Page 95 of Wedding the Werepanther

“Looks like I’m going to have another big woodworking project to do in the backyard.”

“Should I assume you’ll be shirtless the whole time?” I pick up a slice of pizza.

He shoots me a cocky grin. “Why would I be anything else?”

I spend the next morning finishing the final boss battle and the afternoon going over my entire outline, tweaking and tightening and adding more details.

This new game is good—reallygood—I can feel it in my gut. No, I think, channeling a bit of Shadow’s confidence, it’s flipping fantastic. This one could blow up big, be one of those games toset the RPG Discord chats alight and have people making memes and fanart.

“Suck it, Topher.” I punch the send button on my email with the full game outline attached. I’m several days early, so there’s no way in hell that asshat can complain.

I log onto the Buffy Guild to celebrate.

AmethystAssassin:Guess who just sent Topher a full outline early.

Ipwnedurass:yesssss, girl! killing it!

Xena4Eva:I hope you made him eat his words about you being late.

AmethystAssassin:I hope I made himchokeon them.

Ipwnedurass:you’ve entered your villain era. I like it

AmethystAssassin:I think it’s my best game yet. I can’t wait to hear what you think, Ipwnedurass.

Ipwnedurass:yesss!!! I’m pushing to be on the team

AmethystAssassin:Sorry the NDA means I can’t tell you much about it, Xena4Eva.

Xena4Eva:Respect. You’re professional. It’s one of the reasons we’re such good friends.

Ipwnedurass:and then there’s me…

She adds a series of laughing emojis that have me chuckling, and we chat about their projects. Before signing off, we arrange a gaming session for next week to continue ourBaldur’s Gate 3multiplayer campaign.

To further celebrate, I take Dewdrop into the backyard and play his favorite new game: fruit fetch. I toss grapes, blackberries, and pineapple chunks up into the air, and he chases them down and eats them. His perky chirps and delight at the variety of fruit make me ride a constant high of happiness. I see why everyone loves having pets now. I can’t imagine my life without him.

I ride that high all the way into the kitchen, where I decide to throw together some spaghetti. While the meatballs brown in the skillet, I dance around the kitchen island. Dewdrop flies happy circles overhead, chirping along to the music, and Victoria opens and closes the cabinet doors in time to the beat.

Then Beyoncé sings about morning dew, and all I can picture is Shadow with his head buried between my legs.

As if my thoughts pulled him to me, he steps out of thin air in the middle of the kitchen, swooping me into his arms for a dance. “What’s got you in such a good mood, my witchy beauty?”

“I finished the outline for my new game!”

“Perfect. That means we can have date night.”

“An extra date? I approve,”Victoria writes, and the cabinets applaud the idea.

I say, “I didn’t think we had to do any more dates for the contract.”

“This one might not be part of Victoria’s fine print, but it’s something I’ve been thinking of.” He spins me out, then pulls me back. “We could go on a date that’s just for us.”

A date freely chosen by both of us instead of mandated by the house. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve loved our other dates. I only wish we hadn’t been forced into them.

“Just for us.” I smile up at him and curl my arms around his neck. “I like the sound of that.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE