Page 198 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

"Yeah. I had a shark phase. A fucking long one. My mom still has the drawings." He cuts another piece of steak and deposits it on my plate without comment, just because he can tell I liked the first stolen bite. "Then my dad took me to my first NHL game, and the goalie got run over by a forward and got up and kept playing, and that was it. Sharks were over, much to his relief. And Wraith’s. Because… uh. Yeah."

He clears his throat.

I have a theory of why Wraith was relieved the shark phase was over, but that’s an inside thought.

"You watched a man get flattened and decided that's the job for me,” I say instead.

"I decided I wanted to be the wall." He shrugs one big shoulder. "Somebody has to be."

I get the feeling he isn't just talking about hockey.

"Your turn," he says. "Something I don't know."

I twirl my fork through the cherry reduction while I think. Most of my secrets are already out there. And most of them are heavy.

Tonight isn't for heavy.

"I read," I say. "Like, a lot. Or I did, before."

"What kind of books?"

"Everything. The backs of shampoo bottles if nothing else was available." I sip the blackberry wine. "When I was a kid, the library was the one place nobody bothered me. The librarian used to hold new books she thought I'd like. She'd hide them under the desk for me, and when I came up to the counter to check out, she'd slide them over like we were doing a drug deal."

Thane sets his fork down and leans forward to watch me. "What was the contraband?"

"Dragon books, mostly. Then murder books. And then romance. Um, sometimes all at once." I point my fork at him again. "Don't tell Valek that. He'll be insufferable about 'murder' and 'romance' in the same breath."

Thane snorts, then grows serious again. "Why did you stop? Because of…"

He trails off, but he doesn't need to finish. I know what he's asking.

And it doesn't sting the way it used to.

Not on this balcony, not with the water all lit up and glittery below and delicious warm food.

"My ex thought reading was me ignoring him." I shrug the shoulder with the scar. Thane's eyes stay on mine instead of going to it. "So the books went away one by one."

"Guess you'll have to start collecting again," he says softly.

I manage a little laugh. "Guess I will."

"What were your favorites?" he asks, swirling his wine around.

"Why? So you can read them?" I tease.

"So I can buy them." He says it like it's already done, then catches my expression and backpedals. "Uh. If you want. I just thought… well, you already spend a lot of time in the loft, and it's perfect for reading. We could put in bookcases. Real ones, with those Pinterest ladders and everything."

"Pinterest ladders?" I echo, fighting for my life to hold back the giggle attack. "Wait, have you researched this?"

"Not that specifically," he says, almost defensively, "but things that might make the pack house nicer for an omega, yes. Of course I have. I want you to be happy."

Gods, I love him so much.

"Okay," I say, grinning again. "But we'll need really tall bookcases so the best smut can go on the top shelves where Whiskey can't reach them. The last thing I need is Whiskey reading my fairy smut out loud."

"Whiskey is six foot eight."

"Yeah. We'll need very tall bookcases."