Page 24 of Cursed Wolf

Tryn’s eyes narrowed. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, but the one you gave me is only six digits.”

“Okay?”

He seemed genuinely confused as to what the issue was. The silence stretched on between us. Something wasn’t adding up. How could he not know phone numbers were supposed to be seven digits?

Something seemed to dawn on him and he looked embarrassed, flushing a deep red. “Oh! Oh shit, I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you it’s my personal cell. I’ve had that number for years. It’s from back home, in Vargmore.”

“And...that’s why it has fewer numbers?” I asked, still confused.

He nodded. “Because it’s such a small, independent community, our phone numbers have one less digit. I’m really sorry, I didn’t even think about that.” The smile he gave was wry. “Trust me, I would never give you a fake number.”

“Oh.” That was strange, but it did make more sense. “I guess I should have tried calling. I was...bummed when I thought it was fake.”

Tryn’s eyes lit up, his smile inching wider. “I was really hoping to hear from you,” he admitted.

“Well, I’m glad you came back.” I laughed. “Looks like the universe wanted us to have a do-over.”

“Yeah.” His voice grew lower, huskier. “I don’t want to get you in trouble with another job though,” he chuckled, looking past me.

I turned, following his gaze to the family of four that just walked in and stood by the hostess stand. And of course, the hostess had to call in sick last minute, which left seating up to the wait staff.

“Be right back,” I told him, gathering up some menus for the new customers.

“Take your time, Emmaline.” Tryn raised his beer to his lips. “I’m not going anywhere.”

A slow trickle of customers came in over the next hour, keeping me just busy enough that I couldn’t talk to Tryn for any significant amount of time. What the hell, universe, I thought as I dropped off and picked up yet another drink order from Joey. You giveth, then you keepeth busy.

“So you’re off in an hour?” Tryn asked when I came to the bar for another order.

I glanced at the clock. “Yes, thank God.”

One corner of his mouth ticked up. “Do you want to have dinner with me?”

My pulse quickened, but I was somehow able to answer with cool confidence. “Well, yes, but there’s a problem.”

He frowned. “What’s that?”

“This is the only decent restaurant in town, but to be honest, I’d rather not eat where I work.”

“How about I put in a takeout order and we go for a ride?” Tryn nodded toward his bike. “I know a great place to watch the sunset. I’ll tell Joey where it is so he can check in with you.”

“That sounds great.” And romantic. And it was really sweet that he was still being considerate of my safety. My insides swirled with sensations of fluttering and melting.

“What’s your favorite thing here?” Tryn was already scanning a menu, one hand stroking his bearded jaw.

“You know what? Surprise me.”

I didn’t know where this confidence had come from, but I was high on it. This hot giant of a biker asked me on one date and I felt like I won the lottery. It was like there was another presence inside me, preening and pleased that he was finally seeing me, pursuing me.

That kind of confidence was so unlike me ,but for the moment, I was grateful it existed.

Tryn smiled wolfishly. “I do enjoy a challenge.”

Joey placed the final drink on my tray and excitedly whispered, “Get it, girl,” before I headed off to serve my table.

Naturally, the next hour crawled at a snail’s pace. Despite that, I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt like sunshine itself, no matter how much I tried to talk myself down. Sure, a date with a hot guy was great, but I still needed to find a vet residency as soon as possible. And depending how my applications panned out, I’d eventually have to leave Fulsburg, most likely for a larger city.

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