Looking down at my thigh, I feigned surprise. "Huh. Looks like."
"So shift and heal it." She pulled a lacy green top over her head. "That's one of the coolest things about being a Shifter. How easily we heal."
She grabbed a brush and started dragging it through her vibrant red hair.
"I'll take care of it after you guys leave." But not in the way she thought.
She stilled the brush. "I'll close my eyes if you're modest about shifting in front of me."
"Thanks, but I'll deal with it."
"I understand," she said quietly.
I doubt it "Understand what?"
"It's a personal experience. The first time I shifted in front of someone other than Lucas, I was so nervous I wasn't certain I could pull it off. I can't imagine what it must have been like growing up knowing you'd have this amazing ability. I don't know that I would have had the patience to wait."
"It's not like we have a choice."
"True." She put her brush aside, headed for the door, and stopped. "Sure you don't want me to wait for you?"
"I'm sure. Besides, you and Lucas can probably get in a hundred kisses before I'm finished getting ready."
"Or one long, slow one. My personal favorite." Opening the door, she smiled brightly. "Hey'"
"Hey," Lucas said, his voice reflecting how glad he was to see her.
She closed the door. How great it would be to have a guy waiting for me in the hallway. But only if that guy was Connor.
I dressed quickly, before Lindsey came out of the bathroom. I didn't need more advice on how to handle my bruises, and I figured her solution would involve lecturing me that it was confession time.
I tossed my head around and let my hair go free. I imagined Connor combing his fingers through it, over and over until it dried.
I needed to stop thinking about him and get a life. Maybe the elders were right. Maybe my true soul mate resided in another state, another country even.
Okay, so I hadn't shifted yet, and things were a little different for me but that didn't mean that I didn't deserve a soul mate—or at least a boyfriend. I didn't need a lifetime commitment. But a kiss would be nice. Connor's tongue sliding over mine—
I sighed deeply. I didn't know if I could be happy with anyone who wasn't Connor. Could he be happy with someone who wasn't Lindsey?
The bathroom door clicked open and she strode out, looking great as always. She was supermodel slender. I'd never been that thin. My grandfather had once told me that I had good bone structure. Yeah, that's the kind of compliment every girl longs for.
"I heard that you're teaming up with Connor," Lindsey said, as she flung her bundle of dirty clothes into a corner near her bed.
"It's not like it's a secret. It's posted on the wall outside the council room."
"I want things to work out for you two, I really do. But Connor seemed…a little distant today."
"Well, duh? You kinda made a fool of him, Linds. Something I'd never do."
A deep red blush stained her cheeks. "I should have been as strong as you sooner—when I realized Rafe was the one. I just didn't want to hurt Connor. I mean, everyone thought we belonged together. Only we didn't."
I didn't respond. There was nothing I could say to make her feel better. She left quietly, and I sat on my bed wondering how I should spend the evening. The girls I usually hung around with— Kayla and Lindsey—would be busy getting hot and heavy with their mates. Which left the only member of our team not tied to someone—Connor. But as much as I wanted to see him, my irritation with him was returning, and I wasn't in the mood to chase him. I was starting to feel that sting of disappointment that he didn't know me well enough to know I'd work my butt off to be the best Dark Guardian.
Tonight I was on my own.
After scooping up a tub of warm popcorn from the machine in the hallway and lacing it generously with butter, I slipped inside the media room that closely resembled a tiny theater. The lights were already out, the movie in progress. I almost reached for a small penlight that I usually carried in a pocket, before I remembered that I was now supposed to have great vision in the dark.
With the Guardians, several novices, house staff, and the elders here, almost every seat was taken. And of course, as fate would have it, at that precise moment our hero was staggering through a dark forest trying to outrun the full moon. Yeah, werewolf movies were on the top of our must-watch list. Hollywood's take on our kind was hilariously off-base. It became more difficult to locate an empty chair. I heard the door open and close too quickly to give me enough light to see.
Then someone touched my arm and a jolt of pleasure rippled through me, and the earlier irritation I'd felt toward Connor dissipated. Even in the near-darkness without a clear vision of him, I knew it was Connor. I recognized his scent.
"Waiting for someone?" Connor whispered near my ear, sending delicious shivers over my neck.
Only you, corny as it was, popped into my mind. "Uh, no."
"Then sit with me."
Before I could respond, Connor wrapped his hand around mine and our fingers intertwined. My heart skipped a little bit at how much longer and stronger his fingers were than mine. I'd felt them running over my body while we'd wrestled, but for some reason this moment seemed much more intimate. Connor was a few inches taller than me and a little broader—and I remembered how that body had pressed down on me earlier.
The scene on the screen suddenly brightened as it focused on the full moon, and I could see a little more clearly. Connor led me toward seats in front of Kayla and Lucas. Kayla had never had much of a poker face. Her eyes widened with surprise that I didn't think had anything to do with the movie.
I fought not to feel the loss as Connor released his hold on my hand. Sitting down, I got comfortable before offering him some popcorn. Grinning, he took a handful before settling back to watch the movie, our close encounter this afternoon apparently forgotten.
I wasn't sure exactly what I'd been expecting. His arm coming around me, his lips pressing against mine. I munched on popcorn that tasted like sawdust—not its fault. I'd just lost my appetite.
The guy in the movie was suddenly sprouting hair in little weird tufts on his face and hands. Bad special effects began lengthening his snout. I had a feeling this movie had gone straight to video.