been way too long since I’d gotten any.
“Company sounds great,” I said, trying not to drool over the man sitting down next to me. He was so close, his thigh was brushing against my own, sending shivers of desire through me.
As I finished up my drink, I turned so I was facing him, probably a mistake, but I hated trying to have a conversation with someone I couldn’t see. He mimicked me, and I felt awkward so I stuck my hand out.
“Neve Astor. And you are?”
“Rory Gray. Nice to meet you, Neve,” he replied, though he practically shouted my name. Amusement danced in his gaze as he glanced at the bottle of beer on the counter before he reached out and shook my hand. I couldn’t stop the rush that went through me. It was like I’d touched a hot pan, except it was his hand and instead of wanting to pull away in pain, I wanted to climb on his lap and curl into his warmth.
I’d never known people could be so warm.
“Nice to meet you too,” I said before downing the last of my drink in an effort to quench my suddenly dry mouth and throat. “What brings you to Vee, Rory?”
“Just passing through. I’m doing a tour of all the supernatural towns in the US.”
“Do I have a neon sign on me or something? How does everyone know I’m supernatural?” I complained. It wasn’t fair when I couldn’t sense it from them. If Rory hadn’t said anything, then I would have assumed he was human.
“I think a lot of us can just kind of sense it.” He shrugged and took a pull from his beer. The label read Crushy Cream Ale from the Silver Steins Brewery. Sounded gross. I mean, cream and beer? Though I wasn’t a beer girl, so what did I know?
When he set it on the counter again, I noticed that the bottle was empty and flagged the bartender. “So you’re on like a backpacking trip?”
“Kind of, yeah. It’s something that my family does when we reach adulthood.” He ordered another beer, a different one than what he’d been drinking when he came up, called Attraente Malt. I’d never heard of any beer by that name, so I assumed it was another Silver Steins special.
“No offense, but you hardly look like you just reached adulthood,” I said before hiding my face behind my glass as I took another sip of my drink. I could watch him over the rim, and he just watched me right back, waiting until I was done to respond, like what he was about to say was so funny that he was worried I’d snort my drink, or perhaps spit it out all over the place.
As soon as I lowered the glass he said, “You’re right—I’m not, if you’re going by human years, but I am for my clan.”
“Clan?” If he was a white supremacist, I was going to kick him in the nuts.
“Selkies live in clans. My clan is the McKenzie clan, and for the most part, we still stick to the old ways. When one of us reaches adulthood, we go out into the world to experience different things and bring that, and possibly a mate, back to the clan to help keep things modern and bring genetic diversity.”
“I thought selkies were just a myth.”
He laughed. “We’re pretty private people in terms of our culture. I think it comes from people hunting us for hundreds of years.”
“Sorry, I put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I?”
“Not at all, just not something I’m used to talking about.” He smiled at me, and it was like the clouds parting for a sunny day.
My heart felt like it had kick-started in my chest, and I couldn’t help but smile back. It definitely felt like there was something sparking between us. Was this what I’d been missing by living in the human world all my life? Super hot guys flirting with me for more than just my father’s money or the prestige of the Astor name?
Human boys had never ignited something like this within me. I’d honestly thought I was emotionally stunted from being raised primarily by my father. He wasn’t exactly a beacon of warmth and parental love.
I hadn’t even realized that we’d both fallen silent while staring at each other until Rory asked, “So what brought you to Silver Springs? Or did you grow up here?”
“I literally arrived a day or so ago. And the short answer is my father