Page 27 of Another One Bites the Lust
“I’ll explain later,” I muttered and took a sip of my beer.
“I’ll explain now,” Maribelle said with mirth in her eyes. She pulled up a chair beside Celeste. “You see, before you came along, Van was a little reckless with people’s hearts, and so…I decided to play a prank on him.” Maribelle sat upright and crossed her arms across her chest with a smug expression.
“What did you do?” Celeste asked.
“I hexed him!” Maribelle declared proudly. “You should have seen him bleating like a buffoon. Croaking like a frog.” She chortled and the rest of the table joined in.
I raised my glass. “Har har. Laugh it up, rocks-for-brains. It all worked out in the end.”
Celeste turned to me with a sly smile. “Did you really croak?”
“I may recall a yodel,” I admitted in a posh accent. “That was why I was afraid to talk to you that first night. I thought I might ribbit, or worse, spout dirty limericks.” I shot Maribelle a look and then turned back to Celeste. “That was the story I was going to tell you later, but Maribelle beat me to it.”
Maribelle bowed forward. “You’re welcome.”
“Ribbit?” Celeste let out a soft laugh. “Nowthatwould have been quite the introduction.” She leaned closer to me and whispered, “I’d rather hear you howl.”
That was all the cue I needed. “Good night, everyone.” I squeezed Celeste’s thigh. “Ready?”
“Just let me finish my drink.” She took a dainty sip.
“I guess a mate will bring even the moststubbornshifter to his knees.” Maribelle’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “What do you think, Caleb?”
“I wouldn’t know.” He grunted. “And Iwon’tknow,” he added in a resolute tone. He took a long sip of his beer, downing it as if wanting to avoid the conversation.
Piper and Kylie exchanged glances across from me, and I could all but read what they were communicating—Is he next?
Oh,you know what’s coming next—grumbling Caleb is going to meet his fated mate, but not in the way you’d ever expect! Read Caleb’s story inRock of Stages.
