Chapter Seven

Jasmine

They want to video chat.

And for some reason, that terrifies me.

There is no reason that it should. After all, I've talked to men online and in video chat before. It was hard to be a person of my generation without those things happening. Regular phone calls? Nah. If it needed more than text, more than a DM, then video it was.

But it was one thing to look at the photos in their profile and to exchange typed words. To tell my friends I was taking them up on their bet and going to hook up with my first realistic match. Unfortunately, those things used up most of my bravado.

Still, how could I say no? Sure, I could use the money that the bet would give me when I won. And of course I'd win. I wasn't going to fall head over heels in love with anyone in ninety days, much less with these two shifters.

I reminded myself that my friends had been long-term singles, too, before they met their matches at Mail-Order Matings, so no wonder they were fans of not only the app but the guys who could be found there. But even before that, they'd dated fewer losers than me.

I brought up the images again and studied them. Incredibly good-looking. I didn't consider myself ugly or gorgeous, just average, and guys this handsome had a tendency to make me a little nervous.

But in this case, I was gonna have to be all in. After all, how could I back out? Stifling my nerves, I sent them a reply. I'll be glad to video chat with you in about an hour. I didn't mention why the delay, but as soon as I hit send, I ran for the bathroom to do my hair and makeup. I also put on a cute top but left on the ragged shorts I'd donned for my day of work at home. Nobody was going to know what I wore below the waist.

I pulled my hair out of the high ponytail I'd yanked it into this morning and gave it a quick brush then considered using the straightener, but I'd been trying to avoid all the heat. It really damaged the color and the hair itself, and the soft waves falling over my shoulders weren't too bad. Makeup…I jerked open the drawer next to the sink and looked at the sad display. The kind of job I did required very little glamour, at least on my face, but I had bought a few things for Michelle's wedding, fortunately. After doing my best to make myself look as put together as possible, I went into the bedroom and tried to decide what top might be best. The off-the-shoulder ivory? The pale-blue tank? Maybe one of my many funny book T-shirts? I found one with Shifters Do It In the Woods but decided that wasn't a message I was ready to send. Besides…did serpents even like the forest? Where did they hang out anyway? The very word serpent implied such far-off and exotic places like maybe somewhere in Asia or South America…maybe Africa? Anywhere but the small town I lived in here in the US.

While I pondered this, the minutes ticked away until I just had time to change from my current T-shirt with Banned Books are My Jam into the pale-blue tank that someone, I thought it was Michelle, said made my eyes extra blue. I ran back to the living room and found my phone then filled a glass with water, my throat dry from nerves, and sat on the sofa to wait for their call.

Exactly one hour after our last call, the phone rang, and I sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly before connecting. It was just a bet…nothing serious, so there was no reason to be scared or nervous or even worried. "Hello."

I was speaking to a blank screen, the video not having come in yet, but when it did, the dry throat turned into a tickle that had me coughing my head off. Perfect.

"Jasmine? Are you all right?" Drake, the one with the beard asked. "Are you choking?"

I gulped water, shaking my head and wishing I had a free hand to cover the screen. "I-I just need a…a second." Another big drink of water lubricated my throat but did nothing for the humiliation. You only make a first impression once, and mine was of a red-faced woman drinking what they probably thought was vodka or something. "I'm sorry. A tickle in my throat."

"Okay now?" Naga, every bit as handsome as his friend but clean-shaven, asked. "Do you need anything? Cough drops?"

What were they going to do? Order them delivered? "No, really. Sometimes when I get a little nervous, I get a dry throat."

"We made you nervous?" Drake's perplexed expression eased my anxiety, as did Naga's soft smile.

"We're not scary," Naga went on. "It's just the serpent thing, right?"

"No, not at all." I paused. "Well, maybe a tiny bit. I've never met a serpent shifter before and I guess, even after seeing your pictures, I wasn't sure what to expect."

Dang, I was already being more open and vulnerable than I intended. What happened to aloof Jasmine who was not going to be involved in the least?

"And now that you're talking with us?" Drake cocked a dark, smooth brow.

"Now, I am just trying not to make an even bigger fool of myself." We talked for about a half hour, all the first-date stuff you might share with someone. Nothing too deep, but at the end, I asked if they would like me to visit. It sounded weird even to me.