What did fourteen-year-old boys like to talk about? What interested them? His mind came up empty. Zac had seemed to hit it off with Dominic. What would Dominic ask him? Probably nothing suitable for a fourteen-year-old to talk about.
What Ryan wanted to know most of all was what had happened in Zac’s pack to make him run. He wanted to know who’d hurt him—or, more to the point, who needed to get their fucking throat ripped out for doing so. But until he’d earned Zac’s trust, he’d have to keep his questions casual or the kid might close down. He needed him to relax, but Ryan wasn’t exactly a relaxing person to be around.
Shit, he should have taken Zac somewhere else so his pack mates could have come along. It had been Jaime’s idea to take Zac to the game. She thought the only way Ryan and Zac could truly get to know each other would be if they didn’t have lots of company. Ryan would do what came naturally and say very little to Zac if his pack mates were there and asking questions he should be asking. Yeah, okay, she was right. But this was awkward as fuck.
“You know,” said Makenna, breaking into his thoughts, “I think I’d have a decent shot of surviving a zombie apocalypse. What about you guys?”
And just like that, the tension melted away.
“She does that a lot.” Zac chuckled. “Ask weird questions, I mean.” He twisted slightly in his seat to reply, “Um . . . yeah, I think I could.” Then he looked at Ryan. “You?”
Ryan opened and closed his mouth three times. “I don’t know how to involve myself in this conversation.” It was totally pointless. But if she’d been aiming to ease Zac’s nerves—though he had the feeling it was simply that her brain shot into weird directions—she’d succeeded. And yeah, okay, Ryan had also lost some of his edginess. Enough that he could think of a decent question. “Are you a big fan of football?”
If the way Zac’s eyes lit up was any indication, it was the right question to ask. “Hell, yeah. The Grizzlies are the best.” Grizzlies being a bear shifter football team that was playing in the game they were going to watch.
“Who’s your favorite player?”
Makenna listened as the boys bonded over football. It was almost cute how hard Ryan found it to simply have a casual conversation. He was the epitome of socially challenged. But she liked that he didn’t wear a social mask—too many people did, too many people said and did what they thought others wanted them to. It was difficult to build a friendship with someone based on falsities.
As she watched Ryan push past his comfort zone in order to get to know Zac, she saw just how important the kid was to him, which made her smile. Ryan Conner, she thought, was a good guy. But not a well mannered, safe, comforting kind of good. No, Ryan was hard, dominant, and dangerous—someone who wouldn’t hesitate to kill if the need arose. But he had strong pack values and a solid sense of duty that she admired.
By the time they arrived at the stadium, the boys were much more relaxed with each other. She remained silent—except when it came time to order food and drinks, of course. She noticed that a lot of females were ogling Ryan and even sending him welcoming smiles. Tramps. Harsh, yeah, but it wasn’t like Makenna had said it aloud, so she figured it didn’t count.
Ryan led them down to their row and ushered her and Zac to move along first . . . but she came to an abrupt halt as she reached her seat.
“What’s wrong?” asked Ryan.
“I can’t sit in this seat.”
“Why?”
“It’s number thirteen.” And he wanted her to sit in it? Was he crazy?
Ryan spoke slowly, like he was talking to a mentally challenged person. “Yes, like you said, it’s a number.”
“An unlucky number.”
“There’s no such thing as luck.” Ryan shook his head, resisting the pointless urge to argue with her over the subject. She was clearly insane, and he should just accept it. “I’ll take that seat, you have mine.”
Makenna almost felt bad placing him in danger by swapping seats. Almost. Leaning back, she soaked up the expectant atmosphere. The crowd was hyped, ramping up the anticipation. She sipped at her Coke through her straw. “Damn, it’s hot.”
Wedged between them, Zac grinned. “Dude, these seats are fleek. How did you get such good tickets so late?”
“I already had them. Dominic and Trick were going to come with me.” They hadn’t been too happy to lose their tickets and had pointlessly complained. Ryan had stared at them until they had thrown their hands up and walked away. “Are you any good at football?”
“I’m all right. I play with Colton and some of the other guys at the shelter sometimes.”
That name made his wolf growl; he viewed the male as a rival. Personally, Ryan didn’t believe Makenna was dating Colton. That didn’t mean he wanted to hear about him.
“Makenna used to come along and watch . . . but they banned her from the games.”
Ryan blinked. “Banned?”
Makenna adjusted her sunglasses. “It was totally unwarranted.”