Page 7 of Shaped to Be Yours

“We just need practice. Right?” Ricky grinned, and then stood to tuck the note away and started gathering our bags from the rack above us.

Yeah. Practice. We had all summer to figure out things between us. And, if all went well, a lot longer after summer too.

Besides that, I had a different problem to solve. A different mystery to answer.

If I wasn’t a werewolf…

What was I?

Chapter 2

RICKY

“There’s my baby!” Jason’s mom squealed upon seeing us and threw her arms around his neck, which was impressive given her five-and-a-half-foot height compared to his six-two.

We had arrived in Elder Ridge, and Mrs. Bosco—Sandy, she always reminded me to call her—was here to pick us up. She had short blond hair like Jason but brown eyes instead of blue. Mid-40s, single, with no other kids, she’d worked for the local elementary school all of Jason’s life, first as the receptionist, and eventually as administrative assistant to the principal. The school had gone through three principals since, while Sandy wasa constant, and someone all the students loved, according to Jason.

I believed it.

“Ricky, sweetheart!” She threw her next bear hug around me, squeezing as much as my own mother would have. “You look wonderful! Oh! I cannot believe you two are all grown up and graduated!”

“Mom,” Jason groused.

“We can barely believe it either, Mrs. Bosco,” I said.

“Sandy. And don’t you make me remind you again.”

I would, because that was the kind of manners my mother had taught me.

We’d seen Sandy at graduation, but when the people at the base said Jason needed to stay an extra week, he’d insisted she leave without him. She had—under duress, her words—but said she was glad he had me to stay by his side.

I actually had no idea if she knew we were dating.

“Zip up those jackets, boys!” Sandy scolded us. “It’s cold out today. Barely fifty, even for June.”

I was quick to do as told and bundled up, though cooler temperatures didn’t bother me much. I’d grown up in Nevada, around desert my whole life, and not super south in the hotter areas. But I’d learned early from Sandy that Midwestern mothers and Hispanic ones were very much alike.

You will catch a cold and must bundle up in cold weather.

You are too skinny and need food in you pronto.

No girlfriend or wife will ever be good enough for their baby boy.

I hoped boyfriends were exempt.

“Jason.” Sandy planted her hands on her hips when he kept his jacket open.

“What? I don’t feel the cold as much anymore, not since… uh…” He trailed off with a slump of his shoulders.

He’d called Sandy before she arrived for graduation, right after starting his visa application, and told her he was a monster—which boy would that have been interesting to eavesdrop on. The news had trickled down from the base knowing, to the school knowing, to everyone knowing, before Jason had talked to me about it. He and his mom hadn’t seen each other since the whirlwind of graduation, when they’d barely had time to discuss it. She didn’t even know what his monster self looked like.

Neither did I. I’d seen pieces, like his claws and fangs the way they’d manifested on the train, or a glow to his eyes, a little fur sprouting. But he always willed it away before I could see the whole thing.

I was insanely curious.

I’d told him a dozen times that it didn’t bother me. I understood. This was all new—being a monster and us being more than friends—but he still hid that side of himself. I wasn’t sure if it would help or hinder to tell him how eager I was to see the full wolf. Or whatever he was that looked wolf-like.

“Right. Of course,” Sandy said with a strained smile. “Well… you look wonderful too, dear. Same as always.Better,” she hastened to add.

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