Page 50 of Wishing for a Werewolf
“No chewing.” She dances back and forth, her hooves playing a happy tune against the sidewalk. “Promise.”
I swing the door open, and she scampers through it, going from zero to sixty in one second flat. Babybelle zips around the room, amber eyes bright with glee as she decides what she wants to explore first. Whoever coined the phrase “curious as a cat” never met goats, because goats get intoeveryeffing thing.
“I love it! I love it!” She winds in and out of the bookshelves. “So many books!”
“No chewing!” I yell again as I carry the cocktail mixings over to the wooden sideboard that holds the coffee station.Grounds for Celebration has only been open a day, but I can already tell Naomi’s using the old coffee maker less.
“Oh, good, I’m glad you’re early,” Naomi steps out of the backroom. “I’ve got to get home to Faerie. Wranth is ‘surprising’ me with a trip to a new waterfall for dinner and more.”
“What part of that is a surprise if you know all about it?”
“The fact that he thinks he’s hidden it from me.” She laughs. “I’ll probably tell him right before I get him to chase me. It’ll make it even better when he catches me.”
A shiver goes through me at her words. “Chase?”
Naomi grins and grabs a book off a nearby table and presses it into my hands. It’s a wolf shifter romance by Lara Jade titledPrimal Play. “Chapters nineteen through twenty-two, if you want to get straight to the spicy stuff.” She gives me a knowing wink. “Got to run. Have Hannah lock up for me?”
I nod, my eyes flicking back toward the book.
Naomi disappears with a faint pop, teleporting away. That will never not be cool. And teleporting sure sounds way the eff better than my glitchy wishing magic.
The door swings open, Hannah holding it so Skye can step inside, a tray of cupcakes balanced on her arms. We all chorus “Hi!” at the same time.
“Me! Me! Me!” Babybelle caroms from behind a bookshelf and arrows straight for my friends. When she tries to stop, her hooves slide over the slick hardwood floor, and she bumps into Hannah’s legs. “You haven’t said hi to me!”
My friend laughs and crouches down to pet the mini-goat. “Hello!”
Skye walks over to set down the cupcakes, and my impatient little familiar bounces after her, leaping up onto the sideboard. “What are those? Can I have one?”
“Nope!” I scoop her up into my arms. “Waytoo much sugar for you.”
A giggle slips from Skye as she pets the mini-goat’s head. “Can you imagine her on a sugar high?”
“Eff no. Don’t even tease. She’s even smarter now that she’s my familiar, and it’s only made her more rotten.”
“I’m not rotten! I smell good. I don’t pee on myself like Limburger does!”
“Thank eff for small favors,” I say, as Hannah breaks into a laugh, and I explain what Babybelle said to Skye.
I give my familiar one of her chew treats, wash my hands, and start making cereal milk cocktails. Due to the fall festival and Halloween, we’re probably going to be too busy over the coming two weekends to have Witch Bitch Spicy Book Club meetings, so Skye and I decided to roll out our pumpkin spice treats this week.
While we work, I say, “So… I’m glad you two got here before everyone else. I slept with Rune.”
Skye gasps, her bright-pink lips making a startled O.
“It’s about damned time,” Hannah says.
“And?” Skye leans toward me. “How was it?”
I pause for a moment, teasing her—my friend is a die-hard romantic—then break into a grin. “It was effing amazing. We spent the entire day together, getting his house ready for his family to visit, and after dinner, it just kind of happened.”
“Just kind of happened?” Hannah parrots, then points atme. “I’m not sure I believe that.”
“Okay, so… I might have licked him to get the ball rolling.” I grin.
“You didn’t!” Skye sounds both delighted and horrified.
“Just his arm. Get your mind out of the gutter.” I pour another cocktail and use my most innocent voice. “I didn’t lick anything else for at least a good five minutes.”
