Page 41 of Claiming Her Cougar
“Kidding!Jeez.So, what’s the issue?”
“I’m a cougar shifter.”I rejoin my cousin on the couch.I’m tired of pacing.
“She comes from a wolf pack, right?Surely, she’s not anti-shifter?”
“Shifting isn’t the problem.”I lean my head against the back of the couch and look up at the ceiling.“I’m not a wolf.She needs to please her family, and she’s convinced she needs to ‘make up’ for not being a wolf shifter by marrying one.”I can’t believe I did the air quote fingers.Now I’m the teenage girl.
“Who’s talking marriage?Go out to dinner, fool around.Keep it out of the office.”
I turn my head on the cushion to look at him.I don’t know how to explain this without sounding crazy.
“Just say it, Liam.”Logan prods me.“I can hear you thinking.”
“I know I’ve only really known her two weeks, and this is crazy, but…”
“You think she’s the one.”
“Yeah.That’s crazy, right?”I sit up and rest my forearms on my thighs, clasping my hands loosely together.
“No.Sometimes you just know,” he assures me.“Look at our parents.They all knew from the start they were meant to be together.They didn’t always act on it if the stories are to be believed, but they knew.”He slaps me on the shoulder.“You guys saw each other across a dance floor and then hooked up.You were both feeling something.I know you’re not a monk, but I know you aren’t a random hookup guy.You usually at least learn something more about them than their first name before you have sex.I don’t know Mallory well, but I don’t think what happened in Vegas is normal behavior for her either.Sometimes our animals know what our human brains don’t.”
“It took you and Daphne years.”
“Well, I’m a dumbass,” Logan says easily.“My heart knew from the moment she knocked me in the head with her backpack in class she was the one for me.My head was stubborn and insisted it wanted to be free and go on adventures.”
He takes a sip of his water and starts peeling the label.“Daphne has abandonment and loss issues, so the blame doesn’t solely rest with me.She was afraid to risk being hurt by losing someone again.We needed the time it took for us both to grow up, admit what we wanted, and recognize what we had.”He shrugs.“Sometimes we meet the right person at the wrong time.”
“So, what do I do?Do I just accept it?Be friends and ignore the fact I want more?Not be friends?”This is the first time we’ve had a serious talk about adult relationships.We’d talk about flings when we were kids, but we’re men now.This isn’t kid stuff.
“Can you be friends with her?If she says no for whatever reason, you obviously need to respect that.”
“Obviously.How were you able to be friends with Daphne all those years?”
“Why do you think I traveled all the time?”
I laugh.Then I look at his face and the laughter dies.
“Seriously?That’s why you became a travel photographer?”In the five years since he’s graduated college, he’s maybe been home two or three months a year, but not at one time.It would be a week or two here and there throughout the year.
“That’s why I stayed away so much.I love to travel and have a talent for photography, but I took all those assignments and didn’t come home often because it was impossible to be around Daphne so much and just be her friend.I wanted to make her mine for years, but I had to wait for her to be ready.”He gazes at me.“It was hell.Especially when I had to worry about assholes like you swooping in while I was gone.”
“Dude, I was never serious about flirting with Daphne.It was just fun.I always knew she was hung up on you.She knew I wasn’t serious.”
“You’re not the only guy who flirted with her.She doesn’t realize the effect she has on people.She thinks she’s invisible, but she has a way about her that attracts everyone.We went out to dinner, and our waiter flirted with her like I wasn’t even there!”
I choke on my beer because I’m laughing so hard.
“It’s not funny!She called him on it, and he told her in case she dumped me, he wanted to get in line.”
“That’s not a bad strategy.It probably works.”
Logan nods.“It has.We went back last weekend and saw it in action.It’s impressive when it’s not my girlfriend he’s trying to pick up.”
He puts his water bottle on the coffee table and turns to look at me.“So, what’s your plan with Mallory?Just be friends?”
I shrug.“I don’t see what else I can do.She has her reasons, and I must respect them.”
“Are you going to be all Zen spouting ‘what is meant to be, will be’bullshit?”Logan’s smirk shows the unlikeliness of me being able to pull that off.
