15. Rory

CHAPTER 15

RORY

I gave Katrina a choice between three different places and was secretly very relieved when she chose the cheap corner diner instead of one of the more expensive options. I would’ve paid for her meal no matter what, but I was supposed to be saving most of my money to cover rent since Cornelius was still out of a job. If my friends found out that I couldn’t keep up with the bills because I had been wining and dining the new girl in town, they would never let me hear the end of it.

We were seated at a booth by the window, and she ordered a black coffee before the waitress even handed us our menus.

“Same,” I said, flipping my mug right side up. “Thanks, Em.”

“You’ve got it.” Emily, who had been working here for years and always gave me a free slice of pie, smiled and walked away.

Once we were alone, I leaned back into the green vinyl bench seat and looked at Katrina. Her short blond hair framed her face perfectly, and her cheeks were still slightly flushed. I didn’t know if it was because of the sun or if she was still a bit overheated from everything that took place in that hot shower. Either way, the color lit her up from the inside and stole my breath away.

“I have to ask you something,” I said.

“You have to?”

“Yeah, I do.”

After a couple of seconds, she nodded once. “Alright. Go ahead.”

“Why did you come to the pool today?” I had wanted to know the answer to that question since the moment I spotted her sitting on the edge with her feet in the water—looking as beautiful as ever, if not a little out of place.

“Truth?”

“Always.”

“Something your buddy Matt said got me thinking. I wanted to come see you after I ran into him on the beach.”

I laughed. “I love Matt, and he’s been known to be a good wingman every now and then, but I would be utterly shocked to hear that he told you to come surprise me at the pool and… well, you know.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s not what he told me to do. Really, he sort of told me to do the opposite, which was what I intended to do until I actually got there and saw you swimming laps. Then I sort of forgot why I came in the first place.”

“Wait, what do you mean he told you to do the opposite? What does that mean?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know… he just didn’t want me to keep toying with your feelings or whatever.”

“Toying with my feelings?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not doing a good job of explaining what he said, and I don’t want to get your friend in trouble or anything. He was just looking out for you. He told me to stop leading you on if I didn’t think this was going to go anywhere, or something to that effect.”

I scoffed. “He said that?”

“Maybe not in those exact words, but yeah.” Her eyes widened a little with concern. “But don’t get upset. It’s not like he sought me out or anything. We just ran into each other on the beach and got to talking. It was totally harmless.”

“What else did he say?”

“Nothing.”

I shot her a look. “Tell me.”

“Nothing, really!” she insisted. “I’m sorry I even brought it up. Besides, you were the one who told him we had sex! I was happy to keep that little piece of information between us, thank you very much. If you hadn’t told him that we hooked up, he never would’ve talked to me about you in the first place.”

Before I could respond, Emily reappeared with a steaming pot of hot coffee. She poured us each a cup and then asked if we knew what we wanted to order.

“I’ll have the loaded grilled cheese,” Katrina said, pointing to her pick on the menu. “But without the tomato.”

I smiled. “That sounds good. I’ll have the same.”

“Okay then. Easy enough.” Emily took our menus and walked away.

“You don’t like tomatoes either?”

“Not on sandwiches,” I said, knowing that she was trying to change the subject. “Now—where were we?”

“We were moving on from this,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about your friend Matt anymore. No offense, but I’m not about to get in the way of a very close friendship by saying the wrong thing. He’s a good guy who’s looking out for you, and you should consider yourself lucky to have such a great friend. End of story.”

I breathed in and took a sip from my coffee, knowing that I had no choice but to agree with her. “You’re right. Matt’s great, and I’m sure he wasn’t trying to do anything that would fuck me over or embarrass me. Even if he failed.”

“You have no reason to be embarrassed,” she said. “I wish I had people like Matt trying to protect me.”

I bit my tongue, waiting to see if she would elaborate any more on that statement. She did not. “Either way, I’m sorry if I put you in an awkward position by asking you so many questions about what he said. We can talk about something else.” I leaned my elbows on the table. “In fact, let’s talk more about you.”

She sipped her coffee and avoided eye contact. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything. Everything.”

She laughed. “Well, that narrows it down.”

“We’ll start off simple then,” I said. “Tell me where you’re from.”

Katrina seemed to have to chew on this one for a second, which I found odd, but refrained from saying as much out loud. Eventually, she cleared her throat and answered. “My family moved around a lot, so I never really know how to respond to the question of where I’m from. I’ve lived in a lot of cool places, though. I’ve traveled through Europe and South America, and before I came here, I was living in Guatemala, which did really start to feel like home after a while. I think if I were to ever settle down somewhere outside of the States, that’s where I’d want to do it.”

“Army brat?”

“Huh?”

“I thought maybe you moved around a lot because your mom or dad was in the army?” I said. “No?”

