Page 52 of Tiger Bitten

“That’s for chicks,” Stellan called after her.

“So, no?” she asked.

The words, “Fuck no,” echoed into the house with her, and she laughed at how easily he was baited. With Stellan, one could not take anything personal. Mars didn’t have to explain that part. She just understood.

“Was Abe your boyfriend?” Stellan asked as she pressed the warm wet cloth on Mars’s face.

“What?” she asked, confused by the random turn in conversation.

“You said Abe liked your eyes.” Stellan looked annoyed at her for not understanding his random ass question. “Was he your boyfriend or something?”

“Ex boyfriend.”

“He liked your cougar?”

Her stomach did a little flipflop and she shook her head, wanting to sidle away from this conversation. “He never knew I was a Cat. He just thought my eyes looked cool, and he liked for his friends and coworkers to notice and guess at the color. Sometimes they change in different lighting. It was like a party trick or something for him. I used to think about wearing colored contacts and tell him they were my regular eye color just to stop his games.”

“He sounds like a chode,” Stellan said around a mouthful of melty marshmallows.

“He is one,” Mars muttered. “I saw him a few days ago.”

Stellan chewed slower, eyes on Mars. “Where was he?”

“Nope,” Mars said.

“What’s his name?” Stellan asked.

The hairs on the back of her neck lifted and chills zinged up her spine.

“Absolutely not. He’s fine. He’s with someone else. Ren doesn’t need you to defend her.”

“Chh,” Stellan said. “As if I would.” He stood suddenly and took the whole box of graham crackers with him and walked away, changed his mind, turned back around, glared at Ren, and turned the firepit off. Then flipped them both off and went to the RV and disappeared inside.

“Your brother is an incredible specimen of a man,” she said.

“If you say so,” Mars muttered. “Specimen of a pain in the ass, more like it.”

“He really drugged and abducted you over state lines.”

“I can hear you, assholes!” Stellan yelled from inside the RV.

Ren pulled the hoodie neck up over her mouth to hide her snickering, and Mars was leaned back in his chair with his shoulders shaking with his quiet laughter. He looked over at her and started laughing harder.

“You can’t look at me in a serious situation,” she cackled. “I’m not the one to do that with.”

Mars was laughing even harder now and had to put his hands over his face to try and control it.

“Benefit to traveling together early in the relationship to meet family,” he croaked out. “You can see how dysfunctional their family is right out the gate.”

“Hey, Dame seems normal,” she said kindly.

“Dame turns into a tiger and hunts squirrels twice a week.”

And now she was cracking up again imagining a big strong tiger chasing those little critters around. She had to bury her whole head in his hoodie because every time she looked at him, they both laughed harder.

“Fuck Abe and his party tricks,” Mars said as she poked her head back out of his hoodie like a little messy-haired turtle.

“What?” she asked, noticing the seriousness that was taking over his expression.