Page 11 of Shifter's Dream

Conri parked and got out of his truck and they all waited for him in a little group, with Troy standing off to the side a little bit. Conri had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“For me?” Mac called. “You know I don't put out on the first date, right?”

Rogue snorted, so did Beckett. Troy lost interest and headed for the bar.

“Not for you,” Conri said pleasantly from behind him. “These are for a lady.”

Troy was almost inside, and excited.

Conri called out from behind him, stopping him in his tracks, making him remember those blows to the head he had been thinking about.

“I’ve got time for payback, though, Troy, if you really want to.”

His voice was sly.Fucking Conri.

Troy whirled and faced off with him, raising his wolf-dukes. “Let’s go big guy,” he said.

Conri put his flowers down out of the way, and moved in close, his manner easy and a little self-righteous. Fucker. Troy went in fast and low and feinted at the last minute, hoping to get Conri to go for him. Conri did, and Troy side-stepped behind him, catching him with an elbow to the back of the neck, expecting Conri to topple. Conri didn’t.

“Bam, that’s me kicking your ass,” Troy said anyway, smoothly, pushing off the ground with his front foot, dancing around Conri. He’d practiced that line, too.

Conri shook his head and laughed and came at him, backing him toward the restaurant wall and away from the flowers. Troy danced some more, ducking under a whistling punch, then tried to throw Conri off-balance again. No dice, again. Conri moved quicker than Troy thought he could and caught Troy around the middle, using his own momentum against him, slamming him into the restaurant.

Oops, … ran into the wall a little bit,Troy told anyone listening, catching his breath in little sips pulling out of Conri’s grip, dropping to the ground, rolling away. Troy bounced up on the other side of the big male. Troy was too big to move as fast as he did, but his wolf muscles were in tip-top shape so he pulled it off.

Mid-retreat, Troy lunged forward instead, grabbing Conri in a chokehold and hammering him face-first into the wall. Conri didn’t even flinch, instead he growled menacingly and grabbed for Troy, getting him off-balance easily, then twisting him, trying to body-slam him. Troy held on to Conri’s neck tight, determined to choke him out. The front door to the bar opened. People came out, but so did a scent he could not get enough of.

“Peppermint,” Troy breathed. He went limp. He would take the defeat and get the hell into the bar.

Conri flipped him and slammed him into the ground, then stood over him and grinned.

Troy stared at the sky and caught his breath, until Conri offered him a hand and yanked him to his feet like he weighed nothing.

Conri grinned in triumph. “Anytime you want payback, Troy, you come see me.” He grabbed up his flowers, but he didn’t head for the front door, he walked around the side toward the back of the building.

“Hey, you big, dumb bear, the door is this way,” Mac called, from where the group had been watching the fight.

Conri stopped long enough to turn around and point at Mac. “I have a six-pack of whoop-ass for you, too, Mac.”

Rogue laughed merrily and nodded her head, like she would like to see that. Dahlia and Cerise watched more dispassionately, like this was part of the mess that was life as a KSRTwolfenand a One True Mate that they enjoyed the least. The wolf shit.

“Damn,” Mac said, sounding put out. “Why can’t you be more like your big brother? That guy has class. I’m going to have to call you, ‘Meany-pants-Bruin’.”

Conri snarled a bear snarl at Mac, which was kind of a stupid snarl, in Troy’s opinion, and then he disappeared around the corner of the building. Conri knew he got a pass and he exploited it, but that was cool. Like his twin, he was a good bear. Like his twin, he should have been a wolf.

Troy headed for the front door, like a kid who'd spotted a candy jar... a candy jar full of sweet, delicious, peppermint candy.

7 – Flowers

Reed rolled her shoulders as she race-walked back to the kitchen to see what food was ready for her. The place was filling up and she was already behind, but if she could just get the next few orders out she might have a minute or two to take a breather. Just before she headed into the back, the front door opened, and a group of three couples and a single guy walked in. The four men in the group didn’t walk, they lumbered and loped in, like most every cop she’d ever seen. The cops were different in uniform, more stiff and weighed down, but when you saw them in street clothes? They rolled inside their clothes. They glided. They looked as ready to dance all night as they did to brawl all night.

Reed’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the guy in the back, holding the door for everyone else. He came through last, loping the most, his gait powerful and sexy. She didn’t know about that vintage mustache on his face, but he did have yummy, bad-boy sideburns and his body was thick but rangy, like he chopped down trees for a living, but did yoga when all the sexy tree-chopping was done. Too bad he was beat up like an MMA fighter. One of the cuts on his face was fresh, like he’d been in a street fight right outside!

Nope. Uh, uh, ReRe. Grown men with bad boy sideburns are always a bad idea. That’s a heartbreaker, right there. Just look away.Reed did, easily. The last thing she needed was a fun distraction that would eventually leave her alone and eating Ben and Jerry’s like she owned stock in the company.

Reed eyed the group, without eyeing them, watching them move into the bar and decide where to sit. She couldn’t look away. She busied herself with organizing menus just to the other side of the door, holding her breath to see whose section they would sit in. They went right. Sage’s section. Reed breathed a sigh of relief and pulled herself away from the sights. She hit the door that separated the bar from the behind the scenes workings, ready to yell for Sage, when she saw Sage at the back door with a man. Reed stopped at the setup table and began to quietly load her tray, not eavesdropping more than a little.

He was a big one, with dark hair cropped close to his head. He stood just outside the doorway, hands held behind his back, looking over Sage, leaning in close to her, looking like he wanted to touch her, but he didn’t quite dare. His adoration and her upper hand were obvious from across the room. Reed sent him a tiny, silent apology.Sorry buddy, don’t get attached, Sage never does.Sage fluttered her hands at the big guy and he stepped back like she’d pushed him. She smiled at him and he moved in, trying to conform his body to hers. Reed snickered. Too late for this guy. She’d never seen him before, but he was already a smitten kitten over Sage. He’d get over it. Most of them did.

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