Page 105 of Haze

“Asshole,” Lena mutters, following me away from her SUV.

“If that’s a request for anal tonight, I’ll oblige,” I reply without looking back at her.

Her face is still red when I open the door to the black SUV Cade gifted me for her benefit. She objects when I take the seatbelt from her hand and click it into the mechanism across her lap. The objection falls silent when our lips meet.

* * *

The natural smell of the woods at this state park is being sullied by the scent of bar food, but the way Lena’s face lights up as she tosses a cheese curd in her mouth is worth it.

“Is this where you use start the conversation with ‘tell me about yourself’?” Lena runs a cheese curd through barbeque sauce.

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary.” I smile at her across from me, opening my box after saying grace.

I lift the pickle out from inside my burger box.

Lena cringes. It’s almost a whole-body affair. With her lip curling in disgust, she’s firm with the single word. “No.”

“No pickles?”

“Not if you want to kiss me again.” Her eyes flick between me and the cucumber.

She wants me to kiss her again.

“Good to know.” I set it down and wipe the juice from my hand with a napkin.

Lena pauses before putting another one of the cheese curds in her mouth. She examines me for a few moments but goes back to eating.

“Ewww.” Lena opens her box with her burger, and her voice falls with a whine.

Her wolf runs to the surface.

“What’s wrong, faolan?” I put down the chip I had picked up.

Her whole body squirms as she examines the contents of her white takeout box. There’s more whining, and she bites her bottom lip.

“It’s fine.” She draws a deep breath, and it comes out ragged. She talks herself down, nodding, but the words don’t sound fully believed. “There’s—no, it’s okay. I can do this.”

Pushing the white lid of the Styrofoam out of the way, I see the problem. Green pickle juice soaks the bottom of her container. Her burger bun is soggy and full of pickle juice.

“Oh, Kathleen, I’ll fix it.”

I pick up her container and set it next to mine. She watches me as I pick up her burger and tip the beef patties over to the side, balancing them on the top bun in my palm. I pull the top bun off my burger to replace her juice-soaked one. Carefully, I transfer my burger to the top of her fries and my pickle to the soaked bottom of her box. After grabbing a paper napkin, I wipe the tiny bit of juice out of my container before returning the thick burger to it and sliding it back to her.

“You didn’t have to.” Lena looks at the new box of food in front of her.

Reaching across the table, I tip her chin to look at me. “I know, and what feels like a big deal to you isn’t even a minor inconvenience to me.”

Lena shrugs her head off my hand. “It’s ridiculous. A meltdown over pickles, but I can’t. I can’t get past it. Deacon will usually catch it if I don’t remember to tell them no pickles.” Her face reddens, and she begins volunteering information. “Okay, so I know I’m weird about my food. But some things aren’t allowed to touch, and then some textures can’t be eaten together.” She bites her lips together, eyes raising from her plate to look at me. “Deacon used to tell me that it all ends up in the same place anyway. I like what I like, and maybe I have four stomachs like a cow, and everything gets digested in separate places. Which is ridiculous because their stomachs don’t work that way, but maybe mine does.”

My wolf pushes to be closer to her. Let her feel love.

Abandoning my plate, I slide out of the wooden picnic table and move around to her side. Lena doesn’t object. I pick up the one bun, that isn’t saturated in pickle juice, and my burger with the cheese and bacon and bring it over to eat with one hand. I wrap my other arm around her, resting my hand on her low waist.

Tension simmers off her as she relaxes against my touch. It takes a little bit before she finally picks up her burger and takes a bite.

“Is there anything you don’t eat?” Lena asks between bites.

“Any pussy that isn’t yours.”

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