“I’m glad you’ve sorted it all out. I’m sure they’ve always loved you, but you were a handful back then.”
He pulled a cigarette from behind his ear and gingerly tapped it on the table. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“You walked naked into a gas station and bought Twinkies on a dare. You didn’t run, Jericho. You walked in there just as cool as a breeze.”
He leaned back with a nostalgic expression. “I forgot about that. Now tell me, Isabelle, whose idea was it? I can’t seem to recall what kind of deviant person would have made such a dare.”
I kicked him under the table, and it roused a smile. “I had no idea you’d go through with it.”
“You wanted Twinkies.”
“Actually, I wanted those little cupcakes, but I guess you’d forgotten by the time you walked across the street and went inside.”
He shrugged. “It was chilly that night.”
I took another bite of my eggs. “Thirty degrees with snow flurries, as I recall.”
We both laughed, and a moment of silence fell between us, one thick with memories and tender feelings.
“I like your hair better now,” he suddenly said. He frowned and quickly bent forward so a veil of hair obscured his face. “What I mean is it’s not braided like you used to wear it.”
“I’ve learned to accept the wild nature of my hair and just roll with it. Thanks, though.”
“How’s your family?” he asked in a stony voice. Jericho knew about my tumultuous upbringing.
“My parents divorced.”
His brows rested at an indifferent slant. “And your siblings?”
“We don’t keep in touch. We’re related by blood, but I have no love for them. You have no idea what it’s like growing up in a house where you’re the odd animal out. After they went through the change, they used their animals to intimidate me, and because no one stopped them, it progressively got worse. My mother would defend them, saying they were just acting on instinct against another predator.”
“Bitch.”
“Yeah, calling her own child a predator when I was the one who was prey in that family. I’m not surprised about the divorce; they fought all the time. My dad isn’t so bad, he’s just… distant. Maybe it’s because he’s an older wolf.”
Jericho popped the cigarette in his mouth and pulled out his lighter. Light gleamed off the silver shell, and he snapped it shut with a click.
“You didn’t use to smoke,” I pointed out.
After taking a short drag, he blew the smoke over his shoulder. “Started up after… Well, I just picked up new habits and got rid of old ones.”
“Do you mind?” I asked, holding out two fingers.
“Yeah, the hell I mind,” he said in a harsh tone. “You don’t need to pick up any bad habits.”
“How do you know I don’t smoke?”
Jericho smiled cunningly and pulled another taste from his cigarette. “I’ve seen the way you wrinkle your nose in disgust when leaving a table full of smokers. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not.”
“Maybe I want to see what the fuss is all about. It’s not like Shifters can die from cancer.”
“No, but your breath won’t be as pleasant as it is now.”
I arched my brow. “And what about your breath? Do you think women enjoy kissing an ashtray?”
Jericho tapped the ashes into an empty glass. “It’s not my lips they usually want their mouth on.” He smiled invitingly and broke off another piece of bacon, watching me squirm in my seat as I tried to pretend his suggestive comment wasn’t sexy.
“Do you ever miss traveling?”
“We do small tours around the state sometimes,” he said. “I don’t miss sleeping in trucks and doing shit jobs for a few extra dollars to buy dinner.”
I sighed. “Me either. Although…” I glanced around and laughed softly.
Jericho leaned in tight. “Is Jake paying you good?”
“Fair. The tips are decent, but the guys are holding back because I’m new. That’s why I haven’t been able to put any to the side. I know the drill. They do that with fresh blood because they think they can make me work harder for them. The other girls don’t like telling how much their regulars tip them, so it’ll take me some time to figure it out.”
His jaw set. “Let me know the next time that happens.”
“Are you going to beat them up?” I wondered aloud, poking a fork at my eggs.
“No. But I’m going to have a talk with Denver. He knows what’s up around here.”
“Denver doesn’t want to be bothered with that kind of thing. We’re not on friendly terms.”
He quieted, as if he knew I was right. Denver held a grudge against me, and although we maintained a working relationship, he wasn’t about to bend over backwards to do me any favors.
Jericho watched me stabbing my eggs. “Eat, Isabelle. Or else I’ll pin you to the table and shovel it in.”
I set my fork down. “Always such sweet words rolling off your tongue, Mr. Cole.”
He snorted. “Ladies seem to have no complaints about my tongue.”