Page 17 of Howlin’ For You

And when he said that he’d be jealous if Georgie flirted with me in that dark, raspy whisper? I’m surprised I didn’t melt into a pathetic, whimpering little puddle right at his feet.

I’m not one for one-night-stands or short-term flings. Call it my abandonment issues, but I need time to get attached to someone. And once I do? Losing them is too much to bear.

So even if his flirting doesn’t mean anything and I’m getting worked up over nothing, I’m keeping this barrier between us. Friends and co-workers only.

My phone buzzes with a text as I attempt to feed myself a late dinner that I may have forgotten about because I was so in the zone.

Georgie: I’m going to the bar tonight, and you’re coming with me. Text me your address, I’ll be there in thirty.

I chuckle at Georgie’s message. She’s seemingly decided we’re best friends, and I can’t bring myself to find it anything but endearing. Maybe that’s because I don’t really have friends of my own, or maybe it’s because I genuinely like Georgie. Either way, I hit her back with my address and a thumbs up, then make a beeline for my closet.

I don’t go out much, but I’ve got a few cute outfits saved for special events. I pull on a simple black top and red plaid skirt combo with black tights and knee-high boots.

Just as I’m finishing attempting to do something with my hair, the doorbell rings. Before I can even get out to the living room from my bedroom, Georgie bangs on the door.

“Open up!” she yells through the wood. “It’s been a long ass day, and I want a beer!”

I giggle to myself as I grab my purse and slip outside. “You have the patience of a saint, you know that?”

She gasps with mock offense. “I’ll have you know that I am the picture of patience. The very epitome of it, actually.”

“Yeah.” I lock the door behind us. “I believe you.”

“Pretending you don’t like me only makes me like you more,” she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

I smile as she skips toward her car. She’s a goofball, but an unrestrained one. Georgie is confident and unabashedly herself. I’d love to be like that one day.

“So where are we going?” I ask once we’ve been driving for a couple minutes.

“Claws Out.” She turns to me with a grin. “I know the name is cliché for a town full of werewolves, but we’re nothing if not unoriginal.”

I chuckle, watching the town pass by in the passenger’s side window. “I find y’all to be pretty great, honestly.”

“Of course you do. I’m fantastic.”

“Can I ask you a weird question?”

“Shoot.”

“Can vampires go out in the sunlight?”

She laughs, shaking her head a little. “Sometimes I forget how little humans know. Yeah, they’re fine. I don’t know where those rumors came from, but vampires certainly take advantage of it. They’re all pretty silly actually. Garlic, really?”

Embarrassment flushes my cheeks. I should’ve just gone on the internet instead of looking super uninformed. “Ahhhhh.”

“Who were you wondering about?” she asks, turning the music down.

“Polly Vale. I went into Home the other day and I couldn’t figure her out. But she’s nice.”

“Hot as fuck, too. I definitely tried to shoot my shot with her, but she’s unfortunately not my—” she cuts off with a slight cough. “Not into women.”

“Shame. Y’all would’ve been cute.”

“That’s what I tried to tell her.”

We turn into the bar’s parking lot and there’s a gigantic yellow circle smack dab on top of the building. “Is that a gigantic moon?”

Georgie giggles. “Yeah, Jensen built it himself one day and slapped it up there. As weird as Nick and I are, Jensen is a whole other beast.”