Page 131 of How to Lose a Pack in 10 Dates

She gasps theatrically and bolts, laughing as her bare feet pound through the dry grass.

“Aimee!” I shout after her. She’s not even wearingshoes. “You’re gonna step on a pinecone and blame it on the patriarchy!”

Wes dusts his hands off and straightens up. “I’m not chasing her.”

I blink. “That’s personal growth.”

“She’ll come back,” Jace shrugs. “Eventually. Probably when she gets hungry.”

“She’s like a cat,” I muse. “Sarcastic, unpredictable, and occasionally violent. But she purrs if you scratch behind her ears.”

“I heard that!” she yells from somewhere beyond the tree line. “I’m a wolf, bitches!”

“Sure you are!” Wes calls back. “Try not to imprint on a chipmunk while you’re out there!”

We all pause, listening.

There’s a beat of silence. Then a faint, “You take that back!”

Jace’s grin stretches. “Her instincts are still intact.”

“She’s a menace,” I mutter, unable to stop smiling.

“She’sourmenace,” Jace says, quieter now.

And just like that, the teasing dies down for a second. Aimee’s laugh still echoes in the distance, and Wes is standing there with dirt on his pants and something like guilt in his eyes, and I feel it too.

Thatwhat if we’d lost herweight.

Before it can settle, Aimee comes charging back into view, holding a long stick above her head like it’s a sword.

“I found a branch,” she declares.

Jace gives a solemn nod. “Impressive.”

“It’s for whacking anyone who says I don’t contribute.”

“Babe, you haven’t helped set up anything,” Wes says flatly.

“I’m providing essential morale.”

“You narrated my emotional breakdown over a tent peg.”

“And I stand by that performance,” she says proudly, dropping the stick next to the campfire pit and flopping down beside me.

I hand her a protein bar. She peels it open and sniffs it suspiciously. “This tastes like anxiety.”

“It’s peanut butter,” Jace says, lying badly.

“Are you sure?”

“...No.”

Wes finally finishes tying down the last corner of the tent and collapses next to us with a dramatic grunt. “If this thing collapses in the middle of the night, we’re blaming Cam.”

“Wait—me?”

“You’re the only one who looked like you knew what you were doing.”

---