
“Did I sleep well?” Lucas grinned goofily at me as he stuffed a bite of food into his mouth. “Is that what you wanted to say?”
“No.”
“Did you want to ask me if I slept well without you in bed next to me?”
I couldn’t help but blush slightly and grin as I looked down at my plate.
“I think that’s what you wanted to ask me.”
Crossing my arms, I placed them on the table in front of my plate, ignoring my food as I swallowed the last bite I had taken.
“What if I did?”
“Then the answer is that I slept okay, but I would have slept better if you had stayed over and slept with me.” He shrugged. “But that’s moot now.”
“Who would be the big spoon if we slept together?” I leaned in conspiratorially. “You or me?”
“We could take turns.”
“I want first watch.”
“I’d let you have anything you wanted.”
“Anything?” I leaned in closer.
Who was this person I was becoming? I was mooning over some guy at Oma’s table, acting like a lovesick teenager who was experiencing their first sexual relationship.
Who really gives a shit?
“Yes.” Lucas looked me in the eyes as he shoved another bite into his mouth. “Anything, Rob.”
I considered this.
“Why?”
“Because something inside of me tells me that I want to do it.”
“What if that thing inside of you told you to burn down an orphanage?” I was only partly teasing. “Would you follow that instinct, too?”
“Apples to oranges.” He shook his head with a smile. “Wanting to do anything to make someone happy and burning orphans alive are not even on the same spectrum, Rob.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “What if I wanted you to burn down the orphanage?”
“Are you the type of person to ask that of me?”
“No.”
“Then it’s moot.”
“But would you?” I egged him on playfully.
“Okay, okay.” He relented. “Maybe I wouldn’t do absolutely anything you wanted. But pretty close.”
I smiled.
“You enjoy this banter, don’t you?” He grumbled.
“I enjoy messing with you, yes.”
“Eat your food.” He gestured at my plate. “Mrs. Wagner will get mad if you don’t eat everything on your plate.”
“You and Oma get awfully concerned with what’s going into my body,” I replied. “For obvious different reasons.”
“Do you want to go to dinner and a movie yet?”
I looked over at Lucas as he chewed his bite of food and popped a bite into my mouth as well.
“Or are you enjoying the chase too much to commit to the next step?” He asked. “Because I think the reason you haven’t accepted an invitation to an actual date is that you enjoy the foreplay too much.”
My first instinct was to laugh at this statement, primarily because of how it was phrased and the words Lucas had chosen to convey his thought. However, what he said actually gave me pause. Was I avoiding moving forward with Lucas because we’d no longer be in a “honeymoon” phase and the magic would be lost that is there in the early days of a relationship? Isn’t the first part of any relationship the best? Where two people aren’t quite in a relationship, but they’re getting used to each other as people, exploring each other’s bodies, experimenting sexually, enjoying the pleasures each body can provide…flirting with danger?
“No.” I shook my head, suddenly no longer playful. “Of course not, Lucas.”
“Then…are you going to go have dinner and see a movie with me?”
“Fine.” I shrugged. “If it’s that important to you.”
“It is.”
“Fine.” I shoved another bite of food into my mouth.
“Fine.” He smiled.
So, that was done. The deal was made. A gauntlet had been thrown down. And I had accepted the challenge.
“Do you think I should talk to Andrew?”
“About what?” He turned up his nose.
“The other night? How he’s a werewolf and all? I don’t know.”
“Why would you need to talk to him about that? He’s learned his lesson. You won’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“Well, he’ll see Oma at the center whenever she goes, so he’ll still be around,” I explained. “I mean, maybe I should at least try to ge
t on an even keel, ya’ know? So that there’s no animosity or tension there.”
“Why would there be?” He asked. “Just steer clear of each other and problem solved, ya’ know?”
Looking over at Lucas, the redness in his cheeks, I couldn’t help but grin at the thought that suddenly popped into my brain.
“Are you jealous that I’ll talk to a guy I went on an actual date with?”
“Of course not.” Lucas shoved another bite in his mouth. “That’s just ridiculous, Rob.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not what was on my mind, okay?” Lucas grumbled, looking down at his plate as he ate.
