“Yup.”
Mitch leaned in close, his mouth against her ear. “Does she cook as good as you?”
“No,” Sissy whispered back, “but at least I don’t have to worry about you replacing me with another. Now ... mind moving that horse dick out of my way?”
He moved his arm, and Sissy headed up the stairs.
“Wait,” he said behind her, “was that an insult?”
Sissy was right—Dee wasn’t as good a cook as her. She wasn’t bad, but Sissy really had a way with the skillet.
Freshly showered and wearing jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers, Sissy trotted down the stairs. She took bacon directly off his plate, and he almost took her arm off.
Dee handed Sissy a paper towel. “You want me to go with you?”
“Nah. I’ll be fine.”
“You sure? I know how it gets between you and Travis.”
“What’s going on?” Mitch asked even as he kept eating.
“Nothing to worry your giant cat head about.”
“Sissy—”
“Bye. I won’t be long.” She walked out the back door without another word.
“I hate when she does that.”
Dee chuckled or snorted—Mitch couldn’t tell—and put the dirty pans in the sink.
Before she could turn on the water, he quickly asked, “Got any more eggs?”
Dee looked at him over her shoulder. “I just made you a carton of scrambled eggs.”
“Is that a yes or a no to my question?”
Chapter 9
Sissy walked into her old high school, and memories inundated her, some of them great. Like her and Ronnie Lee teasing every boy in a ten-foot radius. Or the way Sissy and her She-pups ruled these halls from ninth grade to twelfth.
Of course, it was also in these hallways that Sissy’s English teacher told her she might want to consider a job that didn’t require her to think too much. Or the time the principal called Sissy’s momma down to the school because Sissy had chased Jessie Ann Ward into the air conditioning vents where she’d gotten that scrawny little body stuck. Boy, was Momma pissed that day.
No, those were definitely not memories she needed to relive anytime soon.
The local high school was also where the town Elders met. In some of the towns, the board was made up of many breeds. Canines, cats, bears, even hyenas. But not in Smithtown. Because within the Smithtown borders, there were only canines and a few antisocial bears who lived in houses near the caves. The bears who lived in Smithtown were simply too big and mean to fuck with, especially the polars, so the wolves let them be. Town politics, however, came down to the wolves, and that’s who she’d be facing today. Her kin.
Her only problem now was that her daddy and momma weren’t around, which left this issue to the strongest.
Sissy walked into the band room—she’d only ever come to this room to make out—where the Elders waited. But not only the Elders. Her brothers were there, too, and their mates, quite a few of her cousins, and some She-wolves who’d decided not to follow her to New York.
Everyone, it seemed, except Sammy and his mate—interesting. She wondered if Sammy even knew about this meeting.
“It’s nice to see you home, Sissy Mae,” her Uncle Sirras said.
“It’s nice to be home.” Except for moments like these.
“Shame you didn’t come home alone,” Travis Ray said softly. Like always, he spoke softly and carried a big fat paw—and head.
Unlike Bobby Ray, however, Travis had never really grown into his head.
Travis’s mate, Patty Rose, stepped forward and hugged Sissy. “How are you, darlin’?” she asked in her most “I’m so sincere” voice. “Are you doing okay?”
“I’m just fine, Patty Rose,” Sissy answered back in her best “you’re such a friggin’ liar but I’m going to pretend you’re not” voice. “Thank you so much for asking.”
“So what are you going to do, Sissy Mae?”
She focused back on Travis. “About?”
“He needs to go.” Travis rarely bothered beating around the bush. He was a direct man who expected direct answers.
“I can’t do that. I promised his family he’d be safe here.”
“Doesn’t he have his own kin?” Jackie Ray demanded, sounding typically panicked. “His own Pride? What about that rich brother of his? Couldn’t he protect him?”
Ignoring Jackie like she always did, Sissy stepped closer to Travis. “They could have killed me, too, Travis. I was right there.”
“Then maybe you should pick better friends to be spending your time with, baby sister.”
“Now, Travis Ray,” Patty gently chastised—as if she thought Sissy would believe any of it for two seconds. The She-wolf hated her. Always had, always would. “Let’s all stay friendly about this.”
“So you want us to go?” Sissy snapped, ignoring Patty. “Is that what you’re saying?”
“You don’t have to go anywhere. This is your home. And always will be.”
“Okay.”
“But this ain’t that cat’s home. So he goes.”
Sissy’s hands curled into fists at her side. “If he leaves, I go with him.” And her brother knew that about her. Knew she’d never send Mitch off on his own.
“Fine,” Travis said simply. “Then go.”
“You bastard. You’d throw me out of my own home?”
“Oh, no.” Travis took a step closer—but not too close. “You’re leaving on your own. I only threw out that cat. And that’s exactly what I’ll tell Daddy when he gets home from his big vacation.”
Angry, exasperated, and ready to kill, Sissy threw her hands up and turned to walk away. “Fine, you big-headed bastard! We’ll leave.”
“Bye. Don’t let the door hit your fat ass on the way out.”
