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Willow laughed. “Thanks, that’s kind of you, but I’m going to take my own car. Like I said, I haven’t had the best luck, so I just want to make sure I’ve got my own way to get home.”
Ben shrugged. “Suit yourself. Do you have your costume in the car? I’ve got one you could use if you didn’t bring one.”
“You have a costume for me?” Willow lifted one eyebrow, a smile tickling the corners of her mouth.What sort of costume did he have in mind?If it was better than what she had, then Willow wouldn’t have a problem wearing it. “Can I see it?”
“Sure, just let me grab it.” Ben turned around and hurried back into the house, coming out a second later with a full-on wolf costume. It would cover her from her neck all the way down to her toes, and there were even wolf gloves for her hands. Willow frowned and tilted her head.That looks really hard to get into. Plus, it’s way too hot for summer.
“Obviously, this is a female wolf. I’ve got a male costume, but we could go together in matching costumes.” Grinning at her, Ben arched one of his eyebrows.
“Thanks, that’s really kind of you, but I’ll stick with my own costume, if you don’t mind.”
His smile faded slightly, and Willow ignored the nudge of guilt. This was their first date. She wasn’t ready to wear matching costumes.
Her last two dates had told her to be cautious. “And it’s already really hot out. I’ll boil to death in one of those!” She laughed, but Ben only frowned.
Blinking as if he was confused, he opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and turned back toward the house.
“No problem. Let me just put this back, and then we can head out.”
“Great.” Climbing back into her car, Willow glanced over at her costume sitting next to her on the seat.
After a few minutes, Ben came back outside again, carrying his own costume under one arm. He waved one hand, pointed to his own car, and then turned to lock the door of the house. Starting the engine, Willow sat back in her seat and let herself smile.
Ben seems nice. Not pushy.
Taking a deep breath, Willow set her shoulders as Ben’s car pulled away.Looks like this date is going to go way better. Finally, a bit of luck.
* * *
What is this?
Willow parked her car but didn’t move.
This is not like any festival I’ve ever seen.
There were a ton of cars in the parking lot, but everyone who was getting out of them was dressed in the same sort of animal costume that Ben had offered to her—head-to-toe animal costumes. No one was in a Halloween costume.
This is absolutely not a costume party. This is something completely different…and I have no idea what I’ve gotten myself into.
Someone tapped on her window, and Willow yelped, jumping in surprise. Turning her head, she saw a huge wolf face leaning down toward her, and she shivered violently.
This is not what I thought it was.
“Do you need help with your costume? I know they can be hard to get into sometimes.” Figuring out that this was Ben, Willow glanced over his shoulder, seeing two people in dog costumes nuzzling and pawing at each other behind him.
“I…uh…”
“Not everyone is going to have a full fur suit, you’ll be fine. And there’s a session on wolves that you can join, if you like. It really helped me get into character.”
Reluctantly, Willow opened the door.The least I can do is get out and talk to him.
“I think…I think I might have gotten the wrong idea.”
Ben pulled off his wolf head. “What do you mean?”
Willow dropped her hands helplessly. “I didn’t realize that this was what you were talking about.”
“This?” Ben grinned, spreading out one hand toward the parking lot. “This isn’t it, don’t panic. It’s only the start! There’s a couple of food trucks, but the main events are happening inside. There’s going to be plenty of stuff to do. I’m happy to do whatever you like.”
