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It’s quiet in the bar. There’s no music playing, and I see a small crowd of people in the back corner where the chairs and couches are. My eyes connect with Dare, who is sitting in one of the chairs, an ice pack on the side of his eye and a towel wrapped around his hand. I start to move forward when the door rips open behind me, and I spin around to see Katie barreling in.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” she says, freezing as she takes in the scene.

I chuckle at her response, and she flashes me a weary smile.

“Oh, hi, Lev. Good to see you again,” she says.

I nod in response, and she joins me as we walk over to the corner of the bar. Everyone over there looks a little worse for wear. Katie heads straight to Ryan, who’s sitting on the arm of a chair, also with an ice pack on his eye. His lip is bleeding, his hair is a mess, and his T-shirt is ripped.

Katie doesn’t sound amused when she says, “Come on. Now. We’re going home.” Ryan stands like a sad puppy and follows her out of my sight.

My eyes slide to Dare, sitting in the chair, head back. I walk over to him and shift so I’m standing between his legs. Our knees touch, and he slowly raises his head off the back of the chair.

“Hey,” I say quietly.

A sheepish grin spreads across his face. “Hey yourself,” he mumbles.

The side of his lip without the lip ring is swollen, and selfishly, I’m relieved it’s not the side with the lip ring.

I hear Garrett’s voice behind me and turn around. “Thanks for coming,” he says, patting me on the back. “This is it. Last warning. I’m not putting up with it again. Period. Get him out of here.”

“Thanks for calling,” I say, leaning down to tap Dare on the thigh. “Come on.”

He’s slow to rise but takes my hand and lets me lead him to the door. He stumbles a few times, likely just because he’s drunk. I don’t really know what to say to him at this point, and the fact that he’s still seemingly drunk tells me it’s probably not the best time to try to make sense of the night.

“Thanks for commming for me,” he slurs after we get settled in the car. “My eye hurrts.”

“Yeah,” I say incredulously. “Once I get you home, we’ll take a closer look.”

“Yernot mad?” He turns to look at me as I make my way out of the parking lot and onto the road headed toward my place.

“No, little lycan. I’m not mad. But we’ll talk more about it later, okay?” I put my hand on his thigh, and he sighs a huge, overly dramatic sigh.

He makes a very weak and very terrible attempt at a wolf howl, which has me chuckling.

“Idonn deserfe you,” he says, and this time, my heart cracks open a little bit. Then he starts belting out an Elton John song with words that match my name. He’s totally off key, and the words are out of order, but he’s adorable, nonetheless.

Dare continues to “serenade” me the entire way home. When we pull into the parking lot at my apartment a few minutes later, he stops singing.

“I like that sonnnnng,” he says quietly. “Jusss like I likeyouuu.” He gives me a wide smile and then winces. “Owwwww. My face hurts.”

I’m out of the car and to the passenger side before he can find the handle to open it.

“Just like you like me, huh?” I tease, helping him out of the car. I steady him, and we walk to the door.

He bellows out a laugh. “No. I love youuu.” He goes to plant a sloppy kiss on my cheek but pulls back. “Owwww. My lip hurts.”

I shake my head and get him inside, locking the door behind us. I think it’s probably going to be a long rest of the night.

Chapter 51

Darian

The next day, Lev comes home after work around dinner time. I vaguely remember him waking me earlier to give me some Tylenol and water. I managed to get something in my stomach, take a shower, swallow another round of painkillers and a lot of water, and ice my face—he wasn’t kidding; I look like I went about eight rounds.

At some point, I found a pair of Lev’s sweatpants and a T-shirt and put them on. They fit length-wise since we’re close to the same height, but they’re a little bit baggy on me because he’s such a gorgeous hunk of man and I’m still a bit lean.

When he opens the door, I’m sitting on the couch in the living room, watching something on TV.