Page 35 of Bria and the Tiger

“Not too much this weekend. Some work. What about tonight? Plans for tonight?”

Fuck, could he sound any more pathetic?

Bria flushed and picked up her coffee mug from the counter. “I do have plans, yeah. Um, dinner with a friend.”

“Good. Anyone I know?”

His tiger made a low growl of anger at his stupidity. He wanted to argue, but he was sounding like a fucking idiot.

“No,” Bria said. “Uh, no I don’t think so.”

“Right. Okay, well, bye.”

“Bye.” She gave him an uncertain look and left the kitchen.

He ignored his urge to bash his forehead against the wall to see if it knocked some fucking sense into him, and grabbed a mug from the cupboard.

Lincoln was leaning against the counter and staring at him.

“What?” Jace poured a cup of coffee.

“That was a train wreck, dude. Like, I watched that train coming down the tracks and then just…boom.” Lincoln shook his head. “You used to have game with the ladies, what the fuck happened?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just making small talk with an employee.”

“Sure. Hey, did Rosalie seem different to you?”

“No.”

Lincoln ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “Really? You don’t think she’s been a bit standoffish or something this week?”

“No.”

“All right. See you in the meeting at ten.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“If I’m lucky, some hot little shifter who likes taking it up the ass.”

Jace scowled at him. “Seriously, Lincoln?”

“What? You asked, I answered. Why? You wanna do something?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have any plans. I was thinking of maybe going to Bud’s and having dinner and a few drinks.”

“Oh, fuck yes,” Lincoln said. “I’m in.”

“Good. I’ll meet you there after work.”

“Fuckin’ A, my friend. Fuckin’ A.”

Jace grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and walked to his office. He shut the door and collapsed into the chair behind his desk. He tossed the apple on his desk and stared at his monitor. His tiger was making low growls of happiness, but his stomach was rolling with nausea.

What the fuck was he doing?

Going to Bud’s tonight was absolutely the wrong thing to do. So, why was he doing it? Bria wasn’t his, no matter what his tiger tried to say. Besides, he didn’t want Bria to be his. He didn’t – no, he couldn’t – be in a relationship again. Not after what happened to his brother.

Your brother? What about you? It runs in the family, you know. It’s hereditary and if you think it was just your brother who was the unlucky one, you’re fooling yourself. You remember what it was like when you and Tabitha broke up, don’t you? You remember how it felt. How you felt. How scared your parents got. They were sure you were going to end up like Jonah. They were right to be afraid. Weren’t they?

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