"'Laurie?'"
For a moment he thought his name was the prelude to a question, and then realized itwasthe question. "Oh. Yeah, so my brothers have nice normal names like William, Steven and Jonathan, but I was the one Mom was pregnant with when she re-readLittle Womenfor the first time since she was a kid, so I ended up Laurie."
Briana tilted her head, examining him with a less-judgmental eye for the first time. "Does that mean your full name is Theodore Laurence?"
A rush of startled laughter broke from Laurie's chest. "Uh, yeah, actually, it is. Nobody has ever asked that before."
"Really?" The corner of Briana's mouth curled up, a sweet, kissable smile that Laurie had the sense not to try to kiss. "I guess you don't tell people you were named after the book character?"
"I tell them all the time. Most people don't even know he's Teddy as well as Laurie."
"Well, I do. Maybe I'll start calling you Teddy."
That, Laurie thought, sounded a lot more promising than her previous 'I never want to talk to you' stance, but he also felt himself making a face before he could stop. To his surprise, Briana laughed again, and this time it was genuine, warm and generous. "Or not."
"Laurieisa weird name for a guy these days, but people made fun of it so much that I got stubborn about it," Laurie mumbled. "Like, sure, if I was Ted or Teddy I'd fit in with Bill and Steven and Jon, but…I'm not. I'm Laurie."
"Do they still? Make fun of it, I mean?"
"Sometimes, but it helps that I'm a six-footer who knows how to use a sword, these days."
Briana's mouth curled at the corner again, like she was reluctant to smile but couldn't quite help it. "I imagine so, yes. Did your brothers have to defend you over it when you were smaller?"
"Jon always did. Steve and Bill would if they were around, but Bill's almost ten years older than I am, and Steve's five years older, so they were way ahead of me. But Jon and I are only a year and a half apart, so we were always in the thick of it together." This was, Laurie thought tentatively, going pretty well. They were still dancing like prickly stick figures, but at least they weretalking, which hadn't seemed like a sure bet just a few hours earlier.
Of course, then Briana's gaze flickered to where Jon was playing with the other musicians, and her face moved toward that 'what a waste' expression she'd worn earlier as her gaze came back to his. Hoping to head off whatever dismissive thoughts she was having, Laurie said, "Can I ask you one more thing?"
Her eyes went cautious again. "Yeah?"
Laurie dropped his voice even more, as if there was any chance of them being overheard in the crowd with the music anyway. "What's your shifter animal?"
"Oh. Goat."
Laurie's eyes popped. "Like a—" All the references that came to mind were videos of tiny enthusiastic baby goats bouncing on trampolines in peoples' yards, or the ones who climbed to thehighest branches of trees and ate them. He couldn't stop himself from letting go of Briana's waist and making a little bouncing gesture with one hand. "Like boing boing?"
Whatever headway he'd made was clearly lost as she gave a huge, exasperated sigh. "Mountain goat."
"The ones who climb sheer rock faces like they've got Spider-Man powers?"
He could see that she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling that time, so maybe he hadn't lostallthe headway he'd made. "Yes."
"Doyou have Spider-Man powers?"
"Maybe."
That timeLaurielaughed, and he was pretty certain Briana looked pleased with herself about it, if only for a heartbeat. "That's pretty cool. I'm a bear."
"I figured."
"Really? Why?"
"Bears and wolves are more common than any other shifters, and your entire family are giants, so bears seemed more likely."
"We're not…" Laurie had a sudden memory of his cousin Ashley's mate, who was short, complaining about how the entire Torben clan were identical blond giants. "Okay, maybe we are."
"You think?" she asked dryly.
Laurie huffed. "You're not short, yourself."
