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She shrugged. “It’s still a novel — most people expect some sort of resolution. Once in a while, I find a story that ends on a twist, or maybe it’s trying to lead you to the next mystery or something, but for the most part, there’s a positive ending.” Iris paused, looking thoughtful. “Probably not as ‘happily ever after’ as your romance novels, though.”
“Hey!” I snorted, realizing she was teasing me back. “I don’t read romance, either. It’s not my thing.” Honestly, I rarely found I had the time to read just for fun, but that wasn’t the point here.
“Me either.” Iris shrugged. “Even in the foster homes I lived in, the parents… most didn’t even seem to like each other that much. Hard to believe in romance when you grow up with that kind of chaos.”
I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant — I was never in a foster home, but a bad relationship? I’d experienced that. “Have you ever been in love?” I asked, staring out at the darkening sky.
Iris paused and shook her head. “I dated a few men,” she said after a moment. “Never for more than a few weeks. I thought they were cute, maybe, but… Yeah, that doesn’t make a relationship.” She turned to look back at me. “What about you? Ever been in love?”
“No,” I answered. I could be confident in that answer. “I don’t date, have no interest. I might hook up with someone for a weekendat most, and that’s it. No strings attached.” I paused before adding, “I think the whole fated mate concept is a crock of shit, frankly.”
Iris hummed, taking another sip of the blue slushie. It hadn’t looked appealing before, but at the moment, the electric blue color was looking more refreshing by the second. “What about your parents? Did they teach you that?”
I clenched my jaw at the mention of them. My inclination was to give a simple ‘No.’ and keep the conversation moving, but… She had shared so much with me already. It felt like I was trailing behind, somehow. “Sort of…” I started, looking down at my hands. “My parents were not fated mates. They’d liked each other enough, though.” I shrugged. “They got together. They had me. All was fine. Then, when I was about six, my mother met her fated mate.”
The thought of Brock made me grimace and I shook my head. “She left my father for him. He was… I don’t know what the right word was. Is. He let her, though. My mother and I aren’t close anymore, at all. Life was never the same after that.”
I was never the same after that…
Iris was quiet for a few moments. “I’m sorry that happened to you,” she said after a moment. When I glanced up, she was staring determinedly through the windshield. “I think there’s no going back when shit like that happens during your childhood. There’s no rehashing those things. There’s only surviving and moving forward — of course, life was never the same after that.” She paused, working her lower lip between her teeth. “You’re never the same after that kind of thing. It’s just impossible to be.”
Finally, she looked over at me. “People should just… see you for who you are now. Not who you used to be, or not who they thought you’d be before that even happened.” She shrugged. “It’s simple, kind of.”
“No, you’re right. Itissimple,” I agreed, taking a deep breath before I could get worked up. “I wish my father could see me for who I amnow. Most of the time, I feel like he still sees me as a little boy in the first grade. I think —” I froze, eyes widening. “Iris, look.”
Iris’ head snapped forward, and her eyes found precisely what I saw — Ryan Sanders had left the building. He ambled towards his car, staring at something in his hand the entire way. I assumed he was reading something on his phone; he tucked it into his pocket before fishing out his keys to let himself inside.
The brake lights flicked on a moment later, and before I could make a suggestion, Iris had eased her car out of park. Ryan’s car headed out of the parking lot and Iris navigated after him, careful not to ride right on his tail. I remained silent, watching her for a moment as she tracked Ryan through the Austin streets.
She’s a natural at this.
The events in her life might have shaped the course that led her to this career, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that Iris had quite a talent for it.
About fifteen minutes later, Ryan pulled into a driveway. It was not his driveway, though.
Iris found a spot on the street to park and killed the lights, reaching behind us to grab a camera. “Do you know where we are?” she asked, snapping photos of the home, the mailbox, and the other cars in the driveway.
“No,” I answered. I hadn’t learned much of Austin outside the immediate downtown area.
Ryan stepped out of the car and knocked on the front door. The porch light flicked on and the door opened. Squinting, I leaned forward over Iris’ shoulder, trying to make out who was standing there.
“Recognize him?” Iris murmured, not pausing as she continued to click away with photos.
I frowned and shook my head. “Never seen him before,” I replied. “Not exactly the greatest view, but I don’t know many wolves in Silverstreak.” It wasn’t my pack — it was Remus’. Just as I didn’t want him to get too comfortable with the Longbow pack, I at least wanted to extend the same… I don’t know, courtesy.
I leaned further forward. “He looks pissed,” I murmured, aware of how close I was to Iris just now. I was practically leaning on her shoulder. This close, I could pick up her scent; she smelled like the fresh earth. Like a tundra. Like the first crocuses that cropped up before the last snow melted. Subtle, all of those things — so very subtle, but at the moment, so very present. I almost forgot to watch what was going on across the street.
“I need to learn to read lips,” Iris groused, lowering the camera for a moment. The exchange on the porch ended abruptly, Ryan all but being pulled inside the house as the door slammed behind him.
“Damn.” I scowled. “I guess that’s that.”
Iris snorted, reaching to unbuckle her seatbelt. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“What?” Out of instinct, I reached out, grabbing her wrist. I ignored the startled look that flashed across her face. “Go where?”
She frowned, giving me a look like I was being particularly dense. After jerking her hand free, she opened her door and slipped out, shutting it quietly behind her. I hurried to follow suit, barely remembering not to slam the door as I got out. “Where are you going?” I hissed, my heart rate elevated. Iris was already halfway across the street.
“We need to get closer,” Iris replied quietly, creeping towards the two-story home. “I can’t see through the windows at that distance.”