Sissy abruptly stopped walking, and she could sense how everyone but Travis took a cautious step back. That was probably smart. Normally, a crack like that would start a brawl, but not now. Not when Sissy had to watch out for the overeating beast recuperating in her daddy’s home.
But what stopped Sissy in her tracks was that calendar tacked to the band room wall, specifically that date marked off on it. Suddenly, that date meant more to her than it ever had before.
“Unless ...” Sissy began.
“Unless what?” The pause was long and dramatic until Travis asked again, “Unless what, Sissy Mae?”
“Unless we can come to a deal.”
“Money don’t mean shit to me, Sissy, and you know it.”
“Oh, I know.” She turned around and looked at him. “But there is something that means the world to you. And Mitch can help with that. When he’s healed up a bit more, of course.”
Immediately, Travis knew what she was getting at. “You have to be kidding.”
“He’s good.”
“Bullshit. We went down this road with his brother, and you saw how well that worked out.”
“Mitch is better.”
“Yeah. Right.”
“I swear. Check online if you don’t believe me.”
“Okay. So say it’s true ... then what?”
“Then you have a shot at what you want. What you’ve been wanting for years.”
Jackie shook his head. “She’s lying, Travis. She’s—”
She grabbed that tambourine lying on a desk and chucked it so fast Jackie didn’t have a chance to move before it hit him right in the forehead. He screeched like a wounded hyena, and like always, everyone ignored him. To be honest, he might not have even been in the room the way everyone didn’t even bother looking at him.
“Well ... ?” Sissy pushed.
“If it’s true—”
“It’s true.”
“If it’s true, then that’s a deal I’d be much inclined to take. But it better be true, Sissy. And he better be up for it.”
She grinned. “Mitch is usually up for anything.”
The females chuckled, but Travis only stared at her. “But if you’re lyi
ng, Sissy Mae, best get that cat out of town before we show him what Saturday nights used to be like back in Grandma Smith’s day.”
Sissy’s eyes narrowed at the mention of that old witch’s name, and everyone but Travis took another step back. “That’s not funny, Travis.”
“Wasn’t trying to be funny since I’m not really known for my sense of humor. Now if you don’t mind, I need to meet with the Pack—which last I heard, you weren’t part of anymore.”
Sissy grinned. “Oh, that’s very true. ’Cause if I were, I’d have killed you long ago and worn that giant head of yours as a hat as a warning to any challenger.”
She turned and again headed toward the door. Before she even made it back to her rental car, her mind was desperately turning over how she would ever convince Mitch to do this.
Mitch was halfway through the unbelievably delicious zebra stew Sissy had made him for lunch when he realized that she kept staring at him. Anyone else, he’d assume they had a little crush on him. But Sissy was the kind of gal who didn’t get crushes, and when she wanted someone, she really went for it. No doubts, no obsessing. In a way, she was kind of like a guy. So then why the hell did she keep staring at him?
“What?” he asked when he’d finished his food. Now that he had his appetite back, it would take a hell of a lot more than curiosity to distract him from his meal.
“You done?”
“Yeah, I’m done. Now why do you keep staring at me?”
“Let’s talk in the other room.”
Mitch watched her get up. She was being really nice, which automatically made him wary. He followed her into the family room and sat down on the couch. She paced in front of him for several minutes before he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“They want me to go, right?”
“Well ...”
“Don’t sweat it. I should go back to Philly anyway, and I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”
“Wait. Let me finish.” She twisted her hands in front of her as she continued to pace back and forth. “I found a way for you to stay—for a price.” She stopped twisting her hands together so she could rub her temples. The pacing continued. “Lord, this is so embarrassing.”
Mitch winced. “You don’t have to marry your cousin or something, do you?”
Sissy abruptly stopped pacing and turned to him with a lethal scowl. “Think we can put aside the cultural stereotypes until we’re done with this conversation?”
“Sorry.”
Hands on her hips, Sissy let out a deep breath. “You can stay, but ... you’ll have to ... do something.”
“I’ll have to marry your cousin?”
“Mitch!”
He chuckled. “Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. Now could you spit it out already?”
“You see ... it’s the bears. Of Collinstown.”
Since he had no idea where Collinstown was located, all of that was meaningless. “Okay.”
“Well, we’ve had this rivalry with them for years and ... well, you see ...” Sissy started to pace again and again abruptly stopped. “The bottom line is they want you to play.”
“Play?” Mitch had no idea what she was talking about. “Play what?”
Sissy suddenly found the cracks in the floor fascinating, and Mitch had to admit he was entertained. He’d never seen her so obviously uncomfortable before.
“Uh ... football.”
“Football? The game?”
“Of course the game.”
“Hey, excuse me if I find it surprising my life or death situation hinges on my ability to be Joe Namath.”
“Look,” she sat on the couch beside him, “I know this is a strange request. But I had to think of something. Without my parents here, I am at the will of that asshole Travis, and if I go ahead and kill him like I tried when I was eight, Daddy will have my ass.”
