“Aw, c’mon, Teddy Bear. You didn’t mean for me to find out at all. Skip the bullshit.”
He’d had a hard enough time trusting Wanda and crew—to ask him to trust her once she told him why she’d really been out in the woods was going to be impossible. But she was going to give it a hella shot anyway.
“Just let me explain. Just hear me out. You can do whatever you want when I’m done.”
That pulse in his jaw ticked; even beneath his beard she could see his fury. “Can’t wait for this explanation. Are they going to be as lame as all the others? You know, like I’m your life mate? Gotta tell ya, I was this close to believing you. You’re really good.”
Jumping up from the couch, Teddy almost tripped over the four-foot tall silver knight in shining armor Nina had next to the fireplace, holding the poker. “That’s not how it was, Cormac. I was telling you the truth when I said you were my life mate.”
God, even to her ears that sounded shady.
Oh Lord. How was she ever going to explain this to him? How could she ever make this right, make him understand? She should have said something right from the get-go. The second she realized Cormac wasn’t the bad guy and before they’d come to New York.
Her stomach pitched and rolled, but she forged ahead. “If you’ll just hear me out. Let me tell you what’s really going on; it might not make anything better, but at least you’ll know the truth. I’ll leave if you still want me to when I’m done.”
The thought of leaving wrenched her gut, and this after just two days. It was almost unbelievable, except for the stories her mother had told her about how she’d know. How she’d doubt the validity of her feelings, how she’d have to be patient and allow them to grow, but Masha Gribanov had been firm on one thing—she’d know.
Nina’s dark head popped around the corner just then, her expression irritated. “Dudes? What the fuck is the holdup in here? Are you two already playing kissy-face? Christ, it’s been less than two days. Does anybody bother to get to know each other before they’re skippin’ off to play hide the salami? Jesus and some overactive hormones, you kids these days. You know too much. I blame social media,” she said on a snort.
But no one was laughing.
Cormac began to speak, but Teddy held up her hand. “Nina? Would you ask everyone to come in here, please? I need to talk to you all.”
Nina exhaled with a loud grunt. “We have shit to do, people. Do you know what day it is? It’s fucking Sunday. The Walking Dead’s on Sunday. It’s Carl’s favorite show. It’s Nina and Carl time, every week on Sunday. We put Charlie to bed, we roast up some broccoli, and we watch his sorta people eat other people while Rick Grimes cries and I eyeball Daryl and his bow and arrow. I wanna wrap this shit up so I can get my Daryl on in peace without all the whiny, ‘OMG, my life’s in danger’ shit hanging over my head. Also, Facebook never fails to fuck it up for me with spoilers. You’d think it took an act of God to put a spoiler alert in your post. But no, that jackhole friend of my husband’s, Norman, is all up in my feed every GD time. What’s so important that we’re not gettin’ on with this crap already?”
“I lied,” Teddy blurted out, swallowing hard.
Nina’s beautiful eyes narrowed, placing her hands on her slender hips. “About?”
“Pretty much everything,” Cormac said.
“Not everything!” Teddy defended on a shout. Almost everything. There was a difference.
“I knew it!” Nina barked with a clap of her hands. “I fucking knew it. There’s always something. Who says I need my special spidey powers to detect bullshit? Didn’t I say that from the frickin’ start? You got some secret, Teddy Bear, and it’s gonna mess everything up. Then everyone’s gonna be all in an uproar. Pooh Bear over here’s gonna be all mopey and broody. You’re gonna be all drippy snot and tears. Swear to God, I could’ve written down how this was gonna go. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
“Nina!” Wanda tapped her friend on the shoulder, her stern teacher’s face in full disapproval mode. “Why are you carrying on? Did we run out of Doritos already?”
Nina threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. “Because we got trouble. Just like we always do. Teddy says she has something to say. You know what that something is, Wanda? It’s some confession that will keep these two knuckleheads from focusing on what’s important. Catching that motherfucker Stas. It’s just like it always is. Sure, the players are different. It’s not a vampire or a genie this time but a damn pair of bears. And no, we didn’t have to go through the whole, ‘I can’t believe I’m paranormal’ bullshit therapy session we usually have to give our moron clients, but it’s all the same in the end.”
Wanda’s gaze turned to them. Gone was the gentle, sympathetic Wanda, replaced by suspicious, tell-me-everything-or-I’ll break-your-legs Wanda. “What’s going on?”