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“Why?” Hedra asked.
“It all started on prom night. I was flirting with Elliot Porkenheim and -”
“That was not his last name,” Daisy said.
“It absolutely was,” Shay said with a laugh. “He was a jaguar shifter, football team captain, and drop-dead gorgeous. He was also dating the most popular girl in school, Melanie Hayes, until they broke up the day before prom. It was a tragedy that nearly broke the entire school.”
Hedra laughed, and so did Ryan. “I still remember what a huge deal it was. Even the teachers were talking about it.”
“You went to a normal high school?” Hedra asked Ryan.
Ryan nodded. “For my senior year, yeah. I’d emancipated myself from my mother by then and lived with family friends, Mary and Peter. I wanted to experience at least one year in a high school, so I did my final year there.”
“Anyway,” Shay said, “I was going solo to prom and now so was Elliot. We got our flirt on, on the dance floor, and next thing you know, we’re heading back to the hotel room he’d booked for him and Melanie.”
She glanced at Ryan before saying, “Both Elliot and I had well-deserved reputations of sleeping around and -”
“Not sleeping around,” Ryan interjected, “just not uptight about having sex.”
“That’s a nice way to put it,” Shay laughed. “Everyone assumed we fucked that night, but Elliot was a no-go for it. I was totally into it - he would have been the first shifter I’d slept with - but he was too broken up about Melanie. We made out a little, he started crying, and then we talked for two hours about how much he loved Melanie, ordered a pizza, and watched a bad B movie before falling asleep.”
“But you told everyone you had sex,” Hedra said.
“Elliot told everyone we did and then begged me to back him up because God forbid he should let Melanie know his true feelings for her,” Shay said with an eye roll.
“But you didn’t tell Ryan the truth?” Daisy said.
“No, she didn’t,” Ryan gave Shay another mock scowl. “She only admitted the truth about a month after I started dating Gray. Before that, she even pretended that she’d banged multiple shifters since Elliot.”
“It’s true,” Shay said. “I’m not proud of it, but it was one of those situations where I wanted to tell her the truth but it had also been so long that I didn’t know how to tell her the truth. And I assumed I would eventually bang a shifter, so it wouldn’t be a lie. Only, I never hooked up with a shifter, despite my efforts. Also, Ryan was super cool back then, and even though we’d been friends for years, I still wanted to impress her.”
Ryan slung her arm around Shay’s shoulders. “You were a thousand times cooler than me, honey.”
Shay smiled at her before turning to Hedra. “Anyway, Ryan was at my house one night, and I had a bunch of wine and confessed my lie. She punched me in the face, and now we’re good.”
“I did not punch you in the face, Shay!” Ryan said with a laugh. “I will admit that I was shocked, but I did not resort to physical violence. I just called you a bad name and made you swear on your life that you’d never lie to me again.”
“I will never lie to you again, babe,” Shay said solemnly. “Anyway, I’ve come close a few times to banging a shifter, but it never worked out, much to my dismay. Ryan says Grayson is the best lover she’s ever had.”
“Truth,” Ryan said and raised her wineglass to Shay.
Shay clinked hers against Ryan’s before they both drank. Shay studied Hedra. “So, you’re being quiet. Is that your normal, or is there something bothering you?”
Hedra glanced at Ryan. “Honestly, I’m just trying not to make a fool of myself in front of Ryan.”
Ryan laughed. “Hedra, stop. I think you’re great, and I’m nothing more than a has-been celebrity.”
”That’s a load of bullshit,” Hedra said.
“Total bullshit,” Shay said, “but also, Ryan is not nearly as cool now as when we were kids. I mean, she’s fucking amazing, and I love her beyond words, but cool is not the word I would use to describe her.”
“Thanks, I think?” Ryan said.
Shay grinned before leaning over and giving her a loud, smacking kiss on the lips. “Babe, you know I fucking adore you.”
“Ditto, Shay,” Ryan said.
Shay sipped some more wine before studying Hedra. “So, what about you, Hedra? You ever gone to bone town with a shifter?”
