My Wolf’s Bane(43)
“She married at our age.” He shuddered. “She’s old school.”
“Gina told me you already have a girlfriend.” I peered at him from under my lashes, trying to act casual.
“She said that?” He glanced at me briefly before returning his eyes to the road.
“Yep,” I said. “On your first day at school.”
“The subject never even came up. I think Gina’s a little insecure. By making me unavailable to you, she eliminates the competition.”
“I’m hardly competition. You and I haven’t exactly gotten along.”
He stopped for a red light and glanced my way. “Yeah, but Gina didn’t know that.”
Gina, the sneaky witch. “You spend a good amount of time with her at school.”
“Gina’s pretty.” He made a face. “But she’s not the kind of girl I’d get serious with.”
“But the fact that you’re nice to her at all…” I cocked my head. “She’s a bigger snob than I could ever be.”
“I pegged Gina the second she opened her mouth. No surprises there. But you…” He blew out a breath. “I wasn’t expecting you to kick me to the curb when Daniel made an ass of himself.”
“Yeah, well, I scolded him, but you’d already left.”
Zack seemed to absorb that. “Gina’s always trying to hook up with me.”
“Why don’t you go for it?” We were having a real conversation and it wasn’t unpleasant at all. Yay. “You don’t have to marry her.”
“The other day she asked me if I liked girls,” he said, but I noticed he hadn’t answered my question.
I’d never thought about the possibility of Zack playing for the other team. “It’s a valid question, I suppose, since no one at school has seen you, uh, interact with anyone.”
He squinted, tilting his head as if he couldn’t believe I’d said that. “I’ve been going to that school for a week.”
“Oh, right.” I shook my head. “So, do you like girls?”
He laughed, low and deep. “Funny.”
Zack hadn’t answered that question either. Whatever. I wasn’t going to date him, so it didn’t matter.
But since he seemed open to conversation, why not pry? He may not answer all of my questions, but he might answer some. And I just couldn’t get past how mature Zack looked for his age. “How much older are you than Trevor?”
“Two months.”
An answer, finally. “Did you two grow up together?”
“Yeah. Since I don’t have any siblings, and Aunt Cara didn’t have Brian until years later, Trevor and I were raised like brothers.”
I was an only child too. That was one thing we had in common. But I was envious, because Zack grew up with a good substitute. My parents hadn’t stayed in a city long enough for me to develop a relationship like that. Or any relationship. “Your mom said something to me in another language. Do you know what she said?”
“Tesora. It’s Italian for darling.”
“So you’re Italian.”
“Partly.” Zack nodded as he turned down our street. “My mom is full-blooded, but not my dad. He was German, but grew up in Italy. That’s where they met. She was educated here though, which is why she doesn’t have an accent.”
“Like me.” I loved this talkative side of Zack. “My mom’s half Italian and my dad’s parents were English.”
He parked in front of his house. “Let’s go in and say hi to my mom.” He sighed. “Please just stick to facts and not give her any ammunition.”
I gave him an innocent look. “I’ll try.”
Trevor was on the couch playing a video game with his two younger brothers. “Hey Autumn,” he said as I stepped over the threshold.
“Boys,” Cara called from the kitchen. “Dinner in five.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Zack replied. “Let’s go get my mom.”
I shadowed Zack. At his mom’s door, he knocked twice, then opened it.
“Did you two have any luck?” she asked, looking even prettier than last time I’d seen her. She wore a white blouse with a high neckline and puffy sleeves. She’d pinned up her hair, which reminded me of women I’d seen in old photos.
“No,” I said while Zack answered the opposite.
“Yes and no,” he clarified. “She didn’t buy anything, but we set out to window shop, which is exactly what we did.”
“Oh.” Favianne gave a sly smile. “So you have to go out again tomorrow?”
“We are. Right?” he asked me.