Page 38 of My Big Fat Shifter Wedding

“So, what do you want to happen with your body when you die?” I asked, changing the subject. “I want to be cremated.”

“I want to be buried under a tree in a great forest so my body can be part of the earth and my descendants can play in the branches of my final resting spot and recover in the shade of its leaves.”

I was breathless for a few beats, struck by that very image in my head. It was beautiful and spoke to a kind of peace and eternity that I had never much thought about. Honestly, I tried to avoid the topic of funerals and the like because my mother was beginning to plan for such events, so I was surprised I’d brought it up at all. I guess Olivia just made me that comfortable.

“Tell me,” Olivia said, her voice deadly serious. “How much wood would a woodchuck really chuck if a woodchuck could indeed chuck wood?”

“Well, that depends. A layman might infer that a woodchuck would chuck as much as he could chuck if a woodchuck could indeed chuck wood, but as someone who is, in the business, as they say, what I would ask is what does it truly mean to chuck? As far as I know, there’s no official agreement on what that particular verb means, and without any sort of definitive basis of what the action even is, how do we quantify how many times our stalwart woodchuck friend can perform it?”

“See? These are the things we need to be asking. This is what big wood doesn’t want you to know!”

I leaned forward conspiratorially. “Well, if we’re talking about big wood…” I waggled my eyebrows to give it that extra kick.

“Don’t you dare!” she said, laughing once more. The sound was wonderful and made me feel like I could do my own standup special. Or maybe even start a podcast. I thought that was a thing men were supposed to do once they reached an age where they suddenly decided they needed to have an opinion on everything.

The conversation moved on from there.

“But yeah, talk about a perfect example of hubris! They literally fumbled so bad that they got their entire next project revoked.”

“Do you think they learned their lesson?” I asked. “Or do you think they blamed everyone else for what happened? There are some contrarians who like to say that watchers are entitled and the ending was actually perfectly fine.”

“That’s factually incorrect and people are stupid.” She said it so quickly, so earnestly, that it hit my funny bone in the right spot. My abs and cheeks were getting a full workout from all the laughter. “Wait, why are we talking about this again? It’s been years since that show ended!”

“You were telling me a story about how your realtor brother got into a bit of a pickle when he told a couple their house had sold before everything was assured to facilitate them buying another house out of their budget and the whole thing almost came falling down like a house of cards.”

“Right! That! It was the hubris.”

“Exactly.”

“Did you ever⁠—”

“Excuse me, we are closing now.”

We both jolted and looked at the server who had approached our table. I was all set to question whether I had misread their operating hours, but then I checked my phone. It was past midnight, which was when the restaurant was supposed to close. When had that happened!? Had five hours really passed since I met Olivia at the first restaurant? How was that possible?

Too many questions, but as far as I could tell, Olivia was thinking them all too, because our eyes met once more and I swore we mirrored each other exactly.

“Would you look at that?” I murmured, moving to stand. “Thank you, ma’am. We didn’t realize.”

“It’s no problem! You have a good night now!”

Although I knew it wasn’t really customary to tip at a buffet, I laid a ten on the table anyway. I knew from experience that there was a two-hour limit and they’d been gracious enough to let us sit around longer.

Olivia and I headed outside, ending up standing on the sidewalk connected to the parking lot, just looking at each other.

It didn’t logically compute that someone could be so beautiful under the harsh, artificial yellow of a streetlight, but Olivia glowed angelically. Between those earthen, gem-like eyes of hers, her dark, bouncing curls, the curve of her plump lips when she smiled, and her curvy figure, I was rapidly spinning toward besotted.

Does anyone even say besotted anymore?

Well, I did. Even though I knew it was far too soon, that was the only word that came close. I was drawn to Olivia in a way I never could have anticipated. Everything about her fascinated me. Her humor. Her intelligence. Her ability to be so forthright, which was exceedingly hard to find in people. And did I mention she was hilarious?

“I guess it’s time to say goodnight,” I said, even though I didn’t want to do that at all. We’d spent the entire night together, and somehow, it still wasn’t enough. I was pleasantly full of good food and even better conversation. When was the last time I’d felt so satiated in both ways?

“I suppose it is,” she said with the tiniest sigh. “Although…” she murmured, taking a step closer and looking up at me through her lashes. She rested her hand on my chest, and just like that, the barrier of touch between us was broken.

“Yeah?”

I wondered if she could feel my heart thundering under her palm, because it was going a mile a minute at the sensation of her touch. She was so gorgeous, and I had been trying to keep my thoughts respectful all evening. Not only because she deserved it, but also, I’d never been the type to feel comfortable sleeping with someone without knowing them for a while. It felt too weird to let myself be that vulnerable with a virtual stranger.