Lauren made a face. “Look, I get the one-night stand stuff, okay? But that kind of fast thing doesn’t last. Plus, shifters don’t do forever with humans.”
“Juliette’s boyfriend is a wolf and they’re making plans for forever.”
“Then she’s the outlier. I’m telling you that they stick with their own kind. Besides, you grew up in a house with parents who started out with a one-nighter they thought was more, andthey were damn miserable.” She slashed her hand through the air. “Fast love, big feelings. Grandma said they were crazy about each other. Until they weren’t.”
Cassidy didn’t know what her parents were like before she was born, because by the time she was old enough to know what was going on, they were on the brink of divorce. Her mom crying in the bathroom, her dad staying out all hours because he couldn’t stand to be in the house.
“I’m not saying that this guy is Dad, okay? But I’m saying that fast love feels real and that’s what makes it so dangerous. By the time the excitement wears off, you’ll either be trapped in a relationship with a guy you don’t have anything in common with, or he’ll leave you behind when a shifter girl shows up.”
Cass chewed on her lip, her thoughts swirling. Trick had shown up at the coffee shop. It hadn’t seemed forced, like he was trying to prove he was a good guy, he’d just… been there.
The truth was, Lauren’s words hit home because Cass was afraid of being left behind. Of being the new-shiny, and left in the dust when Trick found anothernewto go after.
“I love you,” Lauren said, giving Cass a hug.
She hugged her sister back, closing her eyes and trying not to picture Trick’s blue eyes or the way he smiled. “I love you too.”
“I’m just looking out for you.”
“I know.” She sighed and stepped out of her sister’s embrace. “I’m going to head home.”
“Be careful, okay?”
“I will.”
She knew how to be careful – careful with her heart.
Careful meant forgetting about Trick, because he made her want to forget all about being careful.
Cass was surprised to see Juliette on the front porch of the split-double when she got back from her sister’s.
“What are you doing here?” Cass asked after giving her a hug.
“I tracked your phone. You hardly answered my texts today. Now open the door and lemme in, we need to talk.”
She unlocked the door and let her best friend in, then shut it.
“You went to see your sister, and now you look like you ate a lemon. What did she say? And what’s going on with you and Trick?”
“Nothing is going on with me and Trick.”
“I think that’s a lie. But go on.”
Cass collapsed on the couch with a bone-deep sigh. “We had sex last night. And then he came to the coffee shop to get a coffee.”
“And?”
“And I think it was just a one-night-thing.”
Juliette sat in the matching overstuffed chair, her eyes narrowed. “What did Lauren say?”
“That fast love burns out. That wolves don’t…” she didn’t finish her sentence.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t stay with humans forever.”
“Well, that’s a lie.” She pointed to her neck, where two faint marks were. “This is a mating mark. It’s like a wedding band you can’t take off. It means that me and Sigh are in it forever, period.” She leaned forward, her gaze softening. “I bolted when Sigh and I first fooled around. I was mortified that I’d messed around with a guy I barely knew, even though it felt very right. Then he showed up the next day. I remember Emery telling methat the kind of connection I felt to him so fast only happened once in a lifetime, and I should grab onto him with both hands. So I did. The only regret I have is that first night I ran away. I wish I’d stayed.”