“Oh—no. Not exactly. My dad just never liked to stay in one place for too long.”

“Hmm. Well, that’s cool. Sounds like your family is quite adventurous.”

“You could say that. What about you? Have you always lived in Solara Bay?”

“Most of my life,” I said. “Since I was a teenager.”

“What about before that?”

“I spent the first fourteen years of my life in South Carolina,” I said. “In a town I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard of, so it’s not even worth mentioning. When I arrived in Solara Bay, however, I knew this place was going to end up being my home. I can’t explain it—I just really love it here.”

“I get that. What’s not to love?”

“Exactly!” I laughed. “That’s how I feel. But will you come over to the house and tell my friend Cornelius that? He’s been talking about moving out of town recently—as if there’s a better place to live than here.”

“Why does he want to move?”

“For no good reason, if you ask me. He’s just a weird guy. Kinda paranoid.”

She frowned. “Paranoid about what?”

“Everything,” I said without thinking. This was a dangerous path to go down, hitting a little too close to some truths about my pack that I couldn’t let Katrina in on. Not yet, anyway. I waved a hand in the air. “But it’s probably just talk. Cornelius always finds something to complain about. This month—it’s Solara Bay. Next month, it’ll be something having to do with international politics. The month after that, he’ll be mad because they discontinued his favorite ice cream flavor.”

She smirked. “Sounds like an interesting person.”

“That he is.”

“So, do you three live together?” she asked. “You, Matt, and Cornelius?”

“And Nic,” I added. “We rent a house on the edge of town. It’s a great spot, but we’re all pretty worried that the landlord is going to raise our rent soon. If that happens, I’m not sure we’d be able to afford it even with all the extra shifts Nic and I have been taking at the fishery.”

“I assume Nic is the girl who was with you at the bar that night?”

“Yeah, that’s her. She’s great. I think you two would really get along.”

She laughed into her mug before taking a sip. “Yeah, probably not.”

I frowned. “Why do you say that?”

She winked. “Just a hunch. But hey, who knows? I don’t like to make assumptions about people before I’ve even talked to them. Either way, I’m sure she’s a great friend to you.”

“Wha—”

“Have you ever traveled outside of the Carolinas?” she asked, cutting me off right as I was about to ask her to clarify her statements about Nic. My curiosity was still alive and well, but considering how hard it was to get Katrina to talk in the first place, I decided it was best to just let her pivot the conversation if she wanted to. I had to take what I could get when it came to this woman.

“Not really,” I admitted. “At the risk of sounding very boring compared to you, I’ve really only been around this area. I would like to see more of the world, but financially, that’s never really been in the cards for me.”

She nodded. “I get that.”

“But hearing you talk about your travels makes me want to just bite the bullet and buy a plane ticket. Would you be my tour guide if I went to Guatemala?”

“It depends on when you want to go,” she said. “I’m not planning on going back there any time soon. Maybe in, like, five, ten years?”

“I thought you really liked it down there?”

“I do.”

“But not enough to visit regularly?”

“It’s just—it’s complicated.” She shifted awkwardly on her side of the table and looked anywhere but back at me. I could tell my questions were starting to make her uncomfortable, so I pulled back from the pre-Solara Bay stuff.

“How do you like working for Al?”

This made her visibly relax. She smiled. “He’s a great boss. Not too demanding, and so far, he’s let me take home everything in the tip jar at the end of the night. I’m sure that won’t be a permanent feature of the job, but I appreciate the gesture nonetheless. Plus, he gave me a place to stay for free. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone that generous in my life.”

“Yeah, he’s alright.”

“More than alright,” she insisted. “What happened between you two anyway? Why is there bad blood?”

“No bad blood,” I said, thinking back to the one time Al had to throw me out of his bar. In truth, it was my fault. Some guy was bothering Nic, and I threw a punch. To be fair, the only reason I took a swing at the guy was because I was worried Nic might accidentally shift right there in the middle of the crowded bar. She and Cornelius were not always great at controlling their emotions, and both of them had come close to exposing our pack on more than one occasion. I figured if I brought the guy’s attention onto me, things could be resolved without anyone going into wolf form. I was right, but there was still a price to be paid.

Ever since then, Al saw me as a troublemaker, and I never got a discount on drinks ever again.

“He just hasn’t always seen me at my best,” I added.

One corner of her mouth curled up. “What does that mean exactly?”

I smirked. “Maybe I’ll save that story for our second date.”

“What makes you so sure there will be a second date? Who said I’m even calling this little lunch a first date?”

“A gut feeling. Why? Am I wrong?”

She sipped her coffee coyly, and when she brought the mug back down to the counter, I noticed her cheeks were a little flushed. “No,” she said in a low, seductive voice that made me want to leap over the table and tear her clothes off right then and there. “You’re not wrong.”

Giddy.

