Page 57 of The Werewolf's Deputy
He lifted a shoulder. “I’m down for anything. Just don’t be surprised if I suck.”
“Oh, believe me, we won’t be surprised about that,” Axel teased, waggling his eyebrows. “Considering the goofy grin on Emmett’s face.”
Jonah felt his cheeks burn, but Mama Lupe hadn’t gone far, and Axel was the next to get an ear pinch for bad behavior. Laughing, Jonah gave his attention to the game, listening to Tasha’s instructions as he picked out a character.
It took no time at all for them to realize Jonah wasn’t bluffing about being bad at shooters.
“Why are you looking at the ceiling? Look down!”
“You’re making me dizzy! Why are you spinning around?”
“Not that button!” Axel shouted. “You’ll–” Jonah’s character exploded when he accidentally set off a grenade without throwing it like he should have. “...blow yourself up.”
In his defense, he couldn’t see where he was throwing it and got confused. Meanwhile, Tasha was wiping the floor with everyone who came up against them, dragging Jonah along for each win even though he didn’t get a single kill. Jonah slumped in his seat with a groan.
“I’m really bad at this.”
“Don’t give up, Jonah. You’re getting better,” a werewolf who introduced herself as Jane said reassuringly, patting his knee. She’d taken Axel’s place when he decided Jonah was so bad, he needed a coach more than he needed an opponent. He’d been standing behind Jonah, trying to make suggestions for the past few games. It didn’t really help that much.
“No, he’s not. Don’t give him false hope,” another pack member argued, though his tone was playful, not cruel. Jonah couldn’t remember his name. Too many people introduced themselves while he’d been trying to figure out the game and didn’t have time to stop and greet them properly.
Tasha chuckled, bumping shoulders with him. “You just need more practice. How about we let someone else play? I’m starving.”
Jonah could agree to that, handing his controller off to the next eager werewolf looking to cause some chaos on the screen. They’d been playing for a few hours already and not too long ago, Jonah thought he smelled pizza.
Emmett was sitting at a table nearby, a plate and a bottle of soda near his elbow as he spoke to Miguel with an easy smile. He didn’t look any worse for wear from their wrestling match, and he slid the plate in front of Jonah as he sat down, putting an arm around the back of his chair automatically.
Miguel took in their closeness and asked, “So has your little plan worked?”
Jonah frowned, his mouth too full to ask what he was talking about. Thankfully, Emmett asked for him.
“What plan?”
“The fake dating thing,” Miguel explained, gesturing to them. “Didn’t you say you were doing this to get people at the office to back off?”
Jonah stiffened. Technically that had been true, but it hadn’t ever felt that way. From the start, things had felt natural, and he’d honestly stopped thinking about it as fake for the most part. Especially after the way Emmett showed up for him when his life fell apart.
Tasha snorted. “You don’t really think they’re faking, do you?” She must have noticed the way both he and Emmett froze because she turned her attention onto them, her tone incredulous. “Are you serious? You can’t really be that delusional, can you?”
“Who’s delusional?” Layla, another pack member who worked security at Spellbound, asked as she came to join them, snagging a slice of pizza from Tasha’s box. She got a snarl in return but didn't blink at the threat, chasing the cheese that stretched as she took a bite.
Tasha gestured at Jonah and Emmett, explaining, “These two somehow still think their relationship is fake.”
Layla choked on her slice, jerking her head down to look at them. “Wait. What? When was it fake?”
“Since the beginning,” Jonah argued, though his words didn’t really have much weight to them. He didn’t want it to be fake anymore. It’d been a nice offer at the time, people either smelled Emmett on him or word spread that he was taken because they didn’t bother him anymore, but he’d stopped thinking about dates as ways to get Emmett’s scent on him a while ago. He just wanted to spend time with him.
“Boys are idiots,” Layla commented, making Jonah, Emmett, and Miguel complain at her.
“Hey!”
She shrugged, unconcerned. “I’m just saying. You two are smitten, and we all see it. Why keep lying to yourselves when it’s obvious you both have feelings for each other?”
Jonah couldn’t help glancing at Emmett. Did he feel the same way? Or was she making things awkward for them when Emmett was only having a good time?
Emmett looked just as hopeful as Jonah felt, and his stomach flipped a little at the look on his face. He swallowed hard, opening his mouth to ask if Emmett wanted to maybe make things official when someone cut him off.
“What the hell is he doing here?”
