Love at First Mate - Dani Wyatt Page 0,7

high on the bad boy spectrum? Will I never learn my lesson?

But, there’s something more. He’s different. I mean, I’ve been around the male species enough to figure out Ragnar, and a lot of the other guys I’ve been around since I moved to the Badlands, they just feel different.

“Hey,” a voice calls, and I hear the door open, jerking my head up to see Josephine smile as she walks in. “Just got off my shift, saw your car still outside. How’d it go?”

Great. Perfect. Then, terrible.

“Fine,” I answer, my voice flat.

“Fine?” She comes closer, looking down at the signed lease sitting on the floor next to me. “You got the space?”

“Yep.”

She squints an eye. “So, what’s wrong? You look like someone just took a tinkle in your Raspberry Lemonade.”

I start to say nothing’s wrong.

I’m just overwhelmed with everything to do from here.

Sad and missing my mom.

Which is all true, but it’s not the truth, so instead of lying, I look up at her soft eyes, see the genuine concern there, and before I know it, I’m vomiting out my life story and telling her about Ragnar and how I don’t understand why he seems so possessive then so revolted.

“Wow.” She bobs her eyebrows, then reaches into her purse and pulls out a silver flask. “I think this conversation calls for something stronger than Raspberry Lemonade.”

She slides down the wall next to me, opens the flask and hands it my way.

I start to refuse, then change my mind. I need something right now, and if it can’t be Ragnar, maybe booze is the next best thing.

I press the opening to my lips and tilt it upward, the stinging, horrifying flavor of cheap whiskey making my throat burn before I hand it back, pressing the back of my hand to my lips, forcing myself to swallow.

“Spitters are quitters.” She raises the flask in toast and I nod and swallow, cringing as she takes a swig, then swipes her lips with her palm when she’s done and shaking her head. “Whooo! That’ll wake ya up in the morning.”

“So,” I start. “Am I, like, going crazy? Ragnar looks at me like I’m dinner, then two seconds later, like I’m rotting fruit.”

She sighs and leans her shoulder into mine. “Men around here—women too, but let’s stick to the men right now—they aren’t like most. Probably not like any you’ve known back where you’re from.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of shifters?” She pulls her lips into a tight smile.

“Yeah, in books. I read a good bit of smutty romance. They’re a staple on my Kindle.”

“Welllll…”

By the time the sky outside is dark, I feel like I’ve been transported to some alternate universe. My head is fuzzy from the whiskey but also I’m trying to absorb the information that Josephine dumped on me over the last hour and a half.

Shifters are real.

And Ragnar is a shifter.

Grizzly bear shifter.

My personal favorite.

It explains a few things, but not why he’s been so bi-polar with me.

Josephine stretches her legs straight and reaches down to touch her toes, then leans back, looking at me in the dim light.

“You gonna be okay?”

I nod. “Sure.”

I’m not sure it’s the truth, but I hope for the best.

“We should get going. I need to meet Aiken in like, half an hour. He’ll rip the town apart if I’m not home when he gets there.” She chuckles, then pushes to her feet, swaying a little before grabbing her purse and the empty flask.

It turns out that Aiken, her boyfriend, is a wolf shifter. And she is too.

I stare up at the pretty blonde and wonder what it must be like to have that animal constantly inside of you. She explained about the Badlands, the torn-up clothing, how around here being a shifter is a yawn for most of the residents, even the non-shifter ones, and my brain is still racing to catch up.

I get up, following her to the door, the keys to my new business venture still clutched in my hand. Once outside, I lock up and fumble in my purse for the VW keys.

“You okay to drive?” she asks, turning and taking a few steps backwards.

“Yeah. I think I’ll go back to the bar for a burger before I head home. Raspberry virgin Lemonade and greasy food should fix me right up.”

We say our goodbyes and I stare up at the sky, already getting dimpled with stars. There are so many stars here. The fall air has turned cooler but it’s