Page 141 of Roaring Flames

“You’re asexual,” I breathe in understanding.

She licks her lower lip and nods once. “I think so. Or maybe I just haven’t found the right person. I don’t know yet.” She shakes her head from side to side, as if trying to physically clear her thoughts. “Does that make me…weird?”

“Of course not!” I exclaim instantly. “Did someone call you weird? Who did it? I’ll kill them.”

Fierce indignation and protectiveness rumble through me on behalf of my friend.

Desiree offers me a soft smile. “Did you know I have a special power on top of shifting into a wolf?”

Once again, I’m blindsided by the topic change but take it in stride.

“I remember being told that some wolves have extra gifts, but I didn’t know you had one.”

She nods solemnly. “I can see visions of the future. And before you begin freaking out or asking me for lottery numbers, my visions are…erratic, to put it mildly. Completely random. They often happen whenever I touch someone.”

I remember the way she froze when we were introduced. The way her eyes glazed over and her lips parted.

“You had a vision when we met, didn’t you?” I phrase it as a question, but I already know the answer.

“I did,” she says. “It was different from the others. Longer. Clearer.”

“What was it of?”

“The two of us,” she confesses, her cheeks pinkening. “In the vision, you were at my house, and we were talking about your mates and eating popcorn and laughing, and I never felt so content. You were my best friend, practically my sister, and I loved you with my entire heart.” A single tear cascades down her cheek. “I’ve never had a best friend before.”

“What about Mimi? Emilia?” I think of the two girls I see trailing along after Desiree in school. Both girls have become friends of mine, though Mimi is definitely more outgoing than the reserved Emilia.

“We’re friends, yes, but… Is it wrong if I say that the friendships feel superficial?” Desiree tilts her head to the side. “Like, they know my shoe size and my favorite restaurant, but they don’t know that I’m asexual. And I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable telling them that.”

I wrap my arm around Desiree’s shoulders and pull her against me. “I’ve been a shitty friend.”

“You have,” she agrees, hugging me back. She then pushes away, sniffs, and brushes daintily beneath both of her eyes, catching a few wayward tears. “But at least you have your head out of your ass now.”

“I’m kind of happy we cleared the air because there’s a lot I need to get off my chest.”

Desiree’s ears practically perk up like a dog being told her owner has a treat.

The two of us sit on the bench and chat about everything and nothing. I tell her about what Hale and Gerry said about my birth parents, and then my suspicions that Silas and Mr. Remington are my fathers. I tell her about Grayson and how heditched me shortly after we had sex—to which she responded, “Fuck him, then. He probably has a tiny penis.”

He does not, in fact, have a tiny penis.

I tell her about Ansel and Christian and even the other four wolf shifters. I express my disappointment that they’ve kept so many secrets from me and my fear for the future.

Desiree listens to everything I say without judgment, only understanding.

“We could run away together and become old, evil crones on the outskirts of town,” she suggests once I finish.

“That’s… That’s actually a very tempting proposition.”

She nods seriously. “We can have a bunch of black cats roaming around and set out old, creaking rocking chairs on the front porch that we can sit on when the neighborhood kids walk by. Then we can just stare at them without saying a single word and watch them run away screaming in fright.”

“Damn, girl. I got actual goose bumps.” I hold up my arm to show her what I mean.

“I know—” Desiree cuts off abruptly, her eyes widening. “What the fuck are they doing?”

I turn to follow the direction of her gaze, and my jaw just about hits the floor.

Emery and Ethan stand in the middle of the road, already gathering a crowd of concerned, curious, amused, and scandalized onlookers.

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