Page 28 of Just a Friend for the Lion
I hang up before he starts quoting Shakespeare or chanting in Latin.Again.
But even as I slide into the driver’s seat and start the engine, there’s a wild, shaky something in my chest. Not quite hope.
Something more dangerous.
Something like determination.
Because I might’ve messed it up the first time.
But this Lion?
He’s not going to miss his second chance.
Not when she smells like home.
Not when she feels like fate.
Not when I know she’s mine.
Chapter 10
MJ
Is this freaking guy kidding me?
It’s been four days.
Four. Whole. Days.
And Carter freaking Leone still hasn’t dismissed the Date to Mate match alert.
Which means?
I can’t move on.
Can’t match with anyone else.
Can’t even flirt with a nice Vampire EMT who ordered a veggie pie and winked at me.
As my brother-in-law Doug explains—mouth full of Nutella pizza, mind you—during our makeshift family gathering at Horace and Carina’s place:
“It’s a whole supernatural thing, MJ. Like, if a female gets dinged as a possible mate for someone else,most Shifters are gonna give her a wide berth. Nothing like an angry mated male to ruin a guy’s day.”
I gape at him over my steaming mug of decaf.
“Doug, Carter isn’t my possible anything.”
And yeah, the admission stings a little more than I’d like.
Even though we barely spoke.
Even though he’s a dumb, confusing, gorgeous idiot.
Even though I definitely imagined him bending me over the pizza prep counter once or twice this week.
“The app says different, MJ,” Horace chimes in, lazily scratching his beard like he’s got ancient Shifter wisdom to impart. “And that’s good as gold to most.”
“Oh my God, Honey Bear,” Carina groans as she waddles into the room, hands cradling her baby bump, “are you only saying that ‘cause you helped code the app?”
