Mongrel [bxb] | Bad Moon Book III

Chapter 2: bad sex and good liquor

One Month Later

Matt twisted a quarter over his knuckles, chandelier lights glinting from the tip of George Washington's elongated nose.

"Just go already." Jaylin slouched over the back of his bar stool. His blond locks hanging from his head, the color of a sunrise in the red accent lights. A diamond piercing had been stuck into the left lobe of his ear—a drunken experiment with Tisper's piercing gun gone wrong. 

Fate had it, were-things healed too quickly, too fully for cheap metal piercing guns. Couldn't take it out once the flesh had mended. Matt teased him at first for the effeminate piece, but the diamond complimented him well. With those cornflower blue eyes to match, it was like a star on pale seas. 

Jaylin rolled his head to his shoulder and groaned, "Matt."

"I'm concentrating," said Matt, eyes scouring over a flock of beautiful women at the bar. A dark-skinned girl with thick thighs popped her bubblegum in his direction and grinned. Nothing. No fire in his cheeks, no tickle in his stomach. Man, two years ago, he woulda killed for a night with a girl like that.

Jaylin reached forward and a set of fingers snapped before Matt's eyes. "Focus on the game, dickhead. You've got a girlfriend." Jaylin's gaze laid heavy on him, slick in with the orange ambiance of the bar lights. Bein' a were had changed something in him. Jay had the gaze of a wild thing, as keen as a hungry fox. His eyes traveled over Matt's face and Jay straightened at the hyper-focused whiff of suspicion all the wolves seemed to get when you had the balls to lie to 'em. "Matt, everything okay?"

Matt flicked the quarter. It bounced once and landed in the empty shotglass at the center of the table. He raised his fists to the air and hooted over the music grinding through the raspy wall speakers. "Three to two! You pay."

"Three to two cause you've gone three times and I've gone two times." Jaylin tossed back a swig of his rum and coke, setting the glass down with an emphatic thud. "It was best out of ten and you know it."

Before he could reply, a set of warm arms slid around Matt's neck, sharp pointed chin nestled on his head. "Stop your fighting, Mummy's here." Her warmth left him and Tisper dropped down into an empty seat, purse slumping to the ground. She took Jaylin's glass and dumped it back, nearly drinking it empty before he snatched it out of her hands.

"Jesus, Tis."

"Sorry," she exhaled in a fiery breath, black silk hair sticking to her lip gloss. "Pretty sure I flunked my exams today. Tell me something good. How's Nadaline?"

"She's demon spawn. The dynamics of a growing warden are fucking terrifying." Jaylin poured back the last of his drink and let out a gruff breath. "I love her, but she's a walking nightmare. She can climb walls now, you know. Like a fucking spider."

Tisper sighed, chin cupped in her palm. "Still...I'm envious. This big happy family thing seems to be working for you."

Big happy family. Matt watched the quarter shiver in the shot glass, a painful prickle crawling up his stomach. Think about it, Jessica had said one night during a walk by the waterfront. Don't you want a big happy family?  He hated himself in that moment for not loving her. She was so beautiful when the wind picked up—when her coffee-colored hair went flyin' in a whip of cold ocean breath. She smiled at him with that straight smile, freckles that shimmied in the moonlight. He wanted so badly to want it. Yeah, he told her.

God, what a piece of shit.

As if she sensed he was thinking of her, Matt's phone came alive on the table. Jessica's name flashed on the screen and he hit the ignore button without a second thought. Jaylin caught a glimpse before the screen went black. He caught everything nowadays.