Page 35 of Forget Me Not
“I’m sorry about last night, I got caught up with some stuff at home…I didn’t mean to stand you up—I said I would be there, and I wasn’t. I don’t like going back on my word, I swear it won’t happen again.” Bastien met her gaze with a surprising level of guilt written across his features.
“Oh, no, please. Don’t feel bad, you’re fine. I honestly…I’m pretty certain I justsleptlast night. I don’t think I…you know.”
It was weird for her to sleep dreamlessly. Waking up with socks still on her sweaty feet, right where she put them before bed, had been all the proof she needed to know she had never left her bed unawares.
“Really? Bambi, that’s great! I mean, I’m glad—you’ll be able to sleep better now, I hope. Maybeknowingis enough to keep you from sleep-shifting.”
She agreed and an awkward silence fell over them.
“So,” Syve said as Bas took a drink, “Do I like…need to start planning around full moons now?”
He choked, coughing on the water and a mouthful dribbled down his shirt.
“Sorry,” he laughed, wiping his short beard with his hand then drying his hand on his jeans. “I’m not laughing at you, I promise.”
“Sure, sounds like it.” Syve pouted. “It’s not my fault I don’t know anything.”
She crossed her arms, dejected.
“I’m sorry, I really should have seen that one coming. No, you don’t need to worry about lunar interference. All the stereotypes you see in books and movies are mostly false rumors spread by shifters to help keep us hidden. There are a couple books that have a few things right…” He trailed off then shook his head like he was trying to force himself back on track.
“Alright, then I guess I can assume I’m not at risk of turning the entire town into deer by accidentally biting them?”
“Do you usually make a habit out of biting the townsfolk?”
Smart ass.
“Yes, I obviously go around biting everyone I meet as a form of greeting,” she deadpanned, and he laughed.
“Just making sure I don’t need to watch my back around you.”
“You’re not worried about your front?”
What the hell was wrong with her? Was sheflirtingwith him? Her stomach turned.
He opened his mouth to respond, studied her a moment and then seemed to change his mind. Instead, he set his glasson the coffee table and leaned back, throwing one arm over the back of the couch while the other rested in his lap.
“Can I ask a question now?” he finally said.
She nodded, angling her body toward him and tucking her legs under her.
“How did you and Aimi meet?”
“Oh.” The only other person to ever ask her that was E. “We met in college. She’s wicked smart—she also got her BA in business, so we had some classes together. She’s actually three years younger than me.”
Bastien tilted his head to the side, eyes wide, shocked. Not that she could blame him, it had shocked her too.
She had been sitting in her first college class, a month away from her eighteenth birthday, when Aimi had bounced into the room and taken the seat next to her.
“Hi! I’m Aimi, and we’re meant to be best friends.”
Syve blinked at the literal child sitting next to her.
“Oh—guess I should explain instead of sounding like a complete psycho. You and I are the only two people in the entire class with pigtails. Kismet.”
“She seems like a good friend.”
“The best. She’s my anchor—she’s kept me from drifting, on more than one occasion. I can’t imagine life without her.” She sat up a little straighter. “That reminds me, I obviously talked to Aimi after you left last night…”
