“No shit. Even the pups in my pack could kick your ass.”
“Like I said,it won’t surprise you, but here’s the thing...” I take a deep breath. “I saw you in action when we fought over that potion. You’re good, really good. And I... I was hoping you might teach me. Teach me to be stronger.”
His expression shifts from smug to surprised. For a moment, he’s silent, dropping the fry he was holding and leaving a glob of ketchup on the table.
This time, the silence is almost nice while it lasts.
Then Bane bursts out laughing.
“Are you serious?” he manages between laughs. “You want me to teach you? Oh, puppy. You’d be better off running away from fights.”
“I’m serious, Bane. Fighting doesn’t come naturally to me, but I can learn. And who better to learn from than someone like you?”
“You’re right,” he says proudly. “If there’s anyone who can teach a lost cause like you, it’s me. I get why you’d ask.”
See, I knew it. Insufferable.
“That doesn’t mean I’m going to agree,” he finishes as he scoops up a new fry and points it at me. “With all the training and effort you’d require, you don’t have enough money to make it worth my while.”
I point out, “I wasn’t actually offering to pay you.”
“Then it’s an even harder pass.”
“Come on, let’s start with one lesson,” I suggest. “Maybe I’m better than you think.”
“I saw you in action too. You aren’t.”
“Well, if the bar is so low, I must be able to meet it.”
“No, my bet is you’ll trip over the bar and fall flat on your face.”
“Are you done yet?” I grit out, gripping my fork tightly.
He shakes his head and gives me a mean smile. “I’ve got more.”
This was such a mistake. I get out some money to cover my side of lunch and toss it onto the table. The sandwich on his plate looks much better than the pasta on mine anyway. I only ordered the pasta because I’m the one who brought it up.
When up and heading for the exit, he throws an arm out to block me, just shy of touching me. There’s an unreadable expression on his face.
“No wonder you can’t fight,” he says. “You always give up that easily?”
“What’s the point of staying here and being insulted when you’re still going to refuse at the end? You may not think much of me, but I have some dignity.”
A flicker of something—perhaps regret for needling me so hard—passes over his face. “Look, helping a wolf from the enemy pack become stronger isn’t appropriate.”
“Enemy?” I ask with a laugh.
He shrugs. “Well, we aren’t friends, so what else? Isn’t that how you see us?”
“You’re just the wolves who live on the other side of Concordia. Our packs are the only ones. Does that make us enemies?”
“Uh, it feels like I should say no?”
“Okay, whatever. I get it. You aren’t interested.”
“Actually, I am,” he says, and I’m so shocked I place a hand on the table to hold myself up. “I figured you were a coward when you went into Restless Spirits and all you wanted to do was talk—”
“My strategy is the one that worked,” I object as I sit back down.
