“All right, ladies and gentleman,” Wanda interrupted with a warm smile. “It’s late, and I have children to get up with in the morning. So I’ll say goodnight, but we’ll see you on Friday night for sledding. Oh, and the kids miss you, Harry. They said so just tonight after snack and bath time. I’m really enjoying them. Thank you for sharing them with me,” she said with a warm smile.
Harry’s expression went humble. “Good to know. Thank you, Wanda, for watching out for them. You, too, Arch. I don’t know what I would’ve done without all of you.”
You just don’t want to be one of us. Ugh. Why did that trouble her so?
Wanda and Arch signed off with the promise they’d give the children Harry’s love.
Nina dropped off the stool, holding out her hand to Carl. “You two keep the screeching during the sexy times down, would ya? Carl’s fucking freaked out with all the stimuli. All that ‘do that to me one more time’ shit’s bound to rile him.” She cackled at her joke, taking Carl off to the lone guest room.
Mara’s face went red, her cheeks burning, but Harry scooped her up from behind, nuzzling her neck. “Don’t listen to the cranky vampire. ‘Do that to me one more time’ is perfectly acceptable bedroom talk. Succinct, yet super seductive and sexy. And a song, I think, right?”
Mara stifled a giggle, allowing Harry to lead her into the bedroom.
Tomorrow she’d talk to Astrid. Tonight she’d try to forget that Harry didn’t want to be a part of the pack, and that it bugged the hell out of her.
Tonight was for living in the moment.
The moment with Harry in it.
* * *
“MARA!” Astrid flagged her down in the hallway as she approached the lab. Mara fought a visible cringe. She’d spent all morning trying to find the words to cobble together in order to avoid coming off confrontational, but still get some answers from Astrid.
She sucked at confrontation. Hard. The last thing she wanted to do was accuse Astrid of something so horrible without sound reasons behind it.
Sucking in a breath, she plastered a smile on her face and waved as Astrid approached.
Astrid was all smiles today. If she was upset that she’d missed their usual morning coffee break together, she didn’t show it. “Hey! Missed you at morning break.”
Mara fought a look of confusion. What? No interrogation. No wisecracks about her and Harry in the janitor’s closet? Who was this cheerful, friendly soul? “Sorry about that. I’ve been so backed up in the lab, I totally lost track of time.” Liar!
Astrid smiled again, brilliant and wide. Two times in as many seconds? “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something. Got a sec?”
And here it came. Mara braced herself for Astrid’s anger. “You bet. Bathroom?”
Astrid led the way, her white Crocs following a precise pattern on the floor, her soft counting just above a whisper. She propped the door open and smiled again, letting Mara enter first.
Mara leaned against the ceramic row of sinks, forcing herself to look Astrid in the eye. “What’s up?”
Her return gaze was contrite. “Look, I know I behaved badly about Harry and you. I kinda took all the fun out of your announcement, didn’t I? I suck, and I feel like shit about it. I know I’m insecure and moody and difficult, but I acted like a total jerk. There’s no excuse for it. I can only say I’m sorry.”
Mara frowned, readjusting her position against the sink. She opened her mouth to speak, then snapped it shut while Astrid waited for her response. Yesterday Astrid had behaved like they were in grammar school, but today she was an adult? Maybe she’d just had a bad day? But Astrid always had bad days. More often than not.
Mara’s voice was tentative when she finally replied. “So you’re okay with it?” She couldn’t believe she was asking her friend if she was okay with her dating Harry. Like Astrid was her mother and she needed permission. But here she was, not rocking the friendship boat.
Astrid gave her a sheepish look from behind the glasses she wore for no other reason than to hide her eyes from the world. “It’s not for me to decide, Mara. And of course I’m okay,” she said with warm conviction, reaching out to squeeze Mara’s arm. “I think it’s great that your dreams suddenly came true. I guess I was just caught off guard by it. I felt like we spent so much time talking about it that when it happened, and when you didn’t tell me, I was really hurt. It was like planning a wedding with your friend and then not being invited, ya know? You know how lame I can be about stuff like that. I’m stupid insecure. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. So I was a bitch because of it.”