Dragon's Fake Wedding Date - Riley Storm Page 0,58

finding her words. “That’s what happened. I found out all about Rann and his ways. About all the other women he’s been with. How he leads them on. How he just uses them for sex and then dumps them. Yeah. I know about that. How I was just the next one to be taken up there.”

The two women stared at her in disbelief.

“Yeah, exactly,” she said, interpreting their looks as ones of support and understanding. “He’s a real fucking player, that one. And I fell for it, even though the bartender flat out warned me against it. But did I listen? No, of course not, because I’m an idiot.”

Claire and Lilly looked at one another then back at Gayle.

“So…you found out that Rann had past sexual partners, and now you’re pissed at him?” Claire asked slowly.

“It’s not just that,” she said. “I don’t care if he fucked a thousand girls before me. It’s that he was just using me like he did all of them. That he took me back to his home to wow me, but it’s apparently such a common occurrence that everyone who was looking at me pitied me!”

“I see,” Claire said, her entire face twitching oddly. “So he didn’t exactly do anything?”

“He used me!” Gayle shouted.

Lilly snorted.

Gayle’s head whipped around, and to her astonishment, she saw that Lilly was trying to cover her face.

“I’m sorry,” Lilly said, her eyes wide. “It’s not what it seemed.”

A choked-off yelp came from Claire. Once more, Gayle’s head came around, and she frowned at her friends.

“Are you two…laughing at me?” she said in a dangerous tone.

“Oh shit,” Lilly said, but she couldn’t stop it. “I’m sorry Gayle, I really am. But, oh my god, it’s all just so wrong what you’re saying!”

“What the hell do you mean by that? What is going on with you two?”

Claire was laughing silently to herself now, shaking her head. “I’m sorry!” she wheezed between strained breaths.

“I don’t like either of you right now,” Gayle said, crossing her arms and trying to melt down into the couch.

“I’m sorry, girl,” Lilly said, taking a deep breath. “Truly. Okay. It’s just…I don’t know why you’re acting the way you are, but we need to set you straight about Rann.”

“What, is he not a womanizer?” she challenged.

“Okay,” Claire said, chiming in. “Yes, Rann has a bit of a…reputation. He likes to sleep around.”

“A lot,” Gayle said crossly.

“A lot,” Claire said, nodding. “But that’s where everything gets screwed up.”

“What do you mean?” Gayle asked.

How could it be screwed up? She’d seen the pictures. One after another of Rann with various women, all cuddled up into him, onto him even. They were very clearly not just friends. He had been sleeping with those women. Just like her.

“Because you’re different,” Lilly said. “Trust us. We’ve gotten to know Rann. Our partners, they know him even better than we do, and they’ve mentioned how he’s changed in just the week since he met you.”

“I don’t get it,” Gayle said. “Changed how?”

“Well, for starters, some of the things he’s done with you, he hasn’t with anyone else.”

Gayle’s spine straightened slightly. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re the first woman he’s taken back to the mountain, Gayle. I don’t know where you got the idea that it was a parade, but he never took anyone there. Ever. Just you.”

“Really?” Gayle asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Claire said, speaking up now, taking over. “Also, he revealed his heritage to you. Again, he’s never done that to any other woman, as far as we know. That was a secret he didn’t bother sharing, according to Pietro. Not until he ‘found someone worth sharing it with,’ in Rann’s words.”

“What are you saying?” Gayle asked nervously, her emotions shifting around, swirling violently inside her as various thoughts warred with one another.

“That Rann has treated you differently from every other woman he’s been with,” Lilly said gently, giving her leg a squeeze in support. “That he’s done things with you that he hasn’t done with anyone else. Just the amount of time he’s invested in you is more. He was a partyer, a one-night stand kind of guy. Until he met you.”

Gayle’s stomach sank. “You’re sure?”

Lilly and Claire were both nodding. “Yes,” they said.

“Oh. Shit,” Gayle muttered.

“How did this come to you anyway?” Claire asked. “What prompted all this?”

“One of the other shifters,” she said. “He came to warn me. Showed me all these pictures of Rann and women. He seemed so genuine.”

Claire and Lilly exchanged a look. “What was his name?”

Gayle shrugged.