Page 59 of Tiger Bitten

“Nah. Look at your life. Record store co-owner, brand new sexy-girl red Bronco, cute-as-hell house, a whole wedding that loved you, family, friends. Football Sundays and awesome music taste. Some guy who can’t stay away from you and thinks about your smile and your body twenty-four-seven.”

She giggled and pressed her hands over his to keep him cupping her cheeks.

“We have to go through some Almost-Changes,” he said softly. “It sucks, but it’s life. We’re going to appreciate the honeymoon phase because you know how painful things can be. Whatever questions you have about Half-Cats, we are going to find them out. Shit, Misty is a whiz at finding stuff out on the internet, I’m about to sic her on this like a dog on a bone. Give her three days,” he teased.

She was grinning in earnest now and nodded, her eyes filled with hope. “I thought you wouldn’t like me anymore.”

“You know that text I mentioned yesterday?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was working my way up to saying I love you, but you cut the conversation off.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “Wait, really? Whoops.”

“It’s good. This is the moment right here that was supposed to happen, after the Almost-Change, after things make sense to me. Ren?”

“Yeah?” she whispered, her heart in her pretty eyes.

“I love you.”

Her face crumpled and she looked down. He saw a tear hit the tile floor between them, and he hooked a finger under her chin and dragged her gaze back to his.

“I love you,” he whispered again, allowing her to hear the truth in his voice twice so she didn’t have to question it.

And that beautiful woman, that gorgeous Half-Cat, that stunning badass…she melted against him and hugged him so tightly.

And then he heard it in her voice—the words he had never cared about until he met her.

The words that meant everything.

“I love you too.”

Chapter Seventeen

Ren closed the door as quietly as she could and turned to find a bundle of blue flowers bound in twine sitting on the porch near the door.

Careful not to spill the two mugs of coffee, she squatted down. There was a small, folded piece of paper tied in the twine, and she set the mugs down and pulled it out. On the piece of notebook paper was written simply, I’m sorry.

She frowned and looked around, scented the air but she didn’t smell anyone.

The door creaked open behind her.

“Running away?” Mars asked in a sleepy voice.

“Misty is awake. I was going to bring her some coffee, and you know…talk to her about last night. I’m still a little embarrassed that it was so public, and no one had a warning.”

Mars didn’t say anything though. His eyes were on the flowers.

She showed him the note, and his eyes softened. “Stellan used to bring these exact flowers to our mom when she was mad. I think he thought it would soften her or make her nicer. He did it for as long as I could remember. Anytime we got in trouble—the yelling kind—he would give her these.”

Oof, Ren’s heart. “Did he bring these for me?” she asked, confused.

“Well, he sure as hell didn’t bring them for me. I told him how dumb they were for years. Flowers never made our mom any nicer.”

The hope in that boy though…that’s what touched her heart. He’d been a kid without a lot of control of his home life, but Stellan had tried to make something about it softer, and she didn’t know why, but it made her dislike Stellan a little less.

She picked them up and smelled them. “It’s sweet. He didn’t do anything wrong though. He was just being himself. In a way he was being protective of you.”