Page 63 of So I Won a Werelion

“Big AZ Burritos for sure. And the movies…there are a lot of favorites. Depends on my mood. Do I want campy or to be scared out of my mind? Something supernatural or screwed up humans? Am I in the mood for—” She gasped as we pulled into the lot. “—are we going up in a hot air balloon?”

“We are.” The van parked and I opened the door, helping her out. Her heels were impossibly high, and the parking lot wasn’t paved. I held her hand and let her over to the balloons. “I wanted to show you Sunset Springs in a way you’ve never seen it before.”

“It’s perfect,” she said more to herself than anyone else.

The balloon crew was waiting for us. Only Bibi and Bjorn had accompanied us on this date because we could only fit so many people in the basket. I didn’t see Hugo or Lars on the ground, but I had no doubt they saw us.

We got whisked into the basket, and the crew untethered the ropes. Wendy gripped my hand as we lifted from the ground.

“Didn’t think a horror movie fan like you would be nervous about going up into the sky,” I said.

She let out a slow breath, but her body was still tense. A few tendrils of hair escaped her bun and whipped in the breeze.

Wild, my lion said.Just how you like her.

“I don’t have any control up here. I’ve only flown a couple times. Don’t quite have the hang of it. Aren’t you nervous?”

I shook my head. “Cats have a way of landing on their feet.”

“And I have a way of falling flat on my face.” She turned her body so she faced outward, and Sunset Springs shrank underneath us. “It’s so cool from this angle. You can see everything.”

“What do you always wish you had in Sunset Springs?” Bibi asked.

“I always wanted someone to share the cool stuff with me. An automatic plus one that I don’t even have to ask about Food Truck Friday.” Wendy had to talk loudly to be heard. “Or all the drag shows at the Orchid Lounge. Sometimes I didn’t do the stuff I really wanted to do because I had no one to do it with.”

“I want to be that plus one.” I put my hand over hers on the railing. The view was gorgeous, the sun was beginning to set, and the colors in the sky were competing with those in our balloon. “I had teammates, thought they were my friends. Considered them my pack. But they all turned their backs on me when I got into trouble.”

“You never told me that.” She frowned. “I knew about Jonathan, but not the rest.”

“I was embarrassed.” Shame wasn’t an emotion I let myself get up close and personal with. Regret? The only ones I had were the ones when it came to Wendy. “I’d laid it all on the line, and it wasn’t enough.”

“You were amazing at your sport for a long time, and people—and shifters—get threatened by that level of talent. One thing I’ve realized, especially working with my sister and selling houses, is people hate change. Even if they want something new, they want it to be familiar. They don’t want their fur ruffled orhave to up their game. I might not have competed like you did, but I always wanted more. But I was afraid too.”

“Do you think you’re using the search for information about the Scepter to keep everything the same?” Bibi asked.

Wendy furrowed her brow at her. “I don’t understand the question.”

“Are you letting work keep you from going deeper in your relationship with Gabriel in an attempt to keep it the same?” Bibi pulled no punches this time.

“I knew I could trust you.” Wendy’s gaze was only for me. “That you’d have my back no matter what.”

“Don’t you think that could apply to more things than the dick relic?”

“Gabe.” She blushed, turning almost the same color as her dress. “You’ve got to show it some respect.”

“I will, but right now, it’s blocking me from truly claiming my mate.”

And before she had a chance to shoot me down, I leaned in and kissed her.

Chapter

Twenty

Gabe

“The safari outfits weren’t necessary.” Somehow Bibi had managed to get matching khaki outfits for the entire Mating Game crew, including the security guards now watching our every move, as well as Wendy and me.

“You have to admit, they are cute.” Bibi had popped her collar and she tied the front of her shirt with a knot.

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