it’s okay. You don’t have to feel guilty.”
Relief washes over her face. It destroys me.
“See? Told you he’d be good with it,” Jericho says with that damn grin still on his face.
A surge of jealous anger boils up my arm until I cock it back and land a burning punch right in his face.
Jericho goes down like a ton of bricks. I pant over him, my chest heaving and my hand screaming. Shifter skulls are really damn thick.
“Jesus, Larry, and Jonas Brothers,” Jericho curses. “That fucking hurt! No wonder you two like each other. You both punch people for fun,” he gripes, sitting up on the grassy lawn as he rubs his jaw where I hit him.
Jetta stares at me in shock, and bitter shame crawls up my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I tell them both miserably. “I didn’t mean…” I turn to walk away, but honestly, where would I even go? I have no damn clue. But everyone is looking at me, people and animals, like I’m the oddity here and they’re wondering what the hell my problem is. Several of them even look like they’re wondering if they should intervene.
“Cliff,” Jetta says, trying to regain my attention as she helps pull Jericho to his feet.
“I support you. I do,” I assure her. “I just need time to adjust, okay? I assumed when you said we wouldn’t be separated anymore that we could be together, but I see that’s not what you meant. You love him.”
“She does,” Jericho puts in, looking over at her with possessiveness. With hunger. For a split second, I consider punching him again. But based on Jetta’s frown, I think better of it. I love her too much to upset her, and she clearly cares about him. “But you’re a close second,” he says with a joking grin.
“For the love of fuck. Would you stop talking?” Jetta says to him. “You’re making it worse.”
Jericho frowns, running a hand over his black hair. Dammit, they even look good together. I feel sick.
“Hey, man, sorry. I’m just trying to lighten the mood, you know? Make this less weird?” Jericho offers.
I just stare at him incredulously. I really want to punch him again.
Jetta moves between us like she read my mind. “Time out,” she says with the hand motion.
Looking around, she realizes that we have an audience, and her mouth turns down. “Come on.” She reaches forward and grabs Jericho’s hand, threading her fingers through his. The sight of it is a bitter confirmation that makes bile rise in the back of my throat. But then she shocks me by reaching over and grabbing my hand too.
She starts tugging us along to the back of the large warehouse building, where she drops our hands and turns to us. We stop next to a graffiti painting of a boar lying belly-up with a skunk spraying the hell out him.
My brows draw together. “Is that…”
“Yeah,” Jetta says with a wry turn of her lips. “I think the artist did a good job of capturing the moment.”
“You told someone about it, and then that someone told the graffiti artist, and now it’s on the damn wall! Everyone keeps fucking with me because of it,” Jericho bemoans, shaking his head at the mural. “Fucking embarrassing.”
“Wait...your skunk sprayed him too?” I ask, glancing at the graffiti again. I take it he’s the boar.
Jericho narrows his eyes on me. “Hold up, what do you mean too? You’ve been sprayed?” he asks.
“Every time she shifts,” I admit, unable to keep the grimace off my face at the memories. “It’s foul. But...” I trail off, running my hand over the back of my blond hair.
“But what?” Jericho says.
I glance at Jetta before looking away again. This is so damn awkward. I clear my throat. “Um, it means her skunk likes you. It amuses her to mark you.”
Jericho blinks for several seconds before a huge grin takes over his face. “Son of a bitch.” He glances at Jetta. “You told me she hated me!”
Jetta’s lips press together, and she gives me a look like thanks a lot, but I don’t understand how they can both be in such a lighthearted and teasing mood right now. Not when my heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest.
Jetta clears her throat. “Let’s get back on topic.”
“Sure. But we’re definitely coming back to this. Both about who you blabbed to and the fact that your skunk fucking loves me.”
Jetta groans and runs a hand down her face before looking