I popped my last bite into my mouth and sat back in my chair and stared at him with a grin.
“You’re jealous.” I cooed.
“I am not jealous.”
“Say it enough times you might believe it.”
“Why would I be jealous?” He looked up at me. “I mean, do I need to be jealous of some vile hairball?”
I laughed as Lucas realized what he had said and how it showed his hand.
“I’m pretty sure you are, although you don’t need to be.”
“Why do you want to talk to him, then?” Lucas asked firmly. “Why do you need to talk to him?”
“He said that my scent was intoxicating.” I shrugged. “Maybe not those exact words, but…and then you said the same thing the other day. I want to know what that means. At least, what it means to him. Does it mean something different to a werewolf than it does to just some guy who finds me sexually attractive?”
Lucas frowned at me.
“That’s all.”
“You’re going to go talk to some guy you went on a date with to ask him about your…smell?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “Just why he said it. Why he said it that way. Why did you say that?”
Lucas didn’t answer me, but he continued to eat.
“Because I have some suspicions.”
“Just let it go, Rob.” Lucas glanced up at me, then back at his plate, his mouth full of food. “Don’t get into this.”
“You said that a lot of people in Point Worth have a monkey in their family tree at some branch or another.” I continued, ignoring his plea. “So, maybe I have a monkey in my tree? I mean, you said Oma is a wit—”
Lucas looked up at me with pleading eyes, so I stopped myself.
“Is that it?”
He glanced at the kitchen doorway.
“Don’t.” He whispered lowly. “Please.”
My head tilted to the side of its own volition as I looked at him.
“Mrs. Wagner will be upset with me, Rob.” He said simply. “Please don’t start this right now.”
“I’m not—start—anything, Lucas.” I chewed at my lip. “I just want to know what’s going on.”
“Later.” He said firmly. “Please?”
Why was Lucas so bothered with talking about this stuff in general, but even more so when it was possible that Oma would find out about it? It was almost as if he was scared of her.
“Fine.” I sat back. “But we will talk about this.”
He nodded. “Thank you.”
I was exhausted with everyone in Point Worth being so damn weird. But, when I looked at Lucas, I didn’t really care. When it came to Lucas, I had my qualms about him—but all of them were my own hang-ups about dating and guys in general. That didn’t keep me from wanting to do very naughty things with him every time I saw him. I didn’t even care if he was weird, too. However, he would have to be pretty severely weird to curb my appetite for him. Of course, I didn’t want him to know that.
Examining the situation, I knew that I would eventually have to know what, if anything, was weird about Lucas. I would have to face that—just like I had to face the fact that I went on a date with a werewolf and Oma was a witch—which was still hard to swallow. Because, if I did get my mind and my body into alignment, and that meant I wanted to make Lucas a permanent fixture in my life, it couldn’t be built on lies or even half-truths.
“Should we just spend this lovely, sunny day enjoying each other’s company?” I suggested.
Lucas chuckled. He pointed to the window over the kitchen sink that looked out over the backyard of Oma’s property. I turned my head and saw the snowflakes immediately.
“Well, shit.” I sighed. “I knew I was being facetious, but still.”
Lucas popped the last bite of his food into his mouth and grinned at me.
“Wanna go help Mrs. Wagner build her fire?”
“Absolutely.” I smiled at him.
First, though, we did the dishes from breakfast. Then we joined Oma in the living room. She already had a roaring fire going and had her feet kicked up on the coffee table, roasting her feet, which were covered in big, fluffy, mismatched socks, a broad smile on her face as she lounged on the sofa. She just smiled at us as we took the other end of the couch. Lucas and I kicked our shoes off and kicked our feet up on the coffee table, setting our feet to roast as well. At first, things were odd, particularly when Lucas laid his head against my shoulder and wrapped his arms around me. Finally, though, we all settled into easy conversation and reminiscing.
Maybe things didn’t have to be weird all the time.
Chapter 8
“Jesus,” I whispered. “When they call for snow they aren’t fucking around are they?”
