Page 60 of Emerald Moon
“No way.Who was the best in my pack?”
“That Beta of yours was pretty sneaky.”
“Beta Seraphine?She participated?”
“Oh, definitely.She and Emmaline were quite the pair.”
“Tell me everything.”
“I honestly don’t remember a lot.It was back when I first joined the Crooked Creek Pack.”
“Now I have something new to bother Beta Seraphine about.”Jo’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
Cass smiled and reached over to place her hand on top of Jo’s resting on their thigh.Jo did a quick, panicked glance around the table before remembering they were supposed to be acting like they were dating.Apparently, their conversation about a werewolf and vampire prank war had earned them a few looks around the table, so Jo flashed them a quick smile and tossed a little bland conversation their way.Cass didn’t pull back her hand.Jo didn’t try to make her.
Having Cass there made every family interaction so much easier.Jo even talked about werewolf life, which was a topic they never brought up around family, besides June.They were talkative and laughed and, when the group didn’t get their jokes, but Cass did, Jo found they didn’t care that they’d silenced the rest of the table.
Eventually, Cass moved her hand and Jo could finally use theirs to finish eating, but they wouldn't have minded if she’d stayed a bit longer.
nineteen
“Ilikedyourspeech,”Cass said after Jo rejoined the table.
There was visible sweat on their brow.“I swear I blacked out as soon as my mouth opened and words started coming out.I’m glad I practiced.Are you sure I made sense?Didn’t seem too crazy?”
“I couldn’t tell you were nervous, if that’s what you’re asking.You looked great up there.”
Jo relaxed their tensed shoulders and eased back against their chair.“Oh thank goodness.”
Cass stood and held out her hand.“Ready?”
“For?”
“Selling this whole ‘girlfriend’ thing out on the dance floor.”
“Oh!Right, yeah, of course.”They took Cass’ hand as a new song that Jo didn’t know started to play.
Her palm had rough patches — maybe from work, maybe from all her time spent outdoors.Cass radiated warmth, too.It wasn’t the sweaty kind of warmth that Jo exuded and made them wish they’d wiped their hands off on their pants first.Cass’ warmth was grounding, like a tether tying them to their life back in HIckorywood where they were far more comfortable being themselves.
“I should warn you that I don’t know how to dance,” Jo said.
“That’s perfect.Neither do I,” Cass replied, still gently pulling Jo towards the dance floor in the center of all the tables.“It doesn’t seem too hard, though.It looks like a lot of swaying from one side to the other.”
“I can sway.”
Cass turned and looked down at Jo with a grin.“Then you’re already more than halfway there.”
“There is one problem.”
“What’s that?”
Jo motioned from the top of their head and stretched their hand towards the top of Cass’ head.“We’ve got a major height difference issue.”
“It’s only a problem if we let it be one.Here, you put —” Cass took hold of Jo’s hands and placed them on her waist.“Your hands here, and I’ll rest mine on your shoulders.Now we move like everyone else is doing.I find that mimicking others is a great way to look like you know what you’re doing.”
“We look like we’re at a school dance.”
“We do look a little stiff, huh?”Cass agreed.“Then what if I tried something like this?”She curved her arm around Jo’s shoulders and let her fingers glide up the back of their neck.
