Page 27 of Bears Behaving Badly
Ugh. No.
Thorny questions of duties to subspecies aside, knowing a Shifter didn’t necessarily mean having seen both halves. Nadia was the only colleague who had seen Annette’s other self. By contrast, just about every were Nadia knew had seen her fly.
For most, showing both halves was a matter of personal preference, and subjective issues like pride, confidence, upbringing, and even personal politics played their part. Oh, and species-ism. Mustn’t forget that.
“Well, I thought it was cool. Want to see mine? I’ll do it,” Dev announced. “I’ll do it right now. Stand back.”
“Don’t youdareget fox fur in my scone mix!”
“Ourscone mix.”
“Save me some,” she ordered. Well, whined. Good God, she loved pastry, she really did. Maybe David would be amenable to swinging through a drive-through. Multiple times.
Chapter 11
As it turned out, once David had retrieved his car, he was all kinds of amenable.
“It’s not just the biscuit and the egg,” she explained with her mouth full. “It’s the tenderness of the biscuit and the smokiness of the ham and the gooeyness of the cheese and the admittedly overcooked egg. Alone, they’re insignificant. Even unpalatable, when it comes to the egg…so rubbery. But together, they’re transcendent. Sorry, what was the question?”
“I wasn’t talking to you. Just telling the Razer I was back.” He patted the dashboard, which was so cute it was stupid. “And you’re talking about Burger King chow, right?”
“Yes, but that also applies to scrambled eggs and ketchup. I don’t like scrambled eggs, and I think ketchup is something you have to use when you’ve lost a bet. Not that I bet. But they’re so good together! Don’t read into that.” David chuckled as she tore into her third breakfast biscuit. “I can’t believe you’re done eating already. Aren’t you famished? You burned thousands of calories at my place last night.” Then she nearly choked on the unintentional double entendre. Two in ten seconds!
“Yeah, well, I was gonna make scrambled eggs last night, but your roommate started screaming about scones and custard like I’d stabbed him.”
“No, he makes a very different noise when you stab him.”
“Okay, disturbing. Anyway, that’s why you’ve got some eggs left but you’re out of lunch meat and Ritz crackers. And everything on the second shelf in your fridge.” David paused, thinking. “And mustard.”
“We’re out of mustard? How could you keep this from me?”
“I’ll buy you more.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, can I ask you something?”
“Somethingelse, right? Because by asking if you can ask me something, you’ve already asked me something.”
“Bad enough you’re using clichés—”
“Hey!”
“—but they’re Nadia’s clichés. You need a new partner.”
“Oh, are you volunteering?”
“…No.”
She grinned. “I’m going to pass over that disconcerting pause and change the subject back to your evening stroll. I’m guessing you found nothing out of the ordinary?”
“No, just your scent everywhere. Which I expected. And Pat’s, which… Actually, I thought I’d find more of it. What there was, it was really faint. Not…old, exactly. Just not as strong as yours. What’s his story? Can I ask?”
“It’s a standard backstory,” she said. “He made a series of bad decisions, fell in with the wrong crowd, was slashed and nearly burned alive. The usual adolescent angst.”
“Jesus. Where the hell did you grow up?”
“Prescott, Wisconsin,” she replied. “Or was that rhetorical?”
“Why aren’t you seeing anyone?”
Annette was surprised by his question (which she presumed wasn’t rhetorical), but not as surprised as David, who looked startled as the color rose to his cheeks.