That was the only word with which I could accurately describe how I felt after leaving the cafe that afternoon. I was like a kid in a fucking candy shop. Not only had Katrina kissed me goodbye, but she said I could swing by her apartment tonight if I wanted to. There were sexual undertones to the suggestion, obviously, but little did Katrina know I had plans to actually romance her tonight instead of just ravaging her.

Clearly, the excitement was noticeable on my face because when I arrived back at the house a little while later, Nic frowned at me immediately. “Why are you grinning like that? Are you high?”

“No,” I said. “Er—well. Kinda. High on life, I suppose.”

She scoffed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through the local paper. I grabbed a couple of sodas out of the fridge, sat down next to her, and slid her one of the cans.

“Life!” I said again. “Isn’t it grand?”

“Okay, so you are high. Do you have any good stuff left over for me?”

“I’m not high.” I laughed. “I’m just in a good mood. A really good mood.”

“I’m afraid to ask why…”

“Don’t be! It’s a good story.” I cracked open my soda. “You know that new bartender at Smart Choice? Katrina?”

Nic looked back down at the paper as if she was suddenly not interested in what I had to say. “Is that her name?”

“Yes, it is. Katrina O’Mally. I finally learned her name, among other things.”

“What does she have to do with your good mood?”

“She and I just spent an amazing day together. She came to find me at the pool and–”

“Wait, you were at the pool?” Nic’s head snapped up. “You didn’t tell me you were going to swim laps today. When did you get there?”

“Uh—after you already left. I decided I needed to work off some of the massive breakfast I had with Matt, so I went to swim for a little bit.” I tried to think back to what I’d told Nic on the phone earlier and whether or not this new explanation fit with the old one, but I was honestly too distracted by everything that happened with Katrina earlier to think straight.

Nic eyed me with suspicion but didn’t say anything, so I went on.

“Anyway, Kat shows up, and we… we get to talking.” There was no reason for me to share the more sordid details with Nic. She would probably be grossed out, and I was still trying to stay on her good side. “And then she agreed to go get some food with me. We went and had a little lunch date, and it was great. She’s great. Then she invited me over tonight for a glass of wine! Over the course of twenty-four hours, we went from her seemingly hating me to inviting me over to her place! I’m a goddamn miracle worker when it comes to women. Seriously. This has to be some kind of record or something. Can you believe it?”

Nic shook her head. “Actually, since you asked, I don’t really believe it.”

“Huh?” I shot her a look. “Do you think I’m lying?”

“No,” she said. “I think Katrina’s lying.”

“What?”

She folded the paper up and slid it aside. “Think about it, Rory. People don’t just do 180s like that. There has to be something in this for her—something more than just a date with you. No offense.”

“First of all, offense taken. And second of all, I feel like she and I have had a connection since day one. It just took her a little longer to realize it. Makes perfect sense to me. She just needed to spend some time with me and see that I’m not a bad guy.”

She clicked her tongue. “I don’t like it. I don’t trust her. What if she’s trying to get close to you because she’s—I don’t know—a shifter hunter or something?”

“You sound more paranoid than Cornelius!”

“Well, maybe Cornelius is right to be a little paranoid,” she argued. “I mean what do you even know about this girl, really?”

“I know everything I need to know.”

She laughed bitterly. “That’s not good enough for me, and it shouldn’t be good enough for you.”

“For now, it is.”

“You’re being irresponsible,” she said. “And I’m not going to let you get yourself, or the rest of us, in trouble because your ego is too fragile to allow for even one girl to turn you down.”

“That’s not fair.”

“You’re the one not being fair! You could be putting the entire pack in danger. This isn’t just about you.”

I stifled a growl. It had been a long time since Nic and I had been in a fight, but we had been known to let things get heated if we weren’t too careful. “You know I would never do anything that might put you guys in harm’s way.”

“If that’s true, then you’ll stay away from this woman—at least for a little while. Let me see what I can find out about her. A few days—that’s all I’m asking for.”

Nic was pleading with me, and she’d dropped her angry tone of voice to replace it with a somber one. It worked. She rarely implored me for anything, with such an obvious emotional attachment to my response that I found myself nodding before I even really thought about what I was agreeing to. “Fine.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Just a few days,” I reminded her.

“That’s all I need.”

She looked satisfied with where we ended up. I, on the other hand, had to mask my discomfort by taking a large sip of my soda. I wanted to keep my promise to Nic, but was I really going to blow Katrina off just because my friend group was overly cautious?

I could do my own research while I was at her apartment, I thought as Nic stood up and took the paper and soda out onto the back porch with her. What better place to look for clues than where Katrina lived, right?

And even though I knew it wasn’t the kind of argument that would hold up in a court of law, it was enough justification for me. Nothing was going to keep me from seeing the woman of my dreams tonight.

Not even Nic or the rest of my pack.