I didn’t know why I was whispering. Of course, it was night time, and we were outside and something about being in the dark underneath the moon in the stillness of the night made me feel that I had to be quiet. Reverent, even. Lucas and I had decided, once the snow stopped, that we would take a walk down to the lake. The snow had started right as we were finishing up breakfast and had continued on at a fairly steady rate until just after dark. Oma guesstimated that we had gotten a foot of snow, and when the six o’clock news had come on, with the three of us still huddled in front of the fireplace, she was confirmed to be almost on the nose with her guess.
All day long, the three of us had taken turns adding logs to the fire, stoking it, keeping it blazing warm, as we sat and shared stories and just talked. When lunch came, Lucas and I had gone in and made all of us lunch to take into the living room. At dinner time, Oma had gone in and heated up leftovers from the day before and brought it into the living room as well. All we had really needed was for it to be Christmas time so we could have a lighted tree and it would all have felt as cozy as possible. But, since it was late March, we had to settle for things such as they were.
Oma had regaled us with tales about growing up in Ohio—when the winters were really awful. Obviously, Lucas and I knew nothing of a really harsh winter. Lucas told us about going to NYU and studying in the city. After much prodding, I shared stories of acting gigs and performances and maybe a few insider pieces of gossip about certain celebrities. I didn’t have much else to share, story-wise, that the two wouldn’t have known already, so celebrity insider stories it was.
Once the snow stopped, shortly after dinnertime, Lucas asked if I wanted to take a walk down to the lake. Of course, I didn’t want to walk down to the lake in the freezing cold in nearly knee-high snow. However, I really wanted to put my mouth on Lucas’—and I really didn’t want to do that in front of Oma. Even though she would have thought nothing of it, I just didn’t feel right doing it. No one wants to kiss the guy they’re involved with while their nearly seventy-year-old grandmother looks on.
“When it rains it pours,” Lucas responded in a normal tone.
Obviously, he wasn’t intimidated by the haunting silence of the snowy night around us.
“You’re using that wrong,” I replied in a sing-song voice as we trudged through the snow.
Suddenly, Lucas’ fingers were sliding between mine, and he was holding my hand in his as we made our way through the woods towards the lake. I looked down at our intertwined fingers, wondering if I should take issue with this or not. I decided that it was a perfectly acceptable thing for two guys in a
situation like ours to do and just went with it. We trudged through the snow and the woods for a few moments, our hands keeping each other’s warm for several long minutes before I couldn’t take it any longer. I turned and pulled Lucas into me and lowered my head to shove my mouth over his.
Lucas’ mouth responded to mine as he pushed the length of his body into mine and his hands went up to my face. His fingers were ice cold, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to kiss him, and I would have taken that at any temperature I could have gotten it. The whole situation was so surreal for me. I never wanted to kiss and have someone be so close to me as much as I wanted that of Lucas. Running my fingers through the silky waves of his hair, I let myself melt into him as we kissed in the snow and the dark quiet of the woods and let myself just be in that moment, not worrying about what it all meant. If it had been warmer, and there wasn’t snow on the ground, I know I would have pushed him to the ground and done other things. Instead, I found myself finally pulling away from him, a smile growing easily on my face.
“That wasn’t half bad.” Lucas smiled up at me.
He slid his arms inside of my coat and around my middle, his body pressing up against mine. It was if he was trying to crawl inside of me, to join the warmth of our two bodies. To become one being. Under the darkness of the inky, early Spring sky, within the cocoon of quiet that the snow-laden woods provided, we held each other and dreamed of a life that hadn’t quite developed in our imaginations yet.
“Do we talk now?” I asked softly, obviously having to ruin the moment.
“About what?”
“Don’t do that, Lucas.”
He sighed and gently pulled away from me, his arms sliding from around my middle hesitantly.
“What do you want to know, Rob?” He looked at up at me with a placid expression.
“What are you?” I asked the first question that came to mind.
“I already answered that.”
“Not fully you didn’t.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You saw me coming,” I whispered. “That’s what Oma told me.”