Page 24 of Just a Friend for the Lion

---

Because I’ve found a woman that I love and want to build a life with.

Not because the Pride Elders sent a fertility tracker and a polite note saying I’m “next in the rotation.”

I’m not a stud service.

I’m a man.

A free man.

So yeah. I don’t want forever.

And I sure as hell don’t want fate messing with that freedom.

But then I walked into Pizza Girls, and now I’m not so sure about anything.

Still, I’m not walking away.

Can’t.

I pull into the lot and kill the engine. My heart pounds harder than it should for a pizza run.

I run a hand through my hair, give myself theyou’re just here for the carbspep talk, and step inside.

Bell jingles.

Heat. Smells. Laughter.

And then her.

MJ.

Behind the counter, in a black apron dusted with flour, cheeks flushed, lips parted—and eyes locked on me.

Her smile is replaced by a frown.

Uh oh.

“Hey, I’m here to?—”

“I have a bone to pick with you.”

That stops me cold.

“What?”

“Get over here.”

She rounds the counter like a woman on a mission and grabs my wrist. Sparks shoot up my arm.

Literal ones.

Magical static crackles where her fingers meet my skin, and my Lion goes alert.

“Marianne—”

“Don’t you dare say my name like that. Where did you even learn it?”

Her eyes are flashing.

---