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“Nah, you know he prefers those nasty energy drinks to coffee. That’s it, thanks!”
We pay the girl then pull ahead to the pick-up window. Once we have our drinks and are on our way toward Smoky Falls U, I bring it up again.
“So, when are we gonna tell her?” I lift my cup and blow across the tiny hole in the lid, praying the drink won’t scald my tongue when I take a sip.
Milo’s answer nearly makes me spill the drink entirely. “Tonight.”
“Tonight?!” I sputter, setting my cup in the cupholder to avoid injury.
“Yeah, tonight. Weren’t you just saying we needed to tell her?” Milo removes the lid from his coffee and sucks the whipped cream from the top casually.
I grimace, then try to drive as carefully as possible. I do not want to end up cleaning milky sweet coffee out of my truck.
“Yeah, but I was meaning we needed to come up with a plan. We’ve got a week before she has to manifest.”
“Five days, actually. It’s this Friday.”
“Shit. For some reason, that feels ten times worse.” Craving caffeine, I’m tempted to grab my coffee while I drive, but Milo’s is still wide open and I choose to focus on driving instead.
“I know. That’s why we need to tell her tonight.”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that? I don’t think they make ‘surprise, you’re a wolf!’ balloons.”
Milo finishes his whipped cream and replaces the cap on his drink. “I was thinking we’d show her.”
“Showher? Are you absolutely out of your mind?” Distracted, I had started to drift into the other lane and I correct savagely, jostling Milo who holds his cup aloft but fortunately doesn’t spill.
“Dude, take it easy. I don’t need third-degree burns today!”
“What do you mean, show her?” I growl, my eyes darting between his face and the road.
“I mean that instead of going to run with the alpha tonight, we tell Layla to meet us outside andshowher. It’s not like she’s just going to believe it if we tell her.”
“Why not?” I argue. “She seems pretty cool to me. She might be more open-minded than you think.”
“Once again, you’re thinking like someone who has known about shifters since you were born. This is all new to her. As far as she’s concerned, the paranormal is all fantasy. She’s going to think we’re crazy or lying if we just tell her.”
“Fine. So how do you see this playing out?” I turn into the parking lot at SFU, easing into a spot.
“Let’s just get through the day,” Milo suggests, grabbing his bag and hopping out without spilling a drop of coffee in my truck. “We’ll plant the seeds before we leave for the day, and I’ll get her outside tonight. Just… do your best to be charming, okay?”
After shouldering my bag, I hold up Layla’s coffee in mock salute. “Aye aye, captain.”
* * *
Layla
* * *
“That’s so thoughtful, thank you!” I accept the coffee from a beaming Jared, and Milo leans against the wall with a crooked grin and sips his own drink. “But did you get anything for Landon?”
“Nah, they know I only drink these,” he holds up a brightly colored energy drink can and takes a long swig.
Milo pulls a face. “You know those are full of chemicals, right?”
“Yeah, and you know everything in the world is made up of chemicals, just in different forms, right? So what does it matter if it’s what I like?”
“Whatever.” Clearly, they’ve had this conversation a lot.
