Her Mane Men (Paranormal Dating Agency Kindle World)(21)

“Different kind of weird. Mom talks to the dead, uncle knows things before he should, that kind of thing.”

“Is that all?” Parker chuckled as if I just gave him the craziest list ever.

“Grams can move small things when she’s pissed. Without touching them.” That was the only one of the “gifts” I ever wanted while growing up, but since it wore her out to the point of exhaustion, I let that fantasy go before I hit puberty.

“Damn, your family is fierce.” Parker was far too impressed by all the things my family could do that I could not. I was boring and normal.

“I got none of those skills.” Nor were they things you could learn, not that I wanted to. “So, how does this lion thing work?” Because changing the subject felt like the best plan ever.

“You mean, how do we do it, or what exactly is it you are curious about?” Curtis led me to the couch, and we all sat down.

“I know how you do it. I watched Barry change last night.” A growl filled my ears from Curtis’s side of the couch. “Did you just growl at me?”

“Sorry?”

That would be a yes.

“I mean, are you like Barry, needing to be on the other side of the country, because I thought that location was kind of a non-issue.” Out of all the things floating around in my brain, that seemed the most important at the moment, the underlying question being: Are you going to leave me?

“He’s alpha, so he has to be there. We’re just clansmen, so we can stay or go. That wasn’t a lie.” And as Parker spoke the words, I felt a bazillion times lighter.

“Roxy said you mate for life. Does that mean if we get it on, I’m stuck with you?”

“You don’t beat around the bush.”

Or, more accurately, I was horny and not wanting to inadvertently jump into a lifetime bond before I was ready because I wanted some sexy times.

“Never found it handy.” I shrugged.

“No, not if we get it on, but if we get it on and bite each other, kind of.”

And if that didn’t sound like the sexiest thing ever. Who knew I had a biting kink?

“Kinda of? Like, if we are apart, we die?” And now I was pulling from movie lore like an idiot. I should’ve asked Roxanne all of this stuff, but I had gotten so curious about her kids and if they were going to be like their dad that I never got back around to it.

“More like if we are apart, we are miserable.” Which sounded remarkably like the week before when they were gone. Did it get worse than that? Because if so, I wasn’t ready to handle that.

“No biting without permission,” I announced as if it were the logical solution to all things when, really, I wanted them to do it now, which was a bad idea even if it felt so right.

“Fair enough.” Curtis looked to Parker and back to me.

“So—what are we doing today?” I needed heavy conversation time to be over. We could and would get back to it soon enough.

“We were going to show you our lions.” Curtis shrugged, and my heart did a little flip. They were going to trust me with their lions even before they knew I was A-ok with it.

“I spoiled the surprise?”

“Pretty much. I guess we can go bowling instead.”

I bumped into his side at his escapades. I liked bowling as much as the next girl, but not at seven in the morning, and certainly not when we could spend quality alone time together instead.

“Wise ass.” His arm wrapped around me, Parker watching us both with a satisfied smile on his face.

“You are remarkably okay with all of this.”

Curtis wasn’t wrong. I was. Maybe it was because my family was so bizarre, or maybe it was because it hadn’t quite settled in yet, but most likely it was because it was them. Something about them just clicked with me in a way no one, not even Roxanne, ever had before.

“It makes sense.” There was no way I would be able to explain the how or why of that statement, but it was true. They made sense. We made sense. Even their animal side made sense, somehow. “What’s the deal with Gerri?” Because that had to be a bigger part of this than I knew.

“She is a shifter matchmaker.”

Of course, she was. Oh, Roxanne, you crafty one. I needed to find out how she discovered the woman in the first place since, as far as I knew, Roxanne’s family was perfectly boring in all ways.

“Roxanne knew from the get go.” I was mumbling more to myself than to them.

“That she did.” Parker agreed.

“Little stinker.”

“Are you upset?” Curtis’s inquired.

“Only that I didn’t know going in.” Maybe it was for the best, though. “Is Gerri ever wrong?” Because I wanted her to be right more and more with each passing moment.

“Not that we have heard of.” It was hard to tell if Parker was razzing me or if she really was perfect. Ha, it could easily have been both.

“Sounds like I’m stuck with you.” My face was beaming at that thought. The craziness of all of this took a back seat to the excitement that this not only might work out, but had a strong likelihood of doing exactly that.

“Pretty much.” Curtis’s lips placed a small kiss on my head.

“Works for me.” I leaned forward, capturing Parker’s lips in a quick kiss before turning to Curtis and doing the same. “Lion time?” Because if we didn’t stop now, the only time we were going to be having was sexy time and seeing their lions first felt important.