Page 74 of Claiming Her Cougar
Trevor shakes his head.“Don’t you think you should, Ethan?It’s our home, but it’s hers now.We can’t just keep treating it like a Holiday Inn.She’s never going to turn any of us away, but we should do her the courtesy of asking her and not just assuming we can crash here whenever we want.”
The tips of Ethan’s ears turn red, standing out against the black of his slightly shaggy hair.I guess he really is that clueless.
“Crap.You’re right.I didn’t think about it.It’s amazing she puts up with us.”Ethan tips his bottle toward me.“Don’t think that just because we’re inconsiderate clods that you can get away with treating Mal that way.”
I hold up my hands in a “not me” gesture.
“How long have you two been dating?”Trevor asks.
“We’re not dating,” I say reflexively.
“Bullshit,” Logan says with a cough to cover it.
I shoot my cousin a glare.
Trevor quirks a brow.“Lory will insist you aren’t dating because Valerie is constantly hounding her to promise she’ll never date a coworker, and Lory wants Val’s approval, but I have eyes, and you two are together.I think you’re a good match.”
Ethan nods.“I love our sisters, but they’re a handful.Mal is the mellower of the two though.”
I do a spit take.Mallory.The mellow one?I use the sleeve of my T-shirt to wipe the water I dribbled off my chin.
“It’s true.Lory is stubborn, but Valerie’s so moody.She just broke up with a guy she worked with who turned out to be married with kids, so she’s gone off the deep end.”Trevor looks at Ethan.“Did you get the guy’s name?I’d like to pay him a visit.”
“Nah,” Ethan says.“She’s not talking.She’ll just drink her wine and lick her wounds in private.”Ethan turns to me.“Mallory must really like you a lot if she’s involved with you even though you work together.She’s never gone against what Valerie says before.”
I shrug.“I’m not her boss or in her chain of command.Yeah, we work for the same company, but I have nothing to do with her job.What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that our mother has gone on since the girls were old enough to understand that they had to be strong and succeed on their own merits,” Ethan says.
“What’s wrong with that?”Logan asks.
“Nothing.But Mom felt she lost out on promotions to men or that other women got ahead because they slept their way to the top.Maybe they did.I don’t know.So, she drummed it into their heads that there could be no appearance of favoritism or whatever.Then Valerie hooks up with whatever schmuck and loses out on a promotion to him.It’s like it flipped a switch and she’s doubling down.”Ethan finishes his water, crushes the bottle, and puts it in a bag in the cooler next to him.
Trevor picks up the thread of conversation.“Mom and Val have always kinda double-teamed Mallory.They have very forceful personalities and Lory is mellow, like we said, so she goes along with it.Have you met our parents?”
“Oh, yeah,” mutters Logan.
I nod.
“They don’t realize it, but they’ve treated Mallory differently than the rest of us.I think because she doesn’t shift, they don’t know what to do with her.Mom doesn’t understand her because they’re so different.Mallory keeps trying to earn their approval.She especially wants Valerie’s, and I don’t think it’s possible,” Ethan says.
“She needs to say fuck it and just do what she wants to do,” Trevor says.
I agree wholeheartedly.But if she won’t, and us working together is the impediment to us being together, then I’ll remove that obstacle as soon as I can.I just hope she’ll still be there when I’ve done it.
“Ready to head back?”Ethan asks.
We shift and lope through the woods back to the house.The trees are thin as we approach the backyard, revealing Mallory and Daphne lounging on the patio.No sign of Valerie.That’s good.When the girls notice us, Daphne wanders to the side of the house.I guess Logan will meet her there and shift?Mallory gets up and wanders into the yard toward me.Her brothers continue to the patio, and I hear her nephews cry out for their dad.Ethan and Trevor remain in their wolf forms to tussle gently with the boys.Mallory has never seen me in my cat form, so I stay as I am, trusting she’ll tell me if she wants me to shift.
“Wow, you’re gorgeous,” she says as she approaches me.
I swish my heavy tail just to show it off before sitting on my haunches and wrapping it around my front paws like a house cat.I’m a big guy, and so is my cat.Seated like this, I’m eye to eye with Mallory.
She reaches out a hand to touch me and then stops herself, embarrassed.“I’m sorry.I was going to pet you without asking permission.I know better.”Her green gaze meets mine.“May I touch you, please?”
Like she ever needs to ask.I nod my head and lean forward, welcoming her touch.She reaches out and runs her hand over the back of my head.
“Oh, you’re so soft.”
