Page 70 of Thirsty
But to be clear: of course a werewolf could happily date a human, even a “bland” one (which I doubt you are). I personally know many werewolves who don’t fit the dated stereotypes your friends are relying on—I’ve seen senior werewolves play like pups, and met type A werewolves who could probably out-organize you. The truth is, there are humans who behave like beasts, and werewolves who’d probably love to curl up beside you while you readThe Call of the Wild.
If you’re wondering about your relationship, think about thepersonyou’re dating, not his species. Does he make you laugh? Can you pass hours or days together and still want more? Do you think about him when you’re not together?
Are you happy—not just content, but deliriously, giddily, uncontrollably happy? If the answer to that is yes, don’t let anything else phase you.
And if anyone makes a shitty comment to you again, you have my permission to maul them.
Sincerely,
Crone
Chapter 20
Charlie and Lorenzo had started the evening on perfectly respectable ends of the couch. But Charlie hadn’t made plans for the night yet, and the longer he spent on his phone trying to find something for them to do, the closer Lorenzo crept. Eventually he got Charlie sprawled over him, his back to Lorenzo’s chest, while Lorenzo nuzzled at Charlie’s neck and Charlie for some reason insisted on pretending that they were still going out. He seemed to take offense at the idea of staying in for the night, as if that meant he wasn’t creative enough to make plans for them. Lorenzo stroked the soft skin of Charlie’s neck with his fingers, his mouth watering, and tried to change his mind.
“You’re sure the Masons aren’t a satanic group,” Charlie asked, as Lorenzo massaged his shoulders and the nape of his neck.
“As far as I am aware, no,” he replied. “They are humans.”
“QVC salespeople?”
Lorenzo grinned, and pressed a kiss to the nape of Charlie’s neck. “Also humans.”
“Area 51?”
Lorenzo pulled back so that Charlie could see how crestfallen he was. “How would I know if the U.S. government is hiding aliens?”
“I dunno,” he giggled. “Ooh, what about the Mall of America? The Mall of America has to be haunted.”
“We can’t make it to the Mall of America tonight,” Lorenzo muttered, ducking down to suck on Charlie’s neck lightly. “It’s hours away.”
Charlie was finally rolling back against him. He obviously couldn’t see his phone anymore. “How far?”
“Give up,” Lorenzo told him, but before he could kiss Charlie properly, there was a hammering at the door.
They both jumped, staring at each other in confusion as the noise continued without stopping—someone on the other end was pounding at the door relentlessly, as if there were an emergency. Lorenzo jumped up and yanked the door open, not sure what to expect—and revealed a staggering, disheveled...“Gray?”
“Oh good,” he said in a distracted sort of tone, pitching forward over the threshold. “Do you have wolfsbane?”
Charlie was staring at him, his mouth open. Lorenzo shut his when he was hit with the overwhelming scents of dirty wolf and alcohol. “I—” he started.
Before he could continue, Gray pushed past both of them into the kitchen, where he started tearing through every drawer and cabinet. “Hang on,” Lorenzo said, following him. Gray was dressed horribly by his own standards, in a wrinkled collared shirt and frumpy jeans. “What’s—hey!” he pulled a bottle of mirin out of Gray’s hand. “What’s going on?”
Gray squinted at them blearily, as if he’d forgotten they werethere, and then drew himself up. “I have been...um...separated. Terminated.” He paused, and then added, “Shitcanned.”
“What...”
“The pack?” Charlie asked. And then, in an insufficiently quiet aside, he muttered, “You can get fired from a werewolf pack?”
Lorenzo glared at him.
“Oh yes,” Gray said breezily, as he started rummaging through Lorenzo’s kitchen again, leaving cabinets open and rattling dishes. “Especially when the wedding you spentmonthsof your life arranging becomes a bloodbath.”
Lorenzo winced. “They blamed you for that?”
“Mm-hmm,” he said. “It was part of the peace talks with the other pack—they couldn’t hold anyoneimportantaccountable for the mess, so they decided it was my fault.” He gasped in happiness as he found a fifth of something in the back of a cabinet, but upon his squinted examination in the light, he sighed and tossed it into the sink. “Now I’m blacklisted everywhere. Okay, do you—where is it?”
“I don’t have any,” Lorenzo told him.
