Page 44 of Seduced By the Werewolves

And yet, I’m stewing under the surface as Mom starts in on how one of her friends has a son who’s gainfully employed, and just got out of a bad relationship. Mom even knows his salary, which she counts off to me with her fingers.

“It might be a good match for you,” she says, tut-tutting. “We already know he comes from a good family, and I don’t think he’s terrible to look at.”

What a high bar for a partner. I roll my eyes.

Mom has tried to set me up before, and only once have I ever accepted. It was one of the worst dates of my life, and like every guy I’ve met before, all he wanted was a fling. We hooked up, and then he never called again.

I need some way to set my mother off course, because turning down her proposal will make her unbearable for the rest of the night. The next thing that comes out of my lips is not something I anticipated saying, but it’s the only thing that will shut her up.

“I have a boyfriend already.”

I cover my mouth as if I can pull the words back in. Shit. Now she’s going to want to know everything about him, and I’ll have to lie. I’m not a great liar.

Mom’s eyebrows fly high on her forehead. “What? You have a boyfriend?” She huffs with annoyance. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You could have called me! That’s a big deal, Tiffany.”

I fumble for an excuse. “I didn’t know if it was serious yet.” Though Leon made it pretty clear last night just how serious he is about me. How serious all three of them are about me.

“You should have told me when you had a date.” Mom looks deeply offended. “I could have helped you pick something out.”

I sigh. Like usual, she wants to control me, all the way down to what I wear on a date.

“Why would I have asked you?” I suddenly feel bold. “You would have just told me everything I own looks bad, or that I should tuck my tummy in.”

Mom’s eyes go wide and her mouth drops open. “That’s not true! How could you say that?”

I want to tell her everything: how her words chew away at me one piece at a time, each of her comments burying themselves in my flesh like tiny daggers, but I don’t know if she could possibly hear me above the noise of her own ego.

“Whatever,” I finally say as our food arrives. “Doesn’t matter now. He liked me enough to ask me to be his girlfriend, so I must have done an okay job of dressing myself.”

Mom doesn’t answer as she starts eating. The meal passes mostly in silence, which is odd, because usually she’s spouting off about the latest work drama by now, her food lying untouched. Her silence is deafening.

Have I actually hurt her feelings?

“Well, tell me about him,” Mom says eventually, putting down her fork. “What does he do for work?”

Of course, the thing she’s most interested in is what kind of job this hypothetical boyfriend has. I think for a moment about making something up, something she would approve of. But why should I have to lie? The guys clearly love their work. They’re happy doing it, and they live a good lifestyle.

“He’s a landscaper,” I say.

It’s hard to read the look on her face. “Hmm. So he works outside all day?”

I nod uneasily. “Five days a week.”

“Not exactly a high-paying job,” she says, and I groan. Of course. “What?” she snaps. “It’s not!”

I want to slap my past self across the face for even mentioning it.

“So what if it isn’t a six-figure job?” I ask, my tone pinched. “They’re happy, and that’s what matters.”

I don’t realize what I’ve said until my mom’s food spills off her fork.

“They?” she asks, arching one eyebrow.

“I mean, he’s happy.” I hastily try to come up with a correction that’ll get her off my back. “He has three brothers, too. They own a company together.”

Her eyes brighten at this. “Oh, he owns his own landscaping company? Well, that’s different then, isn’t it?” I don’t like how wide and bright her smile has become. “How’d you score that, Tiffany?”

The way she says it, as if I should be so lucky, makes me grind my teeth together.

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