“But why football? I mean, let’s face it, we could always ask Bren for money or—”
“I can say with all honesty, Travis doesn’t care about money. He cares about two things ... being Alpha Male—”
“And football.”
“And football,” she confirmed.
“So he needs me to play a little game of pickup against some bears?”
“It’s not really that simple.” She turned to face him, pulling her legs up on the couch and resting back on her heels. “As you know, each town of shifters is different from every other. And each region is different. But the one thing the Southern and Midwestern shifters have is our love of football. We have official teams that travel, and some of the richer towns have actual stadiums that’re for these games specifically.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Not even a little. Since I was a kid, I’ve had football shoved down my throat. My daddy and his brothers played when they were young, and their fathers played when they were still using those leather helmets and very little padding. They simply love the game.”
“Of course they do. It’s like an elaborate game of fetch—ow!”
Mitch rubbed his head where she’d yanked out actual hair.
“If you think this is easy for me, it’s not! And you making canine jokes just pisses me off. And for your information, every breed in the Southern states plays.”
“But the bears are unbeatable.”
“Basically. I mean, their guys can reach eight feet tall and almost four hundred pounds when human. Lord knows they could never legally play in the NFL. It would be lethal.”
“And you think I can help?”
“Remember what I told you the other night? Brendon brags about you constantly, especially about how amazing you were in football.”
He was, too, but he’d had to “tragically” end his career his senior year of college before he could be recruited by a pro team. Between those blood tests that seemed to get more extensive every year and his not being able to pull back as much if he wanted to win in the pros, it simply had been too big a risk for him and his kind. Broke his heart, too.
Mitch still caught a few pickup games with friends from his old neighborhood every once in a while, but again, he always had to hold back because they were full-humans. The thought of being able to really play the way he’d always wanted to nearly had him wiggling.
Sissy touched his leg. “I know I’m asking a lot of you, and of course we’ll wait until you’re fully recovered, but hopefully, that will be before next Saturday since that’s the day of the big game, but really, I’d understand if you say no, and I’ll fight for you to stay anyway. Travis is such an asshole, but for you, Mitch, I’ll fight him. I swear.”
She sounded so sincere, so upset, so traumatized that Mitch could do nothing but torture her.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He pushed her hand off his leg, and Sissy reared back in surprise.
“Huh?”
“You heard me. Don’t you think I know what you’re doing?”
“What I’m doing?”
“Trying to use me. To entice me to play on your team.”
“Mitch, of course I’m not—”
“I’m not a whore!”
Sissy rolled her eyes. “Mitchell ...”
“I see how this works.”
“How what works?”
He moved further away, giving her his best ingénue stare. “First, you sit next to me—a little too close—wearing those sexy tight shorts and that begging-to-be-torn-off tank top. Then a few innocent touches in all my favorite naughty areas, of which I have many.”
Sissy slapped her hands against her thighs. “Mitchell Shaw!”
“And before I know it, I’m on my back, and you’re having your dirty, disgusting way with me. Just so I’ll play for your team.”
She looked up at the ceiling as if asking it for guidance. “Why do our conversations get so strange?”
“And because I’m weak ... and your breasts are so large and full—”
“Good Lord.”
“—I’ll succumb to your She-wolf wiles and agre
e to play your damn game.”
“Or you could just cut the bullshit and agree to play.”
“I could. But I figured this was a better way of getting you to agree to let me look down your shirt.”
“Mitchell!”
Laughing, he held his hands up. “Okay. Okay. I’ll play.”
“Only if you want to. Only if—”
“On one condition.”
“I’m not letting you see down my top.”
“We both know you will eventually, sweet cheeks.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“But before I put on a pad or pick up a ball ...”
“Yeah ... ?”
“I wanna know who the hell Clyde is.”
Sissy fell back on the couch, her knees raised, her bare feet digging into the cushions. She always looked so sexy like that. “You can’t be serious.”
“Tell me, or I go play for the bears.”
She shrugged. Sighed. “I’m not sure you’re ready for this. Clyde ... means a lot to me. He knows how to touch all my favorite—what did you call them?—naughty places.”
“Bears,” he growled.
“Fine,” she replied stoically. “If you insist.”
“I insist.”
“Come on then. We have some time before today’s practice, which I’m sure Travis wants you at. But I really hope you’re ready for this.”
He did not like the sound of that.
Chapter 10
Mitch stepped out of the rental car and glanced around. Sissy had parked them beside a small but nice home that sat right in the middle of a ton of property. Growing up in Philly, Mitch was used to the small covered backyard his mom’s Pride had. All this property stunned him. Lots of trees with small rivers and big lakes.
Now Mitch understood why Bren had no problem coming out here to visit Ronnie Lee’s family. All Mitch had to do was sit outside on Sissy’s porch drinking coffee, and he’d see deer and elk dashing by. Of course, it kept him in a state of constant hunger.
“This is Clyde’s house?”
“Nope. This is my brother’s house.”
Mitch smirked. “Which one? You’ll have to be more specific than that.”