Page 63 of Just a Friend for the Lion
“MJ!”
“Oh, come on! Don’t get all maternal on me now. You and Dina act like I’m still twelve with braces and a Lisa Frank trapper keeper. If I recall correctly, both of you lost your virginity in the backs of cars long before graduation day.”
“That’s true,” Dina mutters, licking marshmallow fluff off her spoon. “My back still twinges when I hear Crazy by Aerosmith.”
Carina groans.
“I didn’t need that visual. Also, you know better than to compare your dumb choices to ours. You didn’t just hook up with some high school burnout, MJ. You had sex with a Lion Shifter. That’s like—like throwing your pussy in the lion’s den and asking to be mauled.”
Dina snorts frozen hot chocolate out of her nose.
“Jesus, Carina! Are you kitten me? Get it?”
Another round of giggle-induced snorting.
“What? She knows I’m right!”
I lift my face from myhands.
“Okay, yes. I let the Lion in. And yeah, he roared.”
Dina wheezes.
“You let him pounce, huh?”
Carina glares.
“This is serious!”
“Oh my God, Carina! We didn’t do it in the middle of the ballroom during the cha-cha slide. We snuck away. It was private. And Carter was, um.” My voice softens. “He was attentive. Gentle, even.”
Carina raises a brow. “Gentle? The man growled like you were a chew toy at the meet and greet. And your neck is sporting a huge scar.”
I wave a hand.
“Okay, sure, he was a little growly. But I liked it! And besides, I thought it was just sex. Just one night of growls, claws, and tongue flicks, okay?”
Dina makes a fake whip-crack noise.
“Damn. You are the wild one now.”
“But it wasn’t just that,” I say quietly. “He bit me and I thought that meant something like it did when your mates bit you, but it didn’t,” I confess and I can practically hear my heart breaking.
“I didn’t think I was catching feelings. I thought I was being cool. Chill. Casual sex kitten,purr-purr-meow, no big deal.”
Stupid tears well in my stupid eyes, and I hate it. I hate how weak I am.
Carina winces. “Oh, honey.”
“I mean, what was I supposed to think?” I swallow hard. “Then he bit me. Claimed me. I thought I was getting my happy ending.”
Silence.
Carina slowly puts down her cocoa.
“So, you mean, he bit you and you thought you were mate claimed, but you’re not?”
I nod.
