Butterflies flew around my stomach. Cheeks flared with heat.
“No… no… go to the damn woods,” I muttered.
“I love getting you all hot and bothered, and you kissing me told me exactly what I needed to know,” he said. He smiled widely, dimples and all.
I let out a small laugh and then shoved him.
His smile dropped. “Do you want me to come see you while I’m shifted?”
“What?” I asked.
“To get used to it, when we go back home, you might see more shifted. You don’t have to, I just wanted to offer,” he said.
“I guess… we can try,” I said.
“Okay… I gotta go,” he said, then leaned over and kissed my cheek.
He grabbed his bag that was sitting on the chair, threw it on his back, and ran toward the woods. The sun had already dropped below the tree line, and it wouldn’t be long before it was completely gone.
Quinn explained that once the sun dropped past the horizon, they would shift involuntarily, though not always all at once. Some could fight it a few minutes longer than others, which is why Daxyn shifted, and he hadn’t yet that night. Most of them chose to shift before it forced them to shift. He said it was more painful for a forced transition than doing it on their own.
I went inside and made Lucy a bottle. She’d gotten so wiggly and big that it had gotten hard to hold her and make a bottle at the same time. Once I made the bottle, I scooped her up and sat down in the chair with her. Quinn had gotten a little animal pen that we put in the corner of the living room. It had her bed, a smallbox filled with litter, little food bowls, and some little plastic ball toys. She wasn’t as interested in the toys quite yet. She did enjoy attacking our fingers, though.
She fell asleep purring in my arms right after she finished the bottle. I moved her back into her bed. I’d been trying not to hold her as much as I had been. Lina’s truck pulled into the driveway moments later. She came at the perfect time. My stomach started to rumble. I opened the door and stood on the porch as she got out of her truck.
“Hey, Lina!” I yelled at her.
“Hey, sweetheart,” she said, “I have food, dice, and a notepad.”
“Do you need me to grab anything?”
“Nope, I got it all,” she said.
She had the glass platter with a cotton wrap around it, and a small sack sitting on top of it. I held the door open for her. She came in and put the glass pan on the counter, then set the bag onto the table.
“Let’s eat,” she said. We both filled our bowls up and went to the table.
“How are things going with Quinn?” she asked.
I almost choked on my food.
“That says more than what you didn’t say,” she said, smiling.
“You’re so perceptive,” I said.
“Of course, I am. I’ve been around the block for a while,” she said.
“We kissed!” I blurted out.
Her eyes widened, just a little bit, not enough to say she was shocked, but intrigued.
“Tell me more,” she said.
“Oh, that’s it,” I said.
“Do you want there to be more?” she asked.
“No… Yes… I don’t know… I’m confused,” I said.