Page 51 of The Girl and the Cobra

“Congratulations,” Wolf says, while I just nod along.

“Penny is getting some papers for me to fill out.” Her shy smile breaks into a wide, excited grin. “I’ve never had a job before.” Her nose wrinkles, but the action doesn’t dim the light in her gray eyes. “I don’t even like coffee that much.”

“You sound excited,” Wolf points out with a quick glance at me.

Mabel chuckles softly, as if she can’t believe it herself. “I guess I am, a little. It’s weird. I didn’t even know I was coming to an interview until ten minutes ago.”

“If I would have told you sooner about the interview, you would’ve come up with excuses or gotten so in your head you would’ve tanked it,” Wolf says. “You have a habit of getting lost in your head, so I wanted to remove that possibility as much as I could.”

With a nod, she says, “Yeah, you’re right.” I think she’s about to say more, but Penny, her interviewer, calls her name from across the shop, and Mabel leaves us to go fill out whatever papers she has to.

Once it’s just the two of us again, Wolf says, “Mabel is spreading her wings and attempting to fly. It’s up to people like you and me to make sure she fulfills her potential.”

“People like you and me,” I echo. “Are you finally admitting you’re like me?”

“No one is like you, Tristan, and no one is like me. We are each as unique as can be.” The corners of his mouth quirk upward in a smirk, like he’s making a joke. “I like to fix things. I like to dive deep and discover the true reasons we do what we do, why we need what we say we need—speaking of needs, you have always strived to be needed as much as you needed others. First your sister, now Mabel.”

“What’s your point?” I glower at him.

Wolf’s green eyes scrutinize me behind his glasses. “You can never go back to Cypress. You can never see any of them again.”

The words slip out of me, and they sound quite deadly, “I know.”

“Whether or not Mabel will continue to need you is unknowable, but that’s the thing about life. Nothing is guaranteed. We can only do so much. Live while we can. You could make a life for yourself here, if you let yourself have it.”

Make a life here. Right. The thought sounds so ridiculous, so preposterous, that it honestly sounds fake. An impossible feat. I was born the first and only son to the Arrowwood family, and then I killed my parents in a misguided attempt to give my sister what she wanted. I was born to kill, not to spend my time in a tiny mountain town withering away. I wasn’t made to be with someone like Mabel.

“A life,” I whisper. “What would I do here? I don’t exactly have skills that would translate to small-town living.”

Wolf’s answer comes quickly: “Ask me again in a few weeks.”

Ugh, whatever. Beyond Mabel, I don’t have much hope at all for my future. My gaze flicks over to her across the coffee shop, and something in my chest constricts.

I wasn’t made for Mabel, and yet…

I want to be.

Chapter Twenty-Two – Mabel

I think about calling my dad when we get back to the mansion, but I know he’s either home sleeping or out with his coworkers, so I decide to wait until tomorrow to give him the good news. Dr. Wolf said he’d drive me and pick me up for every shift, so that’s one less thing I have to worry about.

It’s odd. After everything, I never in a million years thought I’d be excited over a silly job. A job that, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t matter much… but it matters to me. Dr. Wolf was right: by not telling me I was going to an interview, I didn’t have time to overthink. I just did it, and I got the job. Maybe life here doesn’t have to be as hard as I thought.

Maybe I could be happy here, long-term. With my dad, Dr. Wolf, and Tristan.

When we get home, I want to talk to Tristan—he didn’t really say much at The Drip; I could tell he was lost in his own thoughts, like I usually am. But I don’t get a chance to, because Dr. Wolf pulls me into his office and shuts the door.

“Our first stop was for you as well,” Dr. Wolf says, reaching into his suit jacket’s pocket to pull out the wrapped-up plastic bag. “Your father spoke to me about wanting to make sure you and Tristan are… safe in your choices.” He hands me the bag.

I peek inside, and every part of me heats up when I spot the small box inside. Condoms. Dr. Wolf bought mecondoms. I’m mortified in a way I have never been before. This is just as bad as the conversation with my dad.

As I hurry and close the bag back up, Dr. Wolf goes on, “I have birth control pills coming in the mail for you as well. If you’d rather discuss other options—”

“No,” I hurriedly say, mostly to get him to stop talking. “This is… fine. Um, thanks?”

“I’m giving them to you, Mabel, because this should be your decision. Yours and Tristan’s, but mostly yours.”

The only thing I can do is nod. I honestly can’t think of anything else to say. My hands are sweaty all of a sudden, not to mention the fact that my stomach is in knots. The very moment Dr. Wolf tells me that’s all, I hurry away, and I head straight to my room to hide the bag and the small box inside